Yosemite Valley Lodge

Yosemite Valley Lodge is a 245-room lodging campus near the base of Yosemite Falls, with guest rooms and dining clustered around a central courtyard. Covered walkways connect several buildings. I'd choose it for a central Valley base: the location is the big draw, while rooms are often described as dated.

Base Camp Eatery is a food court with several cuisines. Starbucks serves espresso drinks and pastries; the Mountain Room is a dinner steakhouse, and its lounge has cocktails and lighter meals. There's also a shop for groceries and gifts, a tour desk, drinking water and public restrooms. Outlet schedules vary, so check the current dining schedule if you're arriving late.

Guests first stayed here in 1915, when the operation used a converted Army building. Architect Eldridge T. Spencer designed the current complex for the National Park Service's Mission 66 program; it opened in 1959 around a courtyard, with low horizontal buildings and large glass walls meant to bring in the light and views of Yosemite Falls. Spencer drew on John Muir's description of the Sierra as a “range of light.”

The 1997 flood damaged more than half the guest rooms, and most of the damaged rooms were removed. Cedar Cottage is the only pre-Mission 66 guest accommodation left. That gives the lodge a less obvious story than its role as a convenient place to sleep: much of what you see is a mid-century design shaped by both the park landscape and a major flood.