Re: Wawona Hotel Opening

The Wawona Hotel is scheduled to open to the public this Friday, April 8th. Starting Monday April 11th, contractors will begin work to repave the Wawona Hotel parking areas and the Wawona Store Parking Lot.

If anybody happens to stay here, please write a review.

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nyberg_d
If anybody happens to stay here, please write a review.

We almost always stay in Yosemite West now but, on my first trip to the Park, we stayed at the Wawona. In the main hotel, the basic rooms are very spartan (a bed, a chair, a nightstand, not much else). All rooms open on to the exterior porch (i.e., no interior hallways) and the bathrooms are around the back. If you're the sort that gets up to use the toilet in the middle of the night when you're still groggy, you should also know that the porch is quite slanted (so that water will run off)...the first time my wife made one of those middle-of-the-night sojourns, she said she almost lost her balance when she forgot about the slant! It's actually quite charming and it probably WAS the height of Sierra elegance when the hotel was built but it's not going to win any luxury awards nowadays.

I believe that there are a handful of "en suite" rooms (i.e., with a private bathroom) and there are a number of "cottages" on the grounds as well. I believe the cottages are more spacious and comfortable but couldn't say for sure. I have to say that, unless I was springing for one of the larger rooms (or planning to do almost all my hikes in the Wawona area), I don't know if I'd stay there again.

That much said, I would never DREAM of going to Yosemite and not visiting the Wawona at least once or twice. The food is very good to excellent (and, unlike the (much more expensive) Ahwahnee, much more consistent...I've had the occasion "just OK" meal at the Ahwahnee), the staff is casual but attentive and friendly, the setting is delightful. But what makes this a must-stop-by place for me is Tom Bopp. Tom's been playing the piano in the Wawona lounge most nights of the week for 28 years and he's an absolute delight. This is no mere piano-bar drivel...Tom's a classically trained composer and also has an encyclopedic knowledge of late 19th and early 20th century popular music (with a special emphasis on songs about Yosemite). If you're a fan of musical theater from the first half of the 1900's, there's not much that you can throw at him that he won't know, he'll play it wonderfully, often times sing verses that few people know exist and then he'll tell you some great story about the song, or the person who made it famous or the show it first appeared in.

He's also a recognized Yosemite scholar who peppers the evening with numerous anecdotes about the history of the Park...they range from laugh-out-loud funny to genuinely fascinating. Even if the sort of music he plays isn't your cup of tea, it's worth going to hear him for the stories alone.

If you're a fan of "stepping in to the past," you owe it to yourself to stay there at least once but, even if you don't stay there, at least have lunch or dinner there, catch an hour (or two or three or more) of Tom's playing, wander around the grounds and, in general get some sense of what it was like to stay in Yosemite 100 years ago.

In light of an accusation of spamming made on one the other threads recently, I'll offer my apologies if it sounds like I'm shilling for the hotel. Except for having a slight friendship with Tom, I have no connection to the place...I just really love it and, although I wouldn't actually choose to stay there on a regular basis, neither would I blow it off anytime I was in the Park for more than a couple of days.

--David K

Wow. I didn't even read all this but it's obvious SPAM-A-LOT!

(ok, seriously, thanks for the "review" )
Have only walked around the grounds and went into the reception area.

Have to have dinner there now.

Thanks David,

Twittering

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chick-on
Wow. I didn't even read all this but it's obvious SPAM-A-LOT!

Well, I did edit it back a bit...my original version said

There's only one place worth staying in all of Yosemite and only a total moron would stay anywhere else. Upon arrival at the Wawona, a bevy of scantily clad young ladies will rush at you to tickle you with feather dusters while hand-feeding you chocolate-covered strawberries and Beluga Caviar on hand-made toast points. The experience only goes uphill from here and, best of all, they don't even charge you to stay here!

but I thought that was a little over-enthusiastic!

Actually, in the stage coach days, guests WERE met with someone to dust them off with a feather duster (the roads in those days were VERY dusty) but I doubt that they ever used young ladies for it (much less a bevy of scantily clad ones) and I'm sure the strawberries and caviar cost extra!

--David K

P.S. If you do go there, chick-on, make sure to ask Tom about the Old Wawona Road...he's found some of the almost-impossible-to-find-anymore segments of it down near Wawona and has hiked a good stretch of it.

Thanks for the review. I never knew there was even a hotel at Wawona. I have to check it out in the future.

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Marksm
Thanks for the review. I never knew there was even a hotel at Wawona. I have to check it out in the future.

Not only a hotel, but a 9-hole golf course too!

There is golfing here? You are serious right? My next trip is Wawona.

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jackolive
There is golfing here? You are serious right? My next trip is Wawona.

There is golfing there. Google it and check the sat view.

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Old Dude

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jackolive
There is golfing here? You are serious right? My next trip is Wawona.

Yes, I'm serious. They even have a small Pro Shop on the hotel grounds:

Yosemite's Wawona Golf Course

My brother and his wife played there before and love it, mostly due to the surrounding sceneries. You can't beat that.

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DavidK42
But what makes this a must-stop-by place for me is Tom Bopp. Tom's been playing the piano in the Wawona lounge most nights of the week for 28 years and he's an absolute delight. This is no mere piano-bar drivel...Tom's a classically trained composer and also has an encyclopedic knowledge of late 19th and early 20th century popular music (with a special emphasis on songs about Yosemite). If you're a fan of musical theater from the first half of the 1900's, there's not much that you can throw at him that he won't know, he'll play it wonderfully, often times sing verses that few people know exist and then he'll tell you some great story about the song, or the person who made it famous or the show it first appeared in.

Just a note, in the late fall and winter (when the Wawona has closed for the season), Tom Bopp will entertain guests at the Ahwahnee's bar.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/2011 02:44PM by plawrence.

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DavidK42
That much said, I would never DREAM of going to Yosemite and not visiting the Wawona at least once or twice. The food is very good to excellent (and, unlike the (much more expensive) Ahwahnee, much more consistent...I've had the occasion "just OK" meal at the Ahwahnee), the staff is casual but attentive and friendly, the setting is delightful.

Here, I disagree just a bit. I've found the food better at the Ahwahnee Dining Room that at Wawona's. Not that the Wawona's food is bad tasting in any shape or form, but the Wawona tends to serve rather uninspired and mundane (in originality) dinner entrées compared to either the Ahwahnee or the Mountain Room at the Yosemite Lodge.

Of the three, I would rank the quality of the food as follows: 1) The Ahwahnee Dining Room, 2) The Mountain Room (at the Yosemite Lodge), 3) The Wawona Dining Room. All three serve very good meals in my book, but the Wawona's is just a tad below the other two.

Thanks for the review! I have been contemplating on checking out the hotel here and now I really do want to. I usually prefer camping but during the colder months, a nice cozy hotel room does the trick. I spend half my time there writing anyhow, and it provides a change of environment. Looking forward to the room and food!

This is one of the most amazing hotels I've ever been to. Built in the nineteenth century, it FEEL like you are back in time. It is nested right in the middle of Yosemite park, so the location for those visiting the park could not be better. We arrived, unknowingly, in the middle of a national holiday, so the hotel was packed and there were long lines to get a dinner table, but we were able to enjoy their amazing breakfast without problems. Of course, being such an old hotel, most rooms don't have a private bath, but even that did not take away the joy of being there, in fact it kind of adds to the charm of the place and ensures that nightly rates are VERY affordable, considering that parking is free - just watch out for bears! -, the breakfast in excellent and the location is perfect. I highly recommend this experience!!

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DanPJ
It is nested right in the middle of Yosemite park, so the location for those visiting the park could not be better.

Actually, it's pretty far from the geographic middle of the Park (which is (approximately) Mount Hoffman) and not all that close to the middle of the most common sites (depending on the amount of traffic in the park, it can easily be an hour or more from the Wawona to the Valley). In fact, if Wawona were just a few miles further south, it wouldn't even be IN the Park.

That much said, as I've posted elsewhere, I completely agree that it's a wonderful place to visit and a charming place to stay and, especially if you're there late in the season, the trip in to the Valley is not that bad.

Seems like a charming little place, maybe for a romantic getaway. I love old hotels.