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Sequoia Village Inn
45971 Sierra Dr
Three Rivers, CA 93271
(559) 561-3652
Three Rivers, CA 93271
(559) 561-3652
- Price Range:
-
$$
4 reviews for Sequoia Village Inn
Wow! My family and I just got back from a trip to the Sequoia National Park and stayed at this really charming cluster of cabins and I have to say it was an incredible trip!
The rooms are hardly modern, but you're not 'roughing it', either. But the location makes it absolutely perfect! It's the last commercial building before you enter the park from Highway 198, just across the street from the river (so you can hear the water rushing over the rocks), and within a stone's throw from a restaurant.
My kids really enjoyed the river access across the street via the Buckeye Tree hotel. We walked down to the river, sat on the huge boulders near the water and just threw rocks into the river for an hour! The kids had a blast!
And the staff was about as friendly as you can get! They were cheery and offered to take alot of pictures of us!
After a day in the park hiking and looking at the enormous trees, nothing was better than getting back to our cabin, cracking an ice cold beer and sitting out on the balcony to take in the view.
What an experience!
I do have to come clean, though, about one thing: This is third trip to these cabins. The first was in '98 -- my girlfriend and I stumbled on them by accident and loved it. Then we went back in '99 and I proposed to her there (on the historic Pumpkin Hollow bridge)! So my review might be a little colored by nostalgia. :-)
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I chose this place for a late-July visit to Sequoia National Park based in part on the positive reviews here, and I have to say it was a major disappointment. While many of the positives discussed in other reviews did apply, I had a number of negative experiences that put a damper on my stay.
Like one of the prior reviewers, I too stayed in Hummingbird, one of the smaller cabins, located right by the pool. Being near the pool was convenient, as the daytime highs in Three Rivers during my stay were around 100 degrees, and I used the pool a lot. As most guests seemed to obey the official rule not to use the pool after dark, noise was not a problem.
Alas, the lights around the pool, operated by a motion sensor, were a major problem my first night. They came on randomly, once or twice per hour, all through the night, flooding the cabin with light and waking me up several times. My difficulty sleeping was worsened by the fact that the little window air conditioner (which had not been turned on all day when I arrived around 3:30 p.m.) was hopelessly inadequate to cool the room down sufficiently, while being noisy enough to be sleep-disrupting.
Adding insult to injury, the bed in the cabin was amazingly hard -- not firm, which I like, but North-Korean-prison-camp-hard.
I complained about the lights and the AC the next morning, and a guy came by my room fairly quickly to address them. He successfully adjusted the pool area lights, so they were not a problem for the remaining two nights. He insisted that the AC in the room was "great" but said he would see if there was another unit he could swap out. I don't think he did (or if he did, the new one was indistinguishable from the old), but leaving the thing on all day allowed the room to be bearable when I returned from my day's activities. Fortunately, for the last 2 nights of my stay the nights got a little cooler, and I was able to turn the AC off around 11 p.m. and get to sleep. Had the outside temperature been a few degrees warmer -- entirely possible in midsummer -- I might not have slept at all.
During our most recent visit to Sequoia National Park over New Year's weekend, my wife and I spent one night at the Sequoia Village Inn in addition to two nights at the Buckeye Tree Lodge across the street, which I have reviewed separately. Both properties are part of a small group of accommodations located just outside the park gate and are ideal for visitors staying outside of the park. I believe they both share the same management.
While the lodge is more like a motel, the Inn is a small cluster of private cabins which provides a totally different experience. We stayed in the Hummingbird cabin, one of the smallest ones on the end nearest the pool. While I might have hesitated to take this cabin in the summer, I expected that no one would be using the pool in thirty degree weather and was correct. We had a nice and quiet evening and were very comfortable. For all of those city dwellers, don't forget that the shower takes a while to heat up in the winter, and if you flush the toilet while your husband/wife/whatever is showering, you will be in big trouble! Aside from that, the cabin had a reasonably comfortable bed, corner table with chairs, television, microwave, patio, & charcoal BBQ.
One reason I would highly recommend the Sequoia Village Inn is that it affords you the ability to prepare your own meals. Dining choices are pretty limited in Three Rivers, so the amenities here will certainly save you some cash and inconvenience. We were surprised to find wifi internet access, but it was via satellite and so a little unpredictable in our experience. Cell phone coverage was also limited, which we were hoping for in order to have a quiet getaway!
If you are a couple or family planning a trip to Sequoia and considering staying outside of the park, the Sequoia Village Inn should be your top choice.
A private compound of small cabins, across the street from the Buckeye Tree Lodge and the Gateway hotel. The location couldn't be more ideal, the very last businesses before you enter Sequoia National Park. We stayed in the Falcon, which is probably the nicest of the cabins, with a huge living room and kitchen, separate bedroom, and a large private patio with its own grill. The Inn is under the same ownership as the Buckeye Tree Lodge, so you are free to use the Buckeye's river access and pool, but if you're choosing between the two, go with this one.