After a mildly disappointing night at Wuksachi Lodge in Sequoia, staying at Wawona was exactly the experience we’d been hoping for. We arrived at Yosemite late on Saturday night, ending a full day that took us through three national parks and an awful lot of other countryside—including the surreal experience of descending from the mountains into sprawling Fresno, negotiating city traffic as dusk fell, and heading north and back up into the mountains under the stars.

After a quick fast food meal in Oakhurst, the border town that provides much of the tourist infrastructure on Yosemite’s south side, we passed the park boundary and entrance sign in near-perfect darkness. After a few obligatory photos, we realized we still had another 8 miles until we could call it a day. A little later, we finished negotiating a final set of s-curves and pulled into the drive at Wawona. As we came around the bend, the white Victorian lodge came into view, looking every bit the part of the grand old structure we expected. Softly lit under dark skies, the long front porch brought to mind the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. I was grateful the tariff would be a lot lower than the Grand’s high rates.

Our room was on the second story, around the left side, as you faced the front. Most rooms are in the main building, with more in Washburn Cottage and a few other later additions behind the hotel. The ubiquitous white paint, the cast iron bed, the small room size and the furniture all reinforce the hotel’s historic feel. Rooms come with and without bath, and we taken one of the latter and saved $60 or so (with my daughter’s permission). The shared bath was a short walk down the balcony, with two showers, and was about as convenient as any such arrangement could be.

I loved the classic feel of the place. It began with the lobby, which seemed oddly poised somewhere between the 19th and 21st century, its dim, nearly gas-lit feel at odds with occupants’ constant attempts to find cell phone coverage. The dining room is off to the left from the front desk, and we enjoyed a great breakfast the next morning that was included with our room rate, and came with attentive servant from one of the many college students that staff such places the world around.

Before heading off for a full day of exploring Yosemite (beginning by backtracking to nearby Mariposa Grove of sequoias), we wandered around the pleasant grounds, including an orientation to the park with the rangers at the Information Station housed in the neighboring old Hill Studio. A fountain fills the middle of the circle drive in front of the hotel, which seems marred by the cars that fill every bit of available pavement. Everything else at Wawona suggests a calm, unhurried pace. Even a golf course seems to fit here, suggesting an older time when the hotel was part and parcel of the destination, offering not only the park but also its own experiences.

I’d love to stay here again on another trip to Yosemite. It’s not too convenient to the Valley, and much less so to Tuolumne Meadows and the other sights along the Tioga Road. But after having coped with the crowds that fill the Valley, an hour’s retreat to Wawona would be a small price to pay to restore a little of the quiet that’s easy to lose in the Valley’s crush.

The venerable Wawona Hotel is a cluster of six, white wooden New England-style buildings set on a broad green lawn that was the site of Clark Station. Galen Clark, Yosemite's original superintendent and guardian, chose this spot the local Miwok Indians called "Pallachun" - "a good place to stop" - to build his rustic lodge in 1856. Clark Station quickly became a favorite place for lodging and refreshment for those traveling to Yosemite Valley.

In 1875, Clark sold his establishment to Henry Washburn who renamed the site Wawona -- Miwok for "Big Trees". A year later, Washburn built Clark Cottage, the oldest structure in the complex, followed by the main hotel building in 1879.

Wawona is one of the oldest mountain resort hotels in California and a National Historic Landmark. Its verdant meadows, rushing streams, and tranquility make this a favorite of those who prefer a relaxed environment and the gracious charm of a bygone era. The hotel is located four miles from the park's south entrance and cradled between the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees and the Yosemite Valley.

Most of the hotel's 104 guestrooms open onto the Wawona's signature verandas and are reminiscent of European-style hotel rooms. Housed in six buildings, the rooms are furnished in period pieces and antiques. Fifty of the rooms have private baths while the rest are served by central restroom and shower facilities. All rooms offer daily maid service, but there are no telephones or televisions.

Like an aging "grand dame" the Wawona remains a classic but is showing the wear and tear of the years. We had one of the rooms with the private bath which were more expensive than the rooms without. Our evening was spent listening to the piano stylings and singing of Tom Bopp. He is a fine pianist who plays and sings for the guests of the Wawona since 1983.