Top 49 things to do and attractions in Yosemite National Park (2025)

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The is all about location more than anything. We ate dinner at the bar because the dinning room was full. The food was expensive and below average quality. Room was great with an excellent view. Breakfast buffet was excellent. Overall, the place is pricey and I am not sure I would stay there again. Not much value but you stay there for the view, location and historical value. The place is an amazing piece of history and is amazing architecturally.

We loved our stay! I was so hesitant based on the reviews. The grounds were lovely, our room was ready 2 hours ahead of time, the service was very good. We requested a microwave and they brought it instantly. Everyone working there had a good attitude. Rooms were clean.We got an ADA Junior Suite for 3 people which was spacious.Here is the thing, for $800 a night you are not getting the Four Seasons but it is a peaceful place and the location is great.Dinner was forgettable but service was good.There is some construction but didn’t affect our stay in mid October.

Lovely hotel. Great accommodations in the valley. Best you can get. Service is run by young adults, they don’t pay attention to basics of refilling the water stations. Overall great experience.

This property is very special, you can feel that the moment you walk in. It is one of the historical greats in our country. If you are looking for a destination for a special event or wedding, you will not find another like it. I could go on and on about the special details of the actual building but the service and care here is second to none. The events manager Janis has taken great care with our events and thought through every special detail in the day. The entire staff on this property makes you feel special and cared for in a way that we do not encounter very often today. The grounds are pristine, the rooms are incredibly comfortable, and the food is delicious. I don't have to tell you about the scenery, you are in the middle of the great Yosemite Valley and it is the stuff of daydreams and magic.I'd like to give a very special thank you to Janis, Josie, Tyler, and the entire team at The Ahwahnee for the great love and care they showered on us a couple of weeks ago. It was a glorious weekend!

Don’t stay here. It’s expensive and the hallways stink. We waited until 5:05pm for our room. The whole place stinks like a morgue. The people who work there are rude. I stood at the front desk waiting to check and hopefully get a receipt but the two people just kept on talking to each other and not even acknowledging me. They gave us free dinner for wait which was nice. But the one server that served us didn’t seem like he enjoyed working there. Overall bad experience. Just stay away. Wish I could give minus 10 stars

Our 2022 trip finally took place and wow this place is a dump. They should just demo and rebuild. I almost rather sleep in my rental car. There are contact lenses dried up on the bathroom door. There are three spiders and their nests on the ceiling. There’s hair all over the bathroom like someone just used it before we checked in. The room was sprayed with men’s cologne. No other room on our reservation smells like this. All the recent reviews are so spot on for the bad service and lack of cleanliness. They only have one working kitchen and the staff keep complaining about the bad contractors not showing up to fix it. Take your money elsewhere.

Agree with other reviewers, that the hotel is only worth for its location. Bad experience. Very old, dilapidated, dirty, with not sufficient personnel.I and my husband stayed in the hotel, and my kids stayed at the cottage. Both are hotel room and cottage was such a letdown.Once we entered the room, we noticed that 1 side of the wall moldy (pic attached) and no quilt on bed, only a thin sheet as a blanket.The next day, when we came back, the bed was made (and still no quilt), trashed was emptied, but towels in the Bathtub were still there. It seems they only made the bed, empty the trash then left.For the cottage, it was so dark, not enough lighting and the carpet dirty. We found 2 pairs of shoes in the room (most likely belongs to previous guests), no towel in the room.Not deserve a 4-star hotel!!!PS: The $32 breakfast is not worth it too.

The location is incredible. However, the price point of this resort reflects a luxury hotel. There was just nothing luxury about it. If I was expecting a typical Marriott we would have been extremely satisfied, but when spending over $2,000 for 3 nights it simply was not up to the standard that comes with this price point.If you took away the location it was just a marginal hotel.We wanted to love it, but it was just not worth what we paid.

We have been coming here for over 20 years and today we were greeted by Neil. Neil made sure we knew he was in charge. "I've been here for 6 years". Upon arrival he told my group 1.5-2 hours wait for the bar. He then told the group behind us 45 min. He didn't like us when we arrived. We put our name in and ordered some cheese and crackers while we were waiting. He finally called us and came out with menus and scolded us that we already had food and that canceled out our reservation for lunch. I might Suggest Neil do something like cleaning toilets where a personality and kindness isn't necessary. This is your front man??? I had 3 chefs with me and after talking the place up, I was beyond embarrassed. P.S Valets were just plain nice and friendly, Thanks Parking crew, the highlight of our visit...Ugh

We landed at Ahwahnee last minute after being rejected by the Yosemite Valley Lodge where we had paid for a reservation through Agoda that was dishonestly placed for a month after our due date (don’t ever use Agoda, the hotel is currently suing them for booking rooms that are not available). So we took the only available room at Ahwahnee, the Presidential suite, and for the price tag of 1400+, one would expect to get a bit of a special treatment. But no. No welcome basket, no room service and the buffet looked horrible so we just skipped dinner. Oh, and did I Mentioned there was a big, loud party right below our suite that no one warned us of before they took our payment?I understand the location is special, but if I am paying 3 times that of other guests’ rooms, it would be nice to feel a little special. As someone said, it’s the little details that matter and mold in the shower doesn’t look good and certainly doesn’t make one feel “presidential”.

The location and views were great. So if you would like to pay $800+ for these, go for it. The room and service were underwhelming (despite the fact that we had a low expectation) as you can see it from a few photos that I shared. Being old is not the major issue but the place is not well maintained.Personally, I would not come back to this hotel since it is not worth it.

This is not worth $700. (Total bill = $800 wirh b-fast buffet + $30 mandatory valet parking) Rooms need total renovation. Sink cracked. Tray dirty and rusty. Shower water pressure was a trickle. Tile dirty/moldy. Towels were scratch and thin. But hey I got to dry my hair with a Dyson dryer. (Big whoop).Bed comfortable but sheets and comforter were so worn down….must be from 1929. Rug was pathetically dirty.Bar was closed for drinks and food service for “unforeseen” reasons!?! Why?Restaurant seemed nice….but a buffet and could not see out windows due to scaffolding. ($80 blast buffet was subpar)This place needs a lot of help and money to get it to where it should be. Doesn’t even compare to Yellowstones “old faithful inn”. I’d rather stay in a hotel outside the park. Truly ridiculous for the money you pay.

I stayed here with my parents in September 2024 and am still thinking about how beautiful the park is but how horrible this hotel is.The architecture and location are absolutely stunning and the main appeal of this place. You can step outside and immediately onto multiple trail systems. The hotel is “dated”, but in my opinion that’s part of the charm of staying in a place that’s a century old.The problems come down to the service. Similarly to other reviewers, our rooms were not ready when we checked in. I had to wait nearly two hours for my room to be ready, which I wouldn’t have minded except the bar was closed so there wasn’t much to do except sit in the lobby as no one had told me they’d bring up my luggage to the room for me so I was strapped with all my belongings.Once I got my room key and started settling in I checked the sheets and they were dirty, full of hair, and stained. I requested new sheets and the housekeeping staff who helped me was very kind and chatted with me about the best nearby trails to explore. However, the new sheets they put on the bed were also dirty so they had to go get a third set.After all our troubles checking in we received free dinner vouchers, but the dinner wasn’t something I’d be happy paying for regardless. They claimed to be serving prime rib but it was actually a roast. They had broccolini labeled as asparagus and it was inedible. We ended up eating at the Mountain Room in Yosemite Village for the rest of our dinners and it was lovely.The bar being closed for “unforeseen circumstances” as the sign read also seemed like a point of contention with guests. In the beginning of our stay everyone was able to get drinks from the bar in the dining room, but suddenly we were all cut off. I’m assuming it’s because people were leaving glasses everywhere and there wasn’t enough staff to clean them up. However, people staying at resorts like to drink and alcohol is a huge business, so it seemed like a bizarre choice. I bought a small bottle of wine from the sweet shop and it was so disgusting I threw it away.All in all, I would not recommend staying here. You’d be better staying in one of the cottages in Yosemite Village and dining in the Mountain Room. You can always visit this place during the day as anyone can just waltz in for a tour.

I was totally blown away at the attitude of the employees. I understand that this hotel is being renovated....I think what also needs renovating is the attitudes. We had the $32.00 buffet. Valet Only...add $10.00 more. The waitress never brought the champagne...the food was cold...and honestly I'm surprised I paid for it at all.The last time I was there for breakfast the employees had pride and were professional. The food was delicious. If they are going to continue the renovation they need to lower their prices to match their horrible food and service.

Just checked out from a cottage at the Ahwahnee and had an absolutely wonderful experience. Yosemite is a truly special place, and having all the modern comforts in the middle of all that wilderness is simply amazing. Our cottage was clean and well-appointed. Mr. Stephen Jones, the concierge was super kind and provided excellent recommendations and essentially planned our whole visit! Can’t wait to be back!!!

Courteous bell staff, bar staff and nice rooms. The rest is very poor. Food options limited to dining with unstocked snack shop and bar having no options. Front desk staff and dining staff clueless. Had a water spill. Dried up what could while staff stared into space.Great room and location be get sense hotel not managed leaving aimless staff to make it up as they go.

My family and I stayed here for one night. The emergency alarm went off at 2:30 AM with no explanation. They do not offer luggage storage, and the staff was unresponsive. Although it might be the best hotel in Yosemite, it’s quite pricey and better to visit only for the dining room.

It’s not the big things, it’s the little things. Big things were great, bed was comfortable, air conditioning was appreciated, location was spectacular, views were incredible.It’s all the little things that made me realize this place has lost its charm and is now just an unapologetic cash grab. It has all the stink of private equity.It started with the literal dozen text messages and emails letting me know about construction (fine, understood) while simultaneously asking me if I wanted to buy a frosted mug or other tchotchke (no, thank you).It was the check-in that was requested online that still resulted in ten minutes at the front desk to get a key.It was the “concierge” determined to give nothing but attitude when asking about changing dinner reservations (“go ask the at the dining room”), when the front desk sent us to him (“they were wrong, I’ll go educate them”).It was the valet who returned our EV uncharged after an entire night, despite the presence of a an unoccupied charger at the hotel that I could see as we picked up the car.It was the front desk recommending the sweet shop for bug spray, while the sweet shop shrugged their shoulders saying they were out.It was the “reservations required” $32 breakfast (buffet) that we were assured had espresso (it did not).Bottom line, the Ahwahnee has the market cornered for an upscale hotel in Yosemite and they know it, so don’t expect an upscale experience. It’s about what I’d expect from my local two-star Ramada.

Poor service at the bar. Ordered two drinks and a meal from bartender (and paid), sat down in the bar area. After 30 minutes we politely asked for an update on the food, turns out it had been sitting in a "to go" container for 20 minutes, we were supposed to be waiting in the lobby rather than the bar where we ordered it from (no one told us, and we didn't even order it to go, and we were one of only 3 tables in the bar). They were completely unapologetic and made it seem like it was our fault. Ribs were ok, but overall service not good quality.

Ahwahnee Drive, Yosemite Valley, CA 95389, USA•

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