This last spring break our family went to Yosemite National Park. We stayed at Tenaya Lodge. They are located just 2 miles from the Park gates on HWY 41 and only a 30 minute, breath taking drive to the valley floor. We lucked out with extremely hot weather the week before and a sudden cold spell that brought snow to Yosemite and the surrounding areas. What does that mean?? Big waterfalls and snow capped mountains & trees. Virgin snow surrounded the lodge. Super nice!!

We had an amazing room with a view of the surrounding snow capped trees and mountains (and parking lot.. lol!) They had a seasonal, outdoor ice rink. The kids loved it and they were the only ones on the ice. There was an indoor pool and hot tub as well as an outdoor pool & hot tub (but the outside pools were closed). They had a full service spa (at an additional charge) and a steam room and sauna, which we all loved at one point or another during our stay.

The resort had 3 restaurants and a breakfast spot on site. The food was okay… but there is really nowhere else to go without a good 20 minute drive one way. They were in the midst of construction, so hopefully the menu has changed.

Tenaya Lodge recently bought out cottages next door and have been renovating them to compliment the lodge. I requested a tour of the cabins and they are a nice place to go with family. They have a separate pool & hot tub, but also have full priviledges of the main lodge. In the summer, these cottages would be nice to stay in, but in the winter, it’s a bit of a walk to get to the main lodge.. especially if there is snow on the ground.

Yosemite is all I’ve ever imagined and more. There is a great little sandwich shop next to the market and surprisingly, it is very reasonable!!!

We checked out the Famous Ahwahnee Lodge. Yes, it’s a beautiful, rustic cabin resort is breathtaking.. but the fact you need to book months in advance and pay 3 times as much as Tenaya Lodge leads me to think its really not worth the extra money. Plus, it’s filled with tourists checking it out. Which to me, is just not that cool. Only benefit is that you are on the valley floor.

The Valley floor has a great bus system, so once you are there, you just park your car and ride for free. It does get extremely congested in the summer months. But because we went in the early Spring, technically I think it was still winter.. there was very few cars and people. Just the way we like it!

We had many amazing views and took well over a 1,000 photos. Bring extra memory cards and batteries for the camera. Good walking shoes and a jacket for sudden weather changes.

Check out the photos we posted on TheTravelvision here on FaceBook!

Best deals for the resorts were found on our website… TheTravelvision.com! Have fun!