Frommer's National Parks of the American West - Don Laine [446]
Groveland Hotel
18767 Calif. 120, Groveland, CA 95321. ☎ 800/273-3314 or 209/962-4000. Fax 209/962-6674. www.groveland.com. 17 units, 4 with shower only. A/C TEL. $135–$175 double, $225–$275 suite. Extra person $25. Rates include buffet breakfast. AE, DC, DISC, MC, V. Pets accepted with approval.
There's enough history, good food, and conversation here to give travelers pause before they head into Yosemite. Groveland is about as quaint a town as you can get, and Peggy and Grover Mosley have poured their hearts into making their hotel an elegant but comfortable place to stay. It was vacant for years and on the verge of tumbling down, when the Mosleys decided to forgo a quiet retirement from very interesting careers (you'll have to ask for yourself) to renovate and reopen the hotel. They've done a great job, and the hotel is now a historic landmark. It consists of two buildings—one constructed in 1849 to house gold miners, and the other built in 1919 for workers constructing the nearby Hetch Hetchy Dam. Standard rooms are spacious, with feather beds, hair dryers, and phones with dataports. Some have TVs. All rooms are filled with antiques and have thick down comforters, beds you want to sink into, and plush robes. Suites have large spa bathtubs and fireplaces. Many rooms are named after women of the Sierra and local characters, although Lyle's Room bears the name of the hotel's resident ghost— return patrons swear it's true. Then there's Charlie's Room, named for a hard-driving, tobacco-spitting stagecoach driver and farmer. When he died, the townspeople learned he was a she.
The small, candlelit dining room offers the best food in town (see "Where to Dine," below). The hotel offers room service, as well as a safe on the premises, tennis courts, stables, and an 18-hole golf course 1 mile away.
Hotel Charlotte
18736 Calif. 120, Groveland, CA 95321. ☎ 800/961-7799 or 209/962-6455. Fax 209/962-6254. www.hotelcharlotte.com. 10 units. A/C TEL. $89–$129 double. Rates include full breakfast. AE, MC, V.
Walking into the Charlotte is like stepping back in time. Built in 1918 by an Italian immigrant of the same name, it's warm, comfortable, and a good choice for those who enjoy the ambience of a small historic hotel. The hotel's rooms—all upstairs—are small, quaint, and nicely maintained. Several rooms adjoin and have connecting bathrooms (perfect for families) with claw-foot tub/shower combos. There's an excellent restaurant, Café Charlotte, and the lobby has a TV and a guest computer with Internet access. (There's also a Wi-Fi network on the premises.) The pancake buffet breakfast is great—strong coffee, cereals, fruit, juices, and piping-hot flapjacks.
Sunset Inn
33569 Harden Flat Rd., Groveland, CA 95321. ☎ 888/962-4360 or 209/962-4360. www.susetinnusa.com. 3 cabins, 1 house. $130– $200 cabin. MC, V.
Just 2 miles from Yosemite's entrance gates, the Sunset Inn is the perfect antidote to the hubbub of the valley. Surrounded by old-growth forest, the inn's 2 acres were once a bustling logging camp, then a tourist camp. The property is now a world apart, complete with a frog pond, chicken coop, swing set, and hiking trails in every direction. The cabins are not new by any means, but they have been lovingly restored by Bill Nickell, the carpenter-innkeeper who owns and operates the place with his wife, Lauren. Each cabin has attractive woodwork, quilts, a wood-burning stove, and a full kitchen. Outdoors are picnic tables, barbecue grills, and porch rockers that are ideal to watch the phenomenon from which the inn takes its name.
Yosemite Rose
22830 Ferretti Rd., Groveland, CA 95321. ☎ 866/962-6548. Fax 209/962-7750. www.yosemiterose.com. 7 units, 1 cottage. $135–$145 double; $165 suite; $160–$255 cottage. Rates include full breakfast. AE, DISC, MC, V.
Located on 210 acres of working