Stony Creek Lodge

We stayed here 2 nites. The staff were very polite and friendly. The pizza was good. The Lodge is shabby, dirty and grungy. There are no lights in the parking lot. The furniture in our room had enough dust to write in. The hall carpet had large pieces of string and small pieces of trash when we arrived & still there when we left. Tables in the cafe were sticky. When we arrived, I noticed a 1/2 full cup of cold coffee on a table in the lounge. It was still there when we left.I told a staff member, He said, "I'll take care of it." He didn't.

For the sake of your health, stay away! During our stay we unfortunately observed examples of unsanitary and unclean conditions in the cafe and kitchen area and on the day of departure I was ill with a badly upset stomach, which was very unpleasant to deal with when hiking in the national park without easy access to bathrooms. I was so concerned for the health of future guests that I submitted a complaint about Stony Creek Lodge to the Tulare County Environmental Health Division, which is the first time in my life I've ever felt it necessary to report a business like this. At breakfast I didn't dare touch the sausage and eggs sitting in a dish in dirty lukewarm bain marie water so stuck to the prepacked cereals and fruit pot, though the damage was already done. The lodge looks as if it was built in about 1980 and not much has been touched since, so expect very tired and dated decor and facilities. The staff seemed to all be college age kids who presumably are there for the hiking/climbing they can do on their days off, but unfortunately seem to view running the lodge and dealing with guests as an inconvenience rather than their job. Note that the place closes very early: on the day of our arrival dinner service finished at 6.30pm (yes, finished not started!) and reception closed at 7pm. If I had a dollar for every time the staff said "it's the end of the season, we've run out" then I'd have saved a good chunk of the outrageous cost of $238 per night. The one positive is the location which offers good access into both King's Canyon and Sequoia National Parks, however given all the other negatives I'd suggest staying in Three Rivers or one of the other nearby towns and accepting a slightly longer drive in. Just whatever you do don't make the same mistake as we did and stay at Stony Creek Lodge. It's a complete dump in every respect.

Stony Creek Lodge is a great option if you don’t want to backtrack down Generals Highway after visiting Sequoia on your way to Kings Canyon. They have gas, restaurant & market. The restaurant closes at 7:30pm and has pizza & wings. You can get alcoholic beverages from the connecting market to enjoy with your dinner. The rooms are decent size, however, our room smelled funny when we first arrived. Shower pressure was nice, beds and pillows were comfortable. THERE IS NO AC here, luckily we stayed on a night where it was 60° in the evening/night. They also offer complementary breakfast for guests only, however, it doesn’t start until 8am which we left before.

Stony Creek Lodge has the potential to be a nice place to stay. But the owner apparently shows no interest in the property or in making improvements to make it more comfortable/updated. (Does he ever check it out????) Instead, he hires several young people who, though nice enough, have no stake in the quality of the lodge or power to change the status quo.||First the positive: |*The location was great - inside the park and close to trails and visitor centers. Very pretty and tranquil. |*The beds were fairly comfortable.|*There were gas pumps on site. |*The store was well stocked with snacks and supplies (though it closed early and opened late). |*Our room (the ADA room) was large.|*The pizza was excellent!||Now the negative: |*I was expecting rustic. I like rustic. But rustic doesn't mean dirty. Dust on all surfaces and window sills. Bathroom had about 1 inch of pink and black mildewed caulk at the bottom of the shower. Base board near the shower was missing and replaced by a poorly-designed patch. I feel like they just do a quick surface clean in between guests. |*No closet, and one small towel rack, so towels never dried.|*Breakfast - Instead of starting at 7:30 am, it opened at 8:00 am (because of the "lateness in the season"). In a national park, most guests want to start early, so several times we paid for breakfast at a nearby lodge so we could get an early start. The entire breakfast room was locked until 8 am - so no access even to cold items (muffins, fruit) or self -serve items (toast, bagels, cold cereal). |*Hot water: the note in the bathroom says it can take up to 15 minutes (and yes, that was true) to get hot water in the morning. The first night we took lukewarm showers because the hot and cold water was reversed.|*Carelessness: | **One morning we lost power at 3:30 am because the staff miscalculated how much fuel was in the generator and thought there would be enough until morning. So no heat or hot water. | ** We were told there would be housekeeping unless we opted out. One morning we confirmed we wanted housekeeping and clean (dry) towels. Oops - didn't happen due to a "miscommunication." There are only 12 rooms, so hard to understand how they would "forget."||So this COULD be a nice place to stay if the owner showed any interest. I don't really fault the young staff, as I doubt they get paid enough to really be able to make a difference.

Very disappointing. We were excited to stay the night in the park, but we were very disappointed in the the quality of the accommodations, especially considering the cost of the room. The place is run down and not that clean. The pizza from the restaurant was good and woman running the kitchen was excellent. Next time I'll stay outside the park and drive in.

Lodge was decent. Spouse woke up in the middle of the night with something moving across her face. Turns out a mouse had entered the room. Couldn't get rid of it so we spent the rest of the night in the lobby sleeping on the sofa. In the morning, the receptionist apologized and said it's a forest so things like this may happen. Yes we understand, but we would expect them to take measures so it doesn't happen. Would you want to be woken up by a rodent in your bed in the middle of the night? They refunded 20% of the cost of the stay- I would have preferred a full refund. Mind you, the receptionist saw the mouse in the morning- it was roaming on the ground floor now. Breakfast was lacklustre, but we understand it is difficult to get fresh food in a remote location. If you decide to stay here, you have been warned.

We had a reservation that was paid in full but chose to stay elsewhere. This lodge needs a complete overhaul. You cannot even use the main entrance. All furnishings are old and worn. This could be a lovely lodge with a lot of TLC.

First, the positive: Accomodations in July on a weekend, very young but some of the staff was cheerful and helpful. ||I am not very picky at all, but some things you should know: their snack bar ("restaurant") was out of pizzas and a few other items. Despair and hunger left me with a $17 cheeseburger. Their little mini mart has about 5 frozen entrees for sale and the lobby has a microwave. So I am very glad I brought my own snacks, which is why I lived on.||"Breakfast" was a container of strawberries, one of blueberries to wash, cut and split between guests. Yogurt. Various sliced breads (no toaster) and jams. Shout out to the guests walking around with their instant oat meal in a bowl, but without milk or hot water. There was individual cereal contsinets, but again, no milk. Near the microwave (in another room) was a carton of liquid eggs, not sure if we were supposed to make our own. Coffee .... is a single Keurig machine for all the guests. No, it was not too early, we were tild breakfast would be available at 7.30, and it was past that. Now, to be fair, the second morning I could smell hot items being prepared but I did nor bother, I wanted to get out of there. ||The room: Adequate. Mine was unfortunately close to the kitchen vent, so the smells waffed inside, but not for long.||There are notes in room or bathroom that hot water can take up to 15 mns to come through the pipes, and I didn't find it to be true. It was scalding right away. || No nightstand lamp, just the ceiling light.||Only electrical outlet I found was across the room from the bed (your own extention cord is recommended)||No WiFi (there is, but it is open, so I believe the campgrounds around also use it)|Verizon performed better than TMobile in the surroundings.||Bed was facing the door, and the lights from the hallway comes through all around it. It didn't bother me, but maybe it would bother you. |My room was also close to a generator or what have you, so there was a constant hum. It was also facing the highway, which is much busier than you would think. I am including the "view" from my bedroom, where some employees come to discuss guests or the state of the common bathroom in colorful language (I believe my room was the closest slto the lodge where employees stay). Oh, and you could sand a couple of trees down with the toilet paper. So, grateful I could find accommodations on a weekend in July, but this place was not worth the $600 price tag for 2 nights.||

Location: 5/5, right in the middle of the park, super close to all the hiking trails, close to both sequoia and kings canyon Price: 2/5, incredibly expensive for one night Room: 4/5, comfy, large beds, large bathroom with all the amenities, needed heater even in summer and it worked well Breakfast: 1/5, went an hour before it ended and it was demolished, no one was checking on it, when we asked them to make more bacon they did but it took about 20 mins, there wasn't that much to choose from, I expected more for the price of the room Staff: 4/5, very friendly and helpful, didn't take initiative with breakfast

I paid 160$ for one night and it's so dirty, outdated. restrooms have mold. Bed is not even comfortable.