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Re: Bike Rentals Open for the Season
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April 09, 2012 11:47AM | Admin Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 17,050 |
Curry Village and Yosemite Lodge bike stands are open for the season. Their current hours of operation are 10:00 AM - 5:30 PM daily. The Curry Village bike stand is located at Shuttle stop #13A. The Yosemite Lodge bike stand can be access from Shuttle Stop #8.
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Re: Bike Rentals Open for the Season April 09, 2012 04:53PM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 668 |
It will be interesting to see when they open the raft rentals this year; My guess is they will open a lot earlier than last year:
http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,40195,40893#msg-40893
http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,40195,40893#msg-40893
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Re: Bike Rentals Open for the Season April 14, 2012 03:04PM | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 83 |
April 14, 2012 03:10PM | Admin Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 17,050 |
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Re: Bike Rentals Open for the Season April 14, 2012 06:52PM | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 1,697 |
Most (dare I say all?) national parks have contracts with concessionaires who provide various things, lodging, food, activities. Unless you bring your own food, camp and do nothing but hike, you end up spending some money with a private company.Quote
jackolive
Bikes and rafts, are these private companies or are we supporting our National Parks?
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Re: Bike Rentals Open for the Season April 15, 2012 06:16PM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 668 |
April 15, 2012 10:11PM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 4,173 |
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Re: Bike Rentals Open for the Season April 16, 2012 07:52AM | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 409 |
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Re: Bike Rentals Open for the Season April 16, 2012 09:51AM | Registered: 12 years ago Posts: 1,976 |
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tanngrisnir3
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plawrence
Some National Park concessionaires do a far better job in providing a reasonable services, goods, and lodging at reasonable and fair prices. Others sadly don't.
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^^^ This.
Delaware does a good job in Yosemite, a GREAT job in SEKI and Xanterra does a lousy job in Zion.
Evidently, I have had a hugely different experience than you have. I have never ever had an issue with reservations or a stay in Zion (around 20 times) or any other Xanterra property that we have stayed at. The lodging is in better condition and I have never had a dirty room or a room with things that I had to call to be fixed, with more helpful staff and at a better price. Since DNC has taken over at Yosemite, things have gone downhill while prices continue to go up. In Yosemite I have stayed a few times at the Ahwahnee for a special occasion ( the last two stays would not even rate a 3 star much less a 4 star rating), several times in Curry, once at the Wawona Hotel, a few stays at Tenaya Lodge and around 60 times at Yosemite Lodge (both at the old cabins and more frequently in the lodge rooms) since 1987 so I have quite a few data points on before and after DNC. Recently our rooms have been cleaner than in the past but I can't say if that is because DNC is trying to do better or that we stay in the same room so often that the housekeeping staff knows us us by name and the fact that I leave a good tip for them. DNC does much better in SEKI than then do in Yosemite and I have never had a problem at the Wusachi Lodge. I also don't understand why DNC can run Tenaya Lodge well but has an issue with the Valley properties. Overall, having stayed at DNC, Xanterra, Forever Resorts and the Grand Teton Lodge facilities, based on our experiences, I have to say that DNC is at the bottom of our list when it comes to bang for your buck and service.
April 16, 2012 01:19PM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 4,173 |
My experience with DNC has been very inconsistent at Yosemite. When they first took over from Yosemite Park & Curry Co, it was a small but noticeable upgrade for the first couple of years. Then it went steadily downhill. The last three years or so, the service provide by DNC employees have noticeably improved, especially at Curry Village where the employees attitude USED to be awful, especially at the front desk. But now even the front desk staff at Curry Village is pleasant and helpful.
But the lodging at Yosemite now is way overpriced. While the rooms at the Lodge and Curry Village are clean, the furniture and other furnishings, including many bathroom fixture, are worn and in regards to their chairs, bed spreads, couches, often disgustingly stained. That they charge over $200 at night at the Lodge and $160 a night for a cabin with bath at Curry is outrageous.
DNC's operations at Sequoia are better, but it's still overpriced. But at least the rooms at Wuksachi Lodge are in better condition though I hate the layout of that lodge. I swear that the architect of the Wuksachi Lodge must have been a sadist.
Note that Kings Canyon National Park has a different concessionaire than Sequoia. The concessionaire for Kings Canyon is the Sequoia-Kings Canyon Park Services Company, a private family-run business. Their lodging properties include the John Muir Lodge, Grant Grove Cabins, and the Cedar Grove Lodge at Kings Canyon National Park plus two other properties located in the Sequoia National Forest. Their lodging properties offer a better value than the Wuksachi Lodge in Sequoia, IMHO. If you're going to be visiting both parks, I would recommended staying at the John Muir Lodge near Grant Grove since it's more centrally located between both parks and the rates are lower than Wuksachi.
Generally speaking, I've been pleased by the service that Xanterra has provided at Death Valley, Zion, and Yellowstone, though I do think that the services they provide at Zion is a notch or two below than what they provide at Yellowstone and at Death Valley.
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But the lodging at Yosemite now is way overpriced. While the rooms at the Lodge and Curry Village are clean, the furniture and other furnishings, including many bathroom fixture, are worn and in regards to their chairs, bed spreads, couches, often disgustingly stained. That they charge over $200 at night at the Lodge and $160 a night for a cabin with bath at Curry is outrageous.
DNC's operations at Sequoia are better, but it's still overpriced. But at least the rooms at Wuksachi Lodge are in better condition though I hate the layout of that lodge. I swear that the architect of the Wuksachi Lodge must have been a sadist.
Note that Kings Canyon National Park has a different concessionaire than Sequoia. The concessionaire for Kings Canyon is the Sequoia-Kings Canyon Park Services Company, a private family-run business. Their lodging properties include the John Muir Lodge, Grant Grove Cabins, and the Cedar Grove Lodge at Kings Canyon National Park plus two other properties located in the Sequoia National Forest. Their lodging properties offer a better value than the Wuksachi Lodge in Sequoia, IMHO. If you're going to be visiting both parks, I would recommended staying at the John Muir Lodge near Grant Grove since it's more centrally located between both parks and the rates are lower than Wuksachi.
Generally speaking, I've been pleased by the service that Xanterra has provided at Death Valley, Zion, and Yellowstone, though I do think that the services they provide at Zion is a notch or two below than what they provide at Yellowstone and at Death Valley.
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Re: Bike Rentals Open for the Season April 16, 2012 03:45PM | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 409 |
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plawrence
My experience with DNC has been very inconsistent at Yosemite. When they first took over from Yosemite Park & Curry Co, it was a small but noticeable upgrade for the first couple of years. Then it went steadily downhill. The last three years or so, the service provide by DNC employees have noticeably improved, especially at Curry Village where the employees attitude USED to be awful, especially at the front desk. But now even the front desk staff at Curry Village is pleasant and helpful.
But the lodging at Yosemite now is way overpriced. While the rooms at the Lodge and Curry Village are clean, the furniture and other furnishings, including many bathroom fixture, are worn and in regards to their chairs, bed spreads, couches, often disgustingly stained. That they charge over $200 at night at the Lodge and $160 a night for a cabin with bath at Curry is outrageous.
DNC's operations at Sequoia are better, but it's still overpriced. But at least the rooms at Wuksachi Lodge are in better condition though I hate the layout of that lodge. I swear that the architect of the Wuksachi Lodge must have been a sadist.
Note that Kings Canyon National Park has a different concessionaire than Sequoia. The concessionaire for Kings Canyon is the Sequoia-Kings Canyon Park Services Company, a private family-run business. Their lodging properties include the John Muir Lodge, Grant Grove Cabins, and the Cedar Grove Lodge at Kings Canyon National Park plus two other properties located in the Sequoia National Forest. Their lodging properties offer a better value than the Wuksachi Lodge in Sequoia, IMHO. If you're going to be visiting both parks, I would recommended staying at the John Muir Lodge near Grant Grove since it's more centrally located between both parks and the rates are lower than Wuksachi.
Generally speaking, I've been pleased by the service that Xanterra has provided at Death Valley, Zion, and Yellowstone, though I do think that the services they provide at Zion is a notch or two below than what they provide at Yellowstone and at Death Valley.
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Yeah, I never understood teh Wuksachi layout, either.
First time we stayed there wasn't that long ago, after a really long day of climbing all over hell and gone and then up and down Moro Rock with photography gear. We were burnt.
Showed up after dark at the lodge check in, and not knowing any better, schlepped all our stuff with us from the parking lot there, only to find out it's only check in, so we had to get it all back to the Jeep and THEN drive over to the little cluster of lodges just across the road.
Seemed rather stupid to have check in and the dining facilities in one place and the rooms way over somewhere else.
April 16, 2012 04:14PM | Admin Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 17,050 |
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Re: Bike Rentals Open for the Season April 16, 2012 04:24PM | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 409 |
April 16, 2012 04:30PM | Admin Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 17,050 |
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Re: Bike Rentals Open for the Season April 16, 2012 08:18PM | Registered: 12 years ago Posts: 1,976 |
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eeek
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tanngrisnir3
Great food there, though.
Really? I looked at the menu. I didn't see one damn thing I wanted. Looked like they hired some stuck-up executive chef. The only place to get good food in the park is Bearpaw and it's a wee bit of a walk.
Pretty fancy food but last year I had one of the best trout dishes that I have ever had there.
April 17, 2012 01:54AM | Admin Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 17,050 |
April 16, 2012 11:53PM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 4,173 |
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eeek
Really? I looked at the menu. I didn't see one damn thing I wanted. Looked like they hired some stuck-up executive chef. The only place to get good food in the park is Bearpaw and it's a wee bit of a walk.
The restaurant across the street from the Grant Grove Vistor Center (in Kings Canyon) serves normal American coffee shop cuisine (at more reasonable prices too).
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April 16, 2012 11:50PM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 4,173 |
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eeek
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tanngrisnir3
so we had to get it all back to the Jeep and THEN drive over to the little cluster of lodges just across the road.
And then schlep it all from the parking up a hill to the actual room. That place was designed by a moron.
And when I last stayed at Wuksachi back in 2009, they only had WiFi available in the lobby of the Front Desk/Dining Room building. So if you wanted to log into the internet at night, you had to walk in the pitch black night through the lodging parking lot, then on a small trail through some trees, across the service road to reach the lobby with the free WiFi. A good five to seven minute walk in the cold (even during summer). Not something you could do comfortably in your bedroom slippers.
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April 16, 2012 11:41PM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 4,173 |
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tanngrisnir3
Showed up after dark at the [Wuksachi] lodge check in, and not knowing any better, schlepped all our stuff with us from the parking lot there, only to find out it's only check in, so we had to get it all back to the Jeep and THEN drive over to the little cluster of lodges just across the road.
And even the parking for the front desk, lobby, and dinning room building is not that close to the actual building.
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Re: Bike Rentals Open for the Season May 04, 2012 04:56PM | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 83 |
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