Yosemite Cedar Lodge - El Portal, California

John Hughes

Tony and staff were fantastic to work with and very accomodating as we found ourselves moving back and forth between the Lodge and Indian Flat RV Park. Room was dated but they have crews working full-time upgrading rooms. Would definitely stay again. Very reasonable winter rates too!

815Schmitt

I was so pleased with our stay here! There were many amenities we didn't have the time to explore but here are the highlights of the things we liked:||~Our room (192) was very close to by the adults only outside pool/hot tub/fire pit. A great way to end a long day of hiking. The balcony is a nice plus. |~There is a charming riverwalk/small beach across the street that has Adirondack chairs where you can enjoy your coffee in the morning|~If you want free coffee (there is also a pot in the room), you can bring one of the 4 mugs from your room down to the lobby and fill up there. |~The store in the lobby was very handy and had reasonable prices and options|~Staff was friendly and helpful (they helped us open our bottle of wine, we can no corkscrew)|~Proximity to Yosemite was great = 19miles/34 minutes (we were here after Labor Day)||I would definitely recommend.

Construction.Entrepreneurs

I was a little skeptical after reading the review about this place. But my family and I had a great short time here. The room was great with lots of room. We got the 3 queen bedrooms. 2 beds in the open room and 1 bed in its own separate room. We had plenty of towels for the 5 of us. The room was designed for 6. The room was clean.
On the property, there was a game room with 2 table tennis games with all the paddle and balls, corn hole game, and a pool table. I could imagine in the summer when this place is full this game room would not be enough.
Also the internet service was great but I think it was great because we are vacating off season. If more people were staying there, I assume it would slow down. I'm just assuming. But we were able to reach youtube netflix and more. Kids on their tablets are having a ball.
The indoor pool was heated. It was too cold for us during this time of year.
The restaurant on the property was shut down, but I guess the bar opened up at 5 pm. So, no breakfast. We purchased muffins and oatmeal at the main office.
Also the coffee at the main office is free you should bring your cups from your room for this coffee. They do not provide cups. We got our cups from the room. No big deal.
Overall, we loved this hotel.
Oh, the rive across the street was a great place to walk and skip rocks. I didn't see any fish in there.

Amy

Didn’t have a great stay. Surprised by the high reviews so maybe it was just our room or time of year. We stayed in a room with the whirlpool so I’d at least avoid those if you plan to stay here. Overall, the hotel felt run down with superficial renovations and subpar service from staff.

Cons:
1) The room smelled strongly like mildew/mold 2) There was a dead cockroach on the floor
3) The toilet barely worked
4) Pillows are these bizarre half-sized pillows
5) TV reception was bad. Was told it was like that in all the rooms but dining room tv seemed to work fine.
6) Hot tub was broken
7) Restaurant food not great and the staff seemed miserable.

Pros: Cheaper than most places, but still overpriced. Close to park entrance. Neither of these are worth it.

Lingyu Zhou

Probably the second hotel closest to Yosemite Valley.
The room is super spacious comparable to $200-300 hotels in cities (SF, Reno, Boston). My room also came with a balcony and I can enjoy a good sunny morning right in the room.
I didn't get to enjoy the swimming pool and game room as a solo hiker. But having cozy pools with fireplace to just sit around after a long hike is really nice.
Across the street is their river side garden which I also enjoyed.

Love the all white bedding.

I read some of the reviews complaining about room service and just want to update that I did get plastic cups and glazed china cups in the room. So this hotel is definitely listening to feedbacks.

Stacey B

Cedar Lodge is fine as a place to sleep. The grounds are vast and well maintained. Walking by the river is really nice. The only thing that makes me choose to stay here is how close it is to the Yosemite entrance when all the other places in the valley are sold out. I don't think it's worth the price tag. Have all your maps and itineraries downloaded because there's not much for network service and the Wi-Fi is pretty much non-existent. No elevators - makes lugging suitcases up the stairs kind of suck. The shower takes forever to get hot and the shower head is very low. Whatever the water is treated with makes it smell gross. The restaurant is extremely overpriced for what you get. I feel bad for the people working because they seem pretty understaffed.

Selina De Witte

Good to stay for one or two nights, not more. It is a basic hotel, it is close to the entrance but don’t expect anything more from it. The beds were okay, the rooms were old (even though refurbished) and the wallpaper was coming off the walls.
The staff was very very friendly, they were always smiling and asking if everything was okay. There is no service over there, but the WiFi is very good to be honest!
Can recommend if you don’t spend a lot of time at your hotel!

Mil Chan

Staying in this lodge was because it’s close to Yosemite National Park. We had a tight schedule and didn’t want to drive far after a long day’s sightseeing.
The room was spacious but old. Some basic bathroom utilities like shampoo and a soap, no shower gel. Our room was on the 2nd floor and there’s no lifts. So remember to tell the hotel if you want the room on the ground floor. Overpriced with a room of this standard. Only selling point is its location.