The Oakhurst Inn at Yosemite

The hotel is about 30 minutes from the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, which made for a great location. Our room was a good size, with a table and two chairs. Breakfast was decent, though more food choices would improve it. We stayed Friday and Saturday, and the price felt high for what we got. The property and rooms are rather old and could use renovations and a facelift, especially new carpets and fresher paint and frames. Overall, it was okay value, but there’s room to improve.

The breakfast was fresh and really good, probably the best I’ve had at the hotels and inns where I’ve stayed. The staff were friendly, and the person who checked me in was very nice and showed me where to park. But the room had a stale, odd smell, like it hadn’t been aired out. There was hair caught in the shower drain, and when I turned on the water, bits of gunk came out. That made me uncomfortable enough to reconsider showering. Kids ran up and down the stairs and knocked on doors, yelling until midnight. I booked this place at the last minute after a long day hiking in Yosemite, hoping to shower and rest. For one night it wasn’t the worst, but the cleanliness would make me think twice before booking again.

We stayed here the night before heading to Yosemite. The hotel is on Oakhurst’s main street, on the route to Yosemite, with lots of restaurants nearby. It’s around a 20-minute drive to the Yosemite entrance and about 1 hour 15 minutes to Glacier Point. The rooms are big and the breakfast is nice. Our room was clean, though it could use renovation.

The staff were fantastic under pressure, and the place itself was clean, comfortable, and peaceful. Still, I wouldn’t stay at Oakhurst Inn again because the owners had no apparent plan for an extended power outage. The electricity went out at 3pm and was still off when we left at 8am the next day. Our special dietary food went bad in the fridge, and breakfast had no coffee, tea, or hot food. Best Western across the road brought in a generator for guests. I’m not blaming the staff or the inn for an outage they couldn’t forecast. Outages happen, especially in an area that can get storms or earthquakes. My complaint is the owners’ response and lack of provisions. A generator seemed like a standard thing to have, and the owners didn’t seem to care or try to help. After their reply, I lowered my rating: it confirmed outages had happened before, but said nothing about contingency plans. The place is nice and the staff are great, but I’d choose Best Western across the road for more reliable service.