The Groveland Hotel At Yosemite National Park, Groveland

This was a last minute booking and we were happy to find a place but very disappointed in the end. Since this is a historic hotel we were expecting small rooms what I was not expecting were barking dogs. The hotel allows dogs so all evening long we heard yapping from three different rooms! The room was very very small with a bed frame that looked like oak from a distance but was cheap plastic up close...plastic. The rest of the fixtures furniture felt like yard sale finds. Our very old oak armoire nearly collapsed when the door was opened. The breakfast service was terrible. It took them over an hour before we had our meal. They said they ruined the hash brown potatoes twice. At $217 dollars a night I expect more. I have been in so many Bed and Breakfasts inns and had hoped for a similar warm experience. This place did not have it. The feeling I had is that it may have been a much better place years ago but management had forgotten how to properly run an inn.

The food and wine selection is awesome! We have a place at Pine Mountain Lake Resort and love to visit the restaurant to celebrate our birthdays or just go wine tasting and have a great meal.

We stopped for dinner during our stay in the area. The gal at the front desk was busy at her computer and told us to wait at the door of the dining room. There were several parties dining and several empty tables that were set for patrons. No one else was waiting and there was no hostess. When a waitress finally appeared, she asked if we had reservations. When told no, she was less than hospitable and said she'd have to check with the chef first. While waiting for her to return, we decided we'd just go along as we didn't feel welcomed.

I took a while to write this review as I really like to support small businesses but this weekend was a disaster for us and I heavily rely on travel intel so I decided to share. We were looking for a luxury romantic getaway and found the property in need of serious renovation and the suite a long way from the representations on the website (we stayed in the "truly decadent suite"). The lobby (a very nice elderly man checked us in) is laden with old merchandise(everything from dusty beauty products to faux jewelry) -- it was not charming or even quirky more like a 7-11 counter. Odd. The halls are full of barren furniture (that the housekeepers use in the morning) and the room itself was not particularly clean (they had more things to buy in the room and merchandise was covered in dust and hair). It seemed like the housekeepers tried to keep things up but the furniture in the room was just too old (you would not want to sit on the couch) and you could feel the pull-out sofa springs under the couch cushions. The bed was comfortable but you had to close all the blinds in the room for privacy (or it was a fishbowl). Not very romantic much less "truly decadent." Our efforts to discuss the problems with management were not well received. My guess is that 10+ years ago a lot of money was put in the property but not much has been done since than (except maybe some bathroom updates as those seemed better). If this room was $100-115 per night it would be fine but we paid over $230 for our room. Our room was right by the outdoor restaurant so we didn't have much sleep w/the noise at night and early in the morning they set up for the weekly art and music festival. It was interesting that the locals didn't seem to have much love for the hotel either (not sure why that is). I should note the cookies they leave in the room are great & the breakfast was fine. The staff (including housekeeping) was very nice as well. I would recommend staying in Jamestown.

Old, rickety hotel not worth the steep price of a room. Room was small and bed uncomfortable. Both bar and dining room were overpriced. Expect to spend a lot of time waiting for both a bar or dinner item. When dinner finally came one order was wrong, another order had undercooked seafood and the third order was tasteless. On a positive note the free breakfast buffet was very nice but still not worth what we had already paid for an unforgettable room, drink and dinner.

We really enjoyed our stay. The on site resturant was a feature that is the greatest in our estimation. Highly recommend. We will revisit when we can. Howard and Linda