Conveniently located just outside Yosemite park, this large hotel is located right next to Hwy 140, has large rooms with kitchenettes and many rooms with views of the Merced River. The kitchenette included a stove, microwave, and mini refrigerator. Inside the lobby is a well stocked convenience store with basic amenities, a gift shop, and a good sized room for sitting in the evening to play card games, etc.There are several pools onsite and a large hot tub that can fit 10 people comfortably.

I stayed at this location 10 years ago and loved it. It is in a beautiful location and is close to Yosemite. However, its been a stale 10 years for this location. While they have expanded the property, they still have the same old bed spreads that left me freezing on the cold winter night. OR I could leave the heat on all night but would wake up in the middle of the night in a sweat baking from the heat. The kitchenette area was nice, clean and filled with useful utensils. However, the refrigerator didn't work that well and I ended up with spoiled food.
I got no phone service whatsoever, so to connect to the outside world I had to use their internet. The rooms have no internet service and you have to go to the lobby to use the internet and you still had to pay 10 bucks a day. At that, the speed was crappy and you had to log in / log out several times to get it to work. I could accept this if it was free, but to pay 30 bucks over 3 days for frustrating service is bad taste. Note to YVL: I would pay 15 bucks a day to have great service in my room and I think a lot of people would.
The lobby has a gift shop that has seen better days. I felt like I was over at Grandma's and she didn't want me touching her creepy doll collection and antiques. The pizza at the complex was great and the staff there was helpful.
The hotel staff was great, very knowledgeable and helpful. I'd only go here in the summer when you don't have to worry about the heat so much.

After a long drive from Napa, arriving at El Portal was quite the comfort. Despite some reviews I had read, I found the front desk staff pleasant, friendly and helpful. We arrived just before midnight, had no trouble finding the hotel and check in was smooth. We quickly got settled in and were greeted by "Frick", or was it "Frack", one of the local racoons sitting at our front door! The room was chilly and the heater didn't seem to have a thermostat, just kept running all night. The restaurant closed at 10:30 a.m. and we almost missed breakfast! The food was fine, not 5 star, but fine for our needs. The kitchenette in the room could have been handy if we were staying more than the one night. This hotel is as close as you can get to the Yosemite entrance to the valley and served our purpose well.

Our party of 4 adults spent 3 nights here - in one extremely clean, spacious and comfortable, standard room. Useful and effective kitchenette and a spacious bathroom with a fab shower - just what we needed after long days walking the stunning national park trails. Location is perfect - just a very scenic 15 min drive and you are in to the park. Unexpected bonus (as not highlighted on booking) was a good continental breakfast provided most days in the hotel lobby - cereals, toast, bagels, eggs, pastries , coffes teas, juice. Front desk staff were quiet and reserved, but very helpful when asked for/about anything. Would definitely reccomend the Yosemite View Lodge, and will be returning here for our next visit to Yosemite.