It's in the park. That means you go to sleep to the sound of Yosemite Falls, which is outside your window. You wake up and walk 50 feet to breakfast. In the evenings, after a day of hiking or touring, you can choose from the cafeteria, the restaurant or the great lodge bar. We tried them all and loved them each for different reasons. The restaurant had good American bistro fare. The cafeteria was great for breakfast and lunch and snacks, but the bar had the best food! Great chili and salads that were perfect after a long day's hike.

The hotel itself is a national park hotel, so you're not looking for the Ritz. But many of the rooms, including ours, have been recently renovated and have a nice, new shower and comfortable beds. I love the raw wood furniture and the little deck as well.

We might stay somewhere else for a little more luxury - but for convenience, location and price, this is an unbeatable deal. Book early (like months in advance).

I went back and forth whether to rate the lodge "poor" or "average" but finally decided on the latter just due to location. Check in was at 5 (kind of late) but that went off without a hitch. However, when I went to park, there was not a space to be found anywhere close to our room. I ended up having to double park while we unloaded, and then find a space several parking lots away (only about a 10 minute walk, so wasn't terrible, but it was raining at the time). As described elsewhere, the rooms are simple and plain, our met our needs for the night, nothing more. Staff was friendly and helpful. Food court was packed for dinner, there was about a 20 minute wait for the grill, fortunately there were other options that only had about a 5 minute wait. We considered the restaurant, but it was far over our budget so we passed. Breakfast at the food court was fine with much shorter lines.

Lodge is spread out - I thought it would be a normal hotel with multiple levels. It's just 2 story building - it was good that we got a room on the upper level - could leave the door open without fear of mice or other animals... Make sure you don't get a room too far off the main facility (dining halls...etc.).

Our room had a nice view of the Yosemite Falls. That was pretty much the only thing going on for the room. Otherwise it was dirty. Don't expect any luxuries here - think bare essentials (bed & bath).

Location -
Decent enough - there is a shuttle service stop right in front of the lobby. It's free and runs in a loop - every 15-20mins. Last shuttle is at 10pm. We were 10minutes walking distance from the Yosemite Falls and the valley floor - it was good.

We had the breakfast plan.
Old staff, bad breakfast food, slow people... Every morning it took about an hour to grab a bite to eat. You just cannot rush these people. And the food options for breakfast range between bad to questionable.

Dinner on the hand was unexpectedly good - it was the best meal we had in fact!
It was even better than Ahwahnee hotel dinner we had which I had booked 2 months in advance, and was only half the price. If anything, I would say splurge on the dinner here.

Customer service -
Forget about it. Better have the whole trip planned out - NO ONE here will help you figure anything out. I think it's a Yosemite thing - people are generally rude, clueless, uncaring. There is a tourist help desk, but in 3 attempts we made to get their help - we left frustrated and angry.
This covers everyone from reception to waiters...

Rooms are simple and clean, and ours had a view of Half Dome out the window. The cost is reasonable considering location. Deer eating out the door was a treat. Can hike to Yosemite Falls in 10 minutes. Great bus service from lodge to see whole valley.