Our serene Wawona arrival was destroyed with a daunting set of stairs leading to the hotel lobby. After checking in, which took some time; we again carried our own luggage up another flight of stairs to the second floor. We opened our door to find a small, hot and stuffy room. There was a mini electric fan on the floor which helped circulate the hot air around the room...kind of like a convection oven. Unable to stay in the room we went down to have dinner in the dining area. This room was also uncomfortably warm and we actually broke a sweat just lifting our forks. We spent the rest of the evening outdoors waiting for our room to cool off. When we could no longer stay awake we went back to the room and propped the door open, with the one and only chair, for ventilation. We spent the night tossing and turning, with our clothes on, should someone see us with the door open. At first light, having forfeited our showers due to dirty facilities, we were packed and on our way never to return.

First off, timing is everything. We have stayed in every building at the Wawona Hotel and loved and appreciated all their differences. One thing, we always stay at less busy times of the year (i.e. Fall, Winter & Spring) -- Summer is the busiest time. Our favorite building is the Clark Cottage. As many other reviewers have said Tom Bopp on the piano is another good reason to spend some time at the Wawona. We have listen to him play music from the 1910's, 20's, 30's, 40's, up to modern times .....mostly the older music and he usually has some interesting stories to tell about how the song originated -- so much fun. Unlike some of the reviewers, we have had excellent service and food at the restaurant - we have even come to know some of the wait staff over the many years we have been going. As with many historic hotel/restaurants there are times when they are 'filled to the gills', short-handed and under-staffed. We hope to continue to enjoy the Wawona for many years to come and hope others will too.

After reading the reviews online we were a little nervous about staying at the Wawona and eating at the restaurant. Maybe because of those lowered expectations, we were actually very impressed. Granted we had a room with a bathroom, and they put us in the "honeymoon suite", or so they said. It was room 87 - in a much smaller section of the hotel, away from the main building, so fewer people to make noise walking around at night. The room was spacious and very nice - not "worn" at all. Likewise, we had a great dinner in the restaurant. The service was very impressive, and the food and wine were excellent. I don't doubt that a lot of people have experienced horrible service there (judging by the reviews), but we didn't find anything like that. The location of the Wawona is great, near the Sycamores. We would go back.

The key to enjoying your stay at the Wawona Hotel is to set your expectations at an appropriate level. This is an historic hotel with unique charms that you are unlikely to find anywhere else in California.

We have been staying at the Wawona for more than 10 years, first with our children (who were in their early teens when we started going there) and more recently for mini-getaways, just the two of us.

Of the 100 or so rooms in the main building and several outlying buidlings, roughly half have private baths and the rest require guests to use communal bathrooms and showers. If you call for a reservation and find that only the latter type of room is available, and are not prepared for this type of "roughing it," then stop right there. Do not book a room. You will not enjoy it.

On the other hand, if you consider having a room with hard walls an improvement over, say, a tent cabin at Curry Village in Yosemite Valley, then you will enjoy virtually any room at the Wawona.

If you are lucky enough to book a room with private bath, you may still find that the lack of soundproofing in some rooms is a drawback.

Despite these factors, we have consistently found the Wawona to be a wonderful place to stay. We are originally from New England and this is the closest thing to staying at one of the grand hotels of the White Mountains that you will find west of the Mississippi. Sitting in one of the many Adirondack chairs around the hotel, or on the balcony of the main building, enjoying the beauty of the tall trees and the hills surrounding the hotel, possibly with a glass of wine in hand, is a marvelous experience.

Tom Bopp's piano and singing in the lounge are another reason we keep going back. He specializes in show tunes from the early 20th century as well as more obscure songs from that period. When we were there recently there were several "Bopp-ophiles" in the audience who engaged in high-spirited banter with Tom about the merits of various pieces of music.

We also had an excellent meal -- end cut of prime rib -- in the Wawona dining room. It has been uneven in the past but we found no fault with this meal.

The reviewer who said "I think the hotel is misleading people selling itself as a luxury hotel" puzzles us. The Wawona has never billed itself this way. There is, unfortunately, some confusion in people's minds between the Ahwahnee Hotel, which does bill itself as a luxury hotel, and the Wawona, because of the similarity of the names, and the fact that they are both in Yosemite. The two properties are very, very different.

In short, set your expectations appropriately, be prepared to do without some of the services and facilities that you would will find at a more modern hotel, and you will be amply rewarded by a stay at the Wawona.