We stayed here for 2 nights when we went to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. The motel is very cute and quaint. Reminds me of the motels of the past. The grounds were very attractive and you could walk to the lake. It was very quiet and peaceful at night. We were traveling with a small dog and our adult daughter. We were able to get Room 14 which consisted of 2 small separate bedrooms with an adjoining small bathroom. This setup was great for us! The staff was very friendly. You do need to pick up your continental breakfast the night before since the office doesn't open until 9:00am. The breakfast consisted of your choice of muffins, bagels, juices, fruit, yogurt, etc. The only minor problem we had was a rattling air conditioner, which I didn't report until we checked out.

If you fancy ants in your bathroom, maids entering your room whilst the "Do not disturb" sign is attached to the door and visible, smoke (from barbecue grills near rooms), Disheveled staff, and nonstandard motel arrangement, then this is the place for you. My family and I decided to stay here after much planning, choosing the rustic, old-fashioned, seemingly charming motel over the modern Comfort Inn right down the street. Throughout our stay at the ranch, we regretted our choice more and more. After our first trip to Sequoia National Park, we returned to find that our room had been tidied somewhat, against our wishes, with total disregard of the "Do Not Disturb" sign they themselves provided. Items ARE missing. The lazy J did have many guests attending their motel. The only problem was that most of them weren't human. Be it ants invading the bathrooms, or mosquitoes from the nearby lake (not their fault, but the Lazy J has a deplorable location), the Lazy J is teeming with activity... The pool is o.k., and there is a volleyball net in the courtyard lawn (w/ weathered equipment), but the negatives outweigh the positives by far. Do not stay here.

Our reception was friendly and positive. We were amazed to find that our cottage was actually two cottages with an adjoining door. So, we actually had two bedrooms, each with its own tv...and one with fridge and coffee maker. This suited us down to the ground! We had the first cottage as you come into the site (on the right). This gave us our own car park and a fantastic spot for viewing wildlife....rabbits, squirrels, scrub and stellars jays, woodpeckers galore...we spent ages just photographing them.....by the reception office there are humming birds...and still on the grounds, by the lake white herons. The rooms were clean and the beds were good. Our only complaint about the cottage was a very ill fitting air con unit in one room, far beyond its best...held together by duct tape....which seemed to let a lot of water onto the carpet from an unknown source. This was cleared/dried up by the owners...but we never asked where the water had come from....we suspect that watering of the garden by automatic sprinklers had allowed water in through the ill-fitting aircon. This would be very off-putting to a lot of people...however, it DID work, and we were sleeping in the other room and because we were so happy in our cottage with its little covered verandah and with the collect-the evening-before continental breakfast....and with the general appearance of the grounds, we didn't find it worth complaining further. The Americas Best Value inn toiletries were good and included mouth wash which was replenished daily. So, overall a very positive and enjoyable experience....but our advice would be: please get a new aircon unit in there. Excellent place to visit Sequoia...but we found that if you wanted to get to Kings Canyon you needed a lot more time and possibly go via Fresno. We loved the Mineral King road and drove that to its end point....a full day trip in itself.

This is an older style motel with a laid back slower pace. The first thing you'll notice is the Adirondack style chairs in front of the rooms. Folks are outside having a beverage or coffee in the Am and enjoying life. Its quiet. Despite being near CA-4 very little traffic and you can hear the birds chirping in the morning very clearly. Nice open area and a kids playground area with swings and slide. We checked into cabin 5 and it has two queen beds and a pull out couch so can sleep up to 5. There is a nice kitchen which is fully equipped (no salt and pepper though)

Some rooms are attached but cabins 1-5 are small little houses.

We used the pool which is unheated but in July it was 95 degrees F during the day so this was not an issue. It is a nice pool with 3 foot depth up to 9 feet. we enjoyed the pool a few times. It was used by a lot of the folks. but never too crowed. Most times we had it to ourselves.

Behind cabin 5 is a horseshoe pit and tether ball we used both it was great fun. They also have BBQ grills you can use if you want. Some of the cabins have picnic benches in the back. There is a corral with sheep and goats. Nice touch and makes it very farm like. You can walk to the river and several folks from the motel were fishing.

The kitchen has a small table for 4. We went to the village market about 3 minutes away for food and cooked. Nice respite from all the restaurant eating on this trip. Need to clean dishes before you check out.

We stayed here as all the lodging at sequoia was sold out. It was a good choice. Its about an hour to the trees. They are majestic. They are repairing the road there and the road opens on at the top of the hour for about 10 minutes. On the way down it opens on the quarter hour (say 10:15)

There were a few spiders in the rooms corners but nothing of concern to us. Didn't bother us. The showers were great with lots of pressure. They have a top heater also which would be nice in cooler weather. Nice towels and good service daily. Coffeemaker and coffee for Am.

The owners are German and spoke fluent German to a few guest right ahead of me in the checkout line. They have a great DVD and VHS movies in the office for checkout. Kids loved this. The Breakfast is continental and they open at 9am but gave a nice offer to take the food to the room for preparation if you get up before 9am (which is most people)