Just a few miles out of town but light years from the crowds you'll find a Sierra Winter Wonderland. We checked into one of the deluxe 1 bedroom cabins which is hardly deluxe but worth it for the location alone. The historical property sits at the edge of a lake across from sheer cliffs beyond which are the peaks of the ski area. If downhill is your game the Canyon lift is a short drive or you can take the shuttle to the village. We we're there for downhill skiing but quickly revised our plans once we saw the vistas from our cabin. The Nordic Center at Tamarack rents everything you need to explore the surrounding hills and vales. We snow shoed through deep powder in a magical forest one day. The next found us x country skiing on their empty and incredibly groomed trails. Day 3 we lazed in our cabin which included a full kitchen, gas fireplace and overstuffed couches and chairs. The best thing about these cabins was the feeling of being in our own winter lodge. So quiet and relaxing. The views out the windows, especially when it was snowing we're captivating. The restaurant was good, the staff delightful. I've read other reviews about this hotel being overpriced and I somewhat agree but would happily overpay again to fall under the spell of this incredible winter destination.

Many of the reviews here dwell on the breakfast, wifi and resort fee. Enough has been said so I will skip those. We stayed in a deluxe one bedroom cabin for three nights over Christmas. In contrast to other properties in Mammoth, this lodge is deep in the woods next to a pair of lakes and towering cliffs. The scenery is exquisite. There has been heavy snow so far this winter and nearly two feet fell while we were there. Our cabin was up a steep slope and the only access was by hiking through the snow. Thankfully the staff kept paths groomed, but if you have problems with mobility the cabins might not be wise in winter. The cabin itself was nice. Its large deck was covered in snow, but must be very pleasant in summer. The main room was about 250 square feet with a table for four, a sofa bed and an overstuffed chair. A gas fireplace threw out plenty of heat. The main room floor is wood but the entrance area is stone with a bench and a row of hooks for hanging coats. This area was large enough for three of us to stow our winter gear without tracking snow into the rest of the cabin. The bedroom was large with a desk, armoir and end tables. The bedroom has many drawers but somewhat limited space to hang clothing. The bed was king size, with a poor quality mattress. Ditto for the sofabed. The kitchen was large enough for two people, barely. Cookware and crockery were adequate and housekeeping replaced our dish towels each day. You do need to bring your own paper towels and I recommend bringing your own ground coffee because the packets they provide are designed for the tiny coffee maker found in a hotel room, yet the coffee maker is full size (it has a permanent filter so no need to bring paper filters). The main room of the lodge was cozy but cramped when the holiday crowd all showed up at once; otherwise it was very enjoyable. A wood fire was kept burning throughout the day and a wood stove in the corner kept the room toasty. My wife asked them to make up a cheese platter and it was beautifully done and delicious. We ate dinner at the restaurant on Christmas Eve and it too was excellent. Like everything to do with the Lodge, it was quite expensive but at Tamarack you are paying for the location. If you favor peace and beauty over amenities, and if you don't mind paying for it, I doubt you will find a better place to stay in Mammoth.

We arrived in Mammoth after dark as part of a road trip and decided to try Tamarak based on reviews on this site. This is very much the old style "lodge" and our room upstairs was tiny (basically awooded box) with little room for anything other than the bed - with bathroom down the hall. It was fine for an overnight stay but I wouldn't recommend for any longer. The lodge also charges a resort fee (not sure why) for a very basic breakfast and wifi that was not working at all during our stay.
I must say the surroundings though are beautiful, and the person to check out out was great and gave us some good tips for the rest of our road trip.

We had never travelled to Mammoth Lakes before but had a few days before our reservations in Yosemite. We booked Tamarack based on reviews and their website. The historic lodge and our deluxe one bedroom cabin definitely met expectations. It helped that the weather was perfect. We loved the cozy living room with fireplace and all the amenities in the kitchen and bath. Beautiful view of the lake from our front deck.

One gripe though is that we stayed here from Monday to Wednesday. Because it is off season, the restaurant -- which we had planned to enjoy -- was closed! We didn't want to have to drive back and forth to the town on unfamiliar roads after dinner and wine. That is a small complaint but it would have been appropriate to have been advised of this when we made our booking.

Also, the hotel charges a resort fee of $20 a day...for services that we never used. The breakfast was really poor--hard boiled eggs and stale bagels--and the only thing we wanted to use on the property were kayaks, which were an additional $20 per hour. So in addition to our pretty steep room price we were charged for items that frankly should have been part of the room rate.

All in all, though, we really liked the place. Just would make sure next time what is and isn't included in the rate.