Tioga Lodge

A quaint little retreat on Highway 395, this lodge features adorable cottages overlooking the water. The staff was very helpfuThe cafe is not open right now so bring your own food~

I totally changed my mind about this Place. Yes it's a little rustic but they go and take the time to make sure you're comfortable. We totally appreciate that. So thank you.

We booked a room at Tioga Lodge at Mono Lake in Lee Vining. Then our vacation had to be postponed for 2 days so we requested that our reservation be changed by 2 days. There were several vacancies at that time on our requested date. This occurred 19 days prior to our reservation. Instead, the owner forced us to forfeit the full cost of the room and insisted we pay again (so double) for a reservation for two days later! In our opinion, this was poor treatment and reveals the attitude of the owner towards his customers.

Worst experience ever !!
My family and i have been staying here for years on our annual treck from San Diego to Tahoe so i decided to spend my 50th birthday near The place i love.It started out with the lady giving me the wrong room which i had already reserved which i called her out on . The room smelled like chemicals which made us sick so she offered us a second night in another room for free or a discounted price for cash.She asked for a card to hold the room until she spoke to the owner to see if the room would be discounted or a comp and she would get back to us later.The room ended up having no hot water, broken bathroom tiles ,a broken heater and no screens.To top it off the ground crew parked in front of out unit and worked and talked by our front door until 8:30 pm even though i asked them to leave they just acted put off and joked in another language about us and refused to leave.After i complained that night to the lady she instantly charged our card more than she did the first night and suggested that in the morning we could work it out.The next day she suggested we broke the heater and when i informed her i video'd the room she changed her tone.what a scam.Ive never been treated like that EVER in Lee Vining and Tioga Pass Inn gives the town a bad name.Do yourself a favor and never stay there.

So it's very rustic, and sits on a noisy highway. The food is not good. The service really sucks. It's charming and has potential, but I suspect bad management.

I got stung by a scorpion in my room. It was in my camera bag and stung me when I reached in. I told the very nice and seemingly stoned person running the show and he contacted the manager, who he described as hard nosed. She told him to comp me breakfast, but insist that he photograph my hand, which really only stung for a minute, and also insist I give up the scorpion, which I caught and had in a ziplock. He was very surprised that she agreed to comp me breakfast, and he told me she really doesn't care about Yelp ratings, and I should check them out.

I told him I would like to speak to her, and I would rather keep the scorpion, unless she wanted to comp my whole stay (a reasonable request for a scorpion attack, in my opinion), so he said he would call her after I had my breakfast, which we were about to order. I ordered my eggs and waited as our breakfast for 5 trickled in, one plate at a time. They forgot my son's pancakes, and I watched a comical dialogue between the waiter and the Spanish speaking cook (I believe his name was Pedro), where he showed him where he had written pancakes on the ticket. Pedro dutifully went to work on the pancakes, while I watched on, waiting for my eggs over medium to arrive as I sipped the somewhat insipid coffee and delicious fresh squeezed orange juice.

My eggs arrived over hard, with some thin slices of what the waiter told me he believed was chicken sausage (they had no other breakfast meat available...not even bacon). I told him the eggs had to be redone because they were cooked too hard, and he stared at me with a look of horror for an uncomfortably long time, until I repeated what I had said, also describing exactly what I meant by over medium (fully cooked egg whites but fully liquid yolk).

He went back to the open kitchen and once again engaged Pedro, who was still working on the pancakes. Pedro redid my eggs and the pancakes arrived as well, and I dove into my eggs, which were obviously not fresh (tasting a bit like sulphur) accompanied with what I would best describe as a small mound of sliced, cold, chicken sausage semi jerky.

I sighed a bit as I stared outside at the magnificent view of Mono lake. My son was getting full on the enormous pancakes, so I tried one and must say I was blown away by the fresh banana batter, light and fluffy, and unlike any other pancake I have ever had. Go with the pancakes and fresh squeezed juice, and don't be in a hurry and you are likely to have the breakfast of dreams.

I prepared to leave and the one man show waiter, desk clerk, and Spanglish master came to my room with a form he had printed up at the command of his "insistent" manager (as he described her), basically sated that she had given me a $67 value breakfast and I had chosen to keep the scorpion for educational purposes, and summarily would not hold them liable for any atrocities (I am paraphrasing here). I smirked at the kind young man as I refused to sign the document, and he tried to call the manger again, but the signal was weak as she was driving from San Diego. I asked him when she would get there and he said "I don't know. She tells us she will,be here by 10 am sometimes and doesn't show up until 2."

I was beginning to like the one man show, feeling the pain of a man trying to keep things moving in a challenging environment. I gave him my business card and told him to have this mystery manager call me at her convenience. That was yesterday, and I have yet to hear from her, but hope I do, as I would like to have a chat.

Overall, a memorable experience, yet not one that cements this as a destination worth revisiting, or even recommending, unless you happen to be driving by during breakfast and are craving banana pancakes wit fresh squeezed orange juice with a side of scorpions.

Great location and friendly staff. Room and beds were very uncomfortable, and highway right outside, so it was very noisy. Beds were hard and squeaky and the room was hot. The lights kept turning on and off all night. The property was beautiful in a park like setting. There was a free continental breakfast included. Great views of Mono Lake from property. Overall I thought the place was decent, I wouldn't stay there again. It was too expensive for one night stay.

No....will not be staying here again. Beds were uncomfortable and there is noise from the highway. The workers kept the inside clean but it didn't matter because the decor is outdated (at least in the cabin we stayed in). The lodge has a lot of potential but it's a shame that the facilities have not been renovated.

1 star for the lake. 1 star for the neighbor that gave me a cool, fun pair of long socks.
If you need to sleep, bring a soft mattress unless you like sleeping on a board.
No problem w no TV or 'frills' but at least be able to provide food / drink items on your menu & a comfortable bed.
I paid $3.52 for hot chocolate due to desperation of something warm.
Been here, not coming back. Ps : bring ear plugs. The walls are Paper thin.

After reading the other reviews, must have been the same woman at the front desk. No emotion. A smile would help lady. NEVER GOING BACK.

This was initially going to be a 3-star review because I did actually have a pretty pleasant overall experience. The staff was nice, the room was comfortable, and the location right on Mono Lake was beautiful. The little restaurant was cute and, even though service was slow because it wasn't well-staffed, it was rather enjoyable. Being so close to the road could be problematic for some because of the noise, but to be honest, so few vehicles go by at night that it's not really a big deal. I was also going to give them bonus stars for having such a friendly and accommodating staff.

Sadly, I am downgrading them to 1 star because of a terrible problem that I'm still suffering from a week after my visit: BED BUG BITES!

My friend and I had to share a bed and we both have dozens of super itchy red bumps in a row and neither of us have bed bugs in our respective beds at home. There is also no other explanation (for example, we both have bites on our toes and we both wore hiking boots the entire time except for in the hotel). If you've never had bed bug bites, just know that they are unpleasant - I have been scratching various bites the entire time I've been writing this review!

I called Tioga Lodge to tell them about our experience and the woman I spoke to said they'd never had a problem before. When I said that they could be brought in at any time by anybody, she said she would check it out, but has been cold to me during my follow-up calls. I don't know if they've checked or done anything about it, so beware!

I'm sitting at the balcony of my room, enjoying the beautiful mono lake while typing this review. Not sure why this lodge got only 2-3 stars. To me, it is an unique lodging experience. It's a historic structure so don't expect any modern style living here. But its a very laidback and relaxing stay. My photos can explain how lovely this little lodge is.

The price for a family of 6 is very reasonable. It's average about $230 a night (tax is included), which gave us the biggest two level split cabin with 2 queen beds, 1 double futon and 1 single sofa bed. It locates in the middle of the entire property with the lake view upstair (great to see sunrise/sunset, you can also view it in front of their restaurant).

The staffs here are super friendly and they keep everything clean and tidy.

Also don't forget to walk around their little garden, we had a picnic there! There is also a small river creek, my kids enjoyed playing there.

Highly recommended this place if you want a relax, cozy, simple and beautiful lodging experience!