Yes the hotel is pretty cool within walking distance to restaurants, wine bars, coffee and…read moredelicious sandwiches. But disappointed with some of the communication read on. Front clerk failed to mention: When you arrive you may get mixed up seeing two black doors locked go around the corner on Main Street no sign to tell you that. Parking is free on 18th street very easy walk. WiFi is free no password needed. There is a gym on site. Choose "Main Street king" bed huge difference if you pick queen bed tiny room. $20 dollar difference worth it. Wine bar next door is great but you can purchase wine at the hotel cafe much cheaper. I kept going back to the wine bar next door really cool place and people. Try lovers deli for pizza or killer sandwiches walking distance. Great coffee and breakfast at hola cafe across from deli kinda. Enjoy

Great Atmosphere, Friendly Staff, but Some Frustrating Details…read more The El Capitan Hotel has a lot of character, and there are definitely things to like about it. Unfortunately, there are also some practical issues that take away from the overall experience. I wanted to love this place more than I did. The Good The atmosphere is excellent. The hotel has personality, and the first floor is a great place to hang out. It feels like somewhere you can actually spend time instead of simply checking in, sleeping, and leaving. The communal space is one of the hotel's strongest features. The staff I interacted with were young, friendly, and approachable. That goes a long way toward making a stay enjoyable, and I appreciated the welcoming attitude. The rooms are good for what they are. They're nothing particularly spectacular, but they're perfectly adequate. Not every hotel room needs to be a luxury experience, and the rooms serve their purpose. The gym was another pleasant surprise. It's clean, has more machines than they probably need, and offers a good selection of weights. Is it a world-class fitness facility? No. Is it more than enough for a hotel gym? Absolutely. You can get a legitimate workout in without feeling like you're trying to lift a decorative dumbbell in a closet. The Not-So-Good Parking is a major headache, especially if you're driving a full-size truck. The parking situation is difficult for larger vehicles, and the overflow parking arrangement wasn't reassuring. The street parking area was very dark, which made me uncomfortable leaving my truck and belongings there overnight. I'm not saying something would necessarily happen, but the setup didn't inspire confidence. Valet parking is $15 per day, and it starts to feel like the most practical option if you want to avoid the parking hassle. That's another expense to factor into the stay. When you're paying to stay at a hotel, parking shouldn't feel like a separate logistical challenge. Then there's the $400 deposit. Four hundred dollars! That's a substantial amount to have tied up during a hotel stay, particularly if you're not expecting it. Make sure you understand the deposit requirements before arriving. The room door was another concern. My door didn't automatically shut behind me, which is something I'd expect a hotel to get right. I reported it to the staff, and they said they would fix it. I appreciated their response, but a door that doesn't reliably close and latch is more than a minor inconvenience; it's a security concern. The walls seem paper thin. Sound carries between rooms, and I noticed the hotel provides earplugs. Let's just say that little amenity suddenly made a lot more sense. Earplugs are a thoughtful touch, but ideally, you wouldn't need them to get a decent night's sleep. Convenience could be better, too. The ice machine is only on the third floor. It's not a disaster, obviously, but getting ice shouldn't feel like a minor expedition. The gym is good, but getting to it early in the morning is an odd experience. If you want to work out before 6 a.m., you have to go out through an emergency exit and then walk back into the hotel through the front entrance. Nothing says "good morning, time to work out" quite like taking an unexpected outdoor detour before you've finished waking up. The gym deserves credit; the access arrangement does not. A Note About Cleanliness I spotted a live German cockroach on the first floor. To be fair, it was four floors away from my room, and I didn't establish that there was a pest issue in my room. One sighting doesn't prove the entire hotel is infested, but it's certainly not something you want to see during a hotel stay. German cockroaches are particularly unwelcome travel companions, and the last thing anyone wants is to bring an unwanted souvenir home in their luggage. It's worth mentioning, even if I can't conclude anything about the extent of the problem from a single sighting. Overall Impression The El Capitan has genuine strengths: a great atmosphere, an inviting first floor, friendly staff, decent rooms, and a surprisingly good gym. Those are real positives, and I don't want them overlooked. The frustration is that several negatives involve basic practical details: parking, the deposit, the door, noise, and access arrangements. These aren't necessarily glamorous issues, but they affect the actual experience of staying here. My impression is that the hotel has plenty of charm, but some of the details need more attention. A great atmosphere can make a hotel memorable; it just shouldn't require a $15 daily parking decision, a $400 deposit surprise, and a trip to the third floor for ice to complete the experience. There's a lot to like about the El Capitan, but charm alone doesn't make up for everything. With improvements to parking, room security, noise control, and early-morning access, this could be a much stronger overall experience.

Alas September was our last month at the park. We have moved to another location to be closer to…read morework. We will miss all the staff and the Spot we had. We highly recommend this place to anyone just visiting and or needing a base spot. We will return here even just for a day visit. Thank you all

So, let's start with the good. The lady we spoke to for reservations was very professional and…read morehelpful. In addition, the night attendant Perry was also very helpful and took us to our spot and pointed out where things were. That is all the good I can give the campground. Let's start with the "no's" . No wi-fi, no cable, no restrooms. If I am paying for a site, all three of those are mandatory. The campground itself is set next to the Merced River so there is good scenery, but the campground itself is old and worn out. I would say that' 80% plus are all permanent residents, some of their equipment in very poor condition. The roads are all gravel and my site was very un-level. I think there is good potential here, but there needs to be a lot of investment made to get this park back to a destination people will want to visit.

This was definitely a fun stop on our road trip! The first floor is the shop, where you can sample…read morea few cheeses or get something like cheese pie at the cafe. But definitely go upstairs, especially if you have kids, to look at the exhibits on dairy farms. We honestly would have missed the stairs if we didn't ask somebody how to get to the exhibits. It's not obvious! There's also a little movie about cheese making that you can ask the staff members to start for you. We also paid $4 each to do the ice cream making at 11:00 a.m. My only real complaint about the whole thing is that the kids weren't able to see what ingredients were in their can before they started the shaking process. The staff led them through all these different shaking exercises, and then they got to open their cans at the end and see some ice cream. But it really didn't mean anything to them because they had no idea what was in there in the beginning! I said something about it to the staff, just asking them why they didn't have the kids look in it at the beginning, and they said it's because they usually do field trips with hundreds of kids..... But our tour was just around 10 people! If I could do it all over, I would have had my kids unscrew the lids to see what was inside. But besides that little pet peeve, I appreciated the staff giving information and a little tour of the exhibits, and the movie is also included at the beginning of the event.

A very solid 4 1/2 stars I haven't been here in years. Since I was in the area, I decided to…read moreswing by. Their cheese is very good, having won awards from the California State fair, to nine medals, including gold, at the 2026 World cheese championships. Yes, it's good. you've probably had it, but never knew it. they sell their cheese in bulk to food service providers, restaurants, and other retail brands that package and sell the cheese under their own names It's a great place. Everything from souvenirs, to snacks, wines, jams, Peet's coffee, they have a small café, and of course, cheese, cheese, and even more cheese. They do offer tours, but they are limited. However, you can ask somebody from the register, to come over and turn on the "Moo-vie." hosted by a cartoon cow, it covers the cheese, making process from farm, forward. Yes, it's a little "cheesy", (pun intended) but it's cute, and it's interesting. There are pictures throughout the visitor center, and they also have a small area upstairs, that also talks about the cheese making process, and you can look down into the factory. As I mentioned, there are lots of cheeses for sale. They also have samples. They have "squeakers" which is what they call their cheese, curds, many different varieties of their cheeses, and other gourmet cheeses from other companies. I bought a small apple, walnut, smoked cheddar, which was very flavorful, and then I also decided to take a gamble, and got a 1 pound block of Hilmar habanero pepper jack cheese. The 1 pound block of cheese cost under seven bucks. Extremely reasonable for such a good quality cheese. Yes, it definitely packs a punch, (hey, it's habanero....) but the creaminess of the cheese helps, mellow out the habanero a bit. You can also cook with it, like a cheeseburger, or scrambled eggs, etc.... And that also helps mellow out the habanero. it is definitely toward the higher end of what I like for in spicy, but it is definitely good. At the café, they actually sell a cheese chowder, which is supposed to be excellent. I don't think my poor system could've handled it, so instead, I got one of their grilled cheese sandwiches, the zesty tomato, which was Monterey Jack, sun-dried, tomato, tomato, basil pesto, on sourdough bread. Yes, still rich, but the tomato help helped cut the richness. The only reason I'm taking off a half star, was because the bread was a bit overdone on the sandwich. Not enough that I had them redo it, but I could definitely taste it a little bit. The amazing taste of the sandwich. Helped take away the overdone taste of the bread. A great place to visit, I will be back. Thanks.

I used Merced Travel for a cruise in March of last year. Ann was very quick to respond, and very…read morehelpful with the travel plans, travel insurance, questions, etc. It was a pleasure working with her and Merced Travel.

Merced Travel rocks. They've helped setup a number of trips for me. They've even been able to use…read moremy United vouchers to help cut costs. Right next to Raley's. Great service! I highly recommend Merced Travel for anyone looking to get away for cheap. My first and only travel agent.

Thank you for putting the trip to Cabo together. The resort was beautiful, my room had a great view…read moreof the ocean. The infinity pools were nice, the adult only pool view was gorgeous. The spa was very nice, the facial and massage was one of the best. Overall: Wonderful trip and planning by World Worth Wandering!

I have had the pleasure of taking two trips with Hilda, one to Bali and one to the Dominican…read moreRepublic and both trips were amazing. Hilda plans trips that are exciting and fun whether your a new or an experienced traveler. One of my favorite trips in all of my life has been to the Dominican Republic with her. In this trip, we lived in treehouses (literally), rode horses through the jungle, hiked to an amazing waterfall, rode quads on an empty and gorgeous beach, took a boat ride to a private island, and zip lined through a jungle just to name a few of the activities. She's an excellent travel planner, organizer, and wonderful person to be around. She does a great job at creating a welcoming environment for everyone on the group trip and on both of my experiences, I left each trip with new friendships that I still have today. I can't say enough amazing things about my experiences in these two trips and I'm excited for my next trip with her to Madagascar! I am an experienced traveler who loves to take adventurous vacation where I get to really explore the place I visit and these two trips with Hilda have exceeded my expectations of group trips. I highly recommend her travel services and if I could give her more than five stars, I would. P.S The picture attached are not photoshopped in any way. This is just how gorgeous the locations she took us to where.

Thank you Christina- both vans were clean & swap to another vehicle as promised was smooth :) staff…read morewas polite & professional. Pricey but worth it :) Highly recommended.

I got no further than a phone call with this company. When the young lady answered the background…read morenoise from a radio/tv was very distracting. I asked about renting a car and she gave me the "do you have full coverage insurance " question FIRST! Followed by are you over 25. I guess prior to them renting a car they have to qualify if I'm the type of person that want to rent to. I thought being new to town and seeing a local spot I'd give them a try...NOPE ....I'm kinda glad I only made to a phone couldn't image what renting from them would've have been like!!! I guess I'll stick with national chains

I rarely bring my car when I come down so I tried the bus system a couple times. Got one really…read morerude lady one day but then ran across the nicest bus driver named Eunice. What a doll. I hope I get her again. Oh. And free wifi on the bus!

Camped at Lake McSwain for 2 nights along the water. Beautiful spot. Fishing was decent. Campsite…read morenice, until it got dark. And then the German cockroaches came out of and crawled everywhere! I'll fish there again but won't be camping there again. Way too many cockroaches.

Mine and my husbands camping trip was amazing. We camped at Lake McClure at McClure Point,…read morecampground C21. We had an amazing view of the water and the boat launch ramp was only like a 2 minute car ride from our site. Our campsite had a water faucet and electrical hookups. It was a beautiful site, the first night we were there it was really busy, and pretty noisy, but that's to be expected, as it was the weekend. The only reason it was a 4 star review and not a 5 star review is because the bathrooms/showers were absolutely disgusting. I would recommend bringing a portable toilet and a small hose to shower at the campsite.