I stayed in Cozy Bear North with my husband and 3 young children in June. They have online…read morereservations, but I called to speak with Carol personally. She explained the fees and terms clearly and sent all the details by mail. She also very kindly allowed us to arrive before the 4pm check-in time when I explained we would be driving 4 hours from home with a cooler full of perishable groceries and wanted to drop them off in the refrigerator before proceeding on to the Valley for some site-seeing.
Location was easy to find because I used Google maps prior to setting out. Good thing because our GPS got us to the road, but not to the specific address. Also helpful is that the entire Yosemite West neighborhood is on Google street view.
Neal greeted us upon arrival and was very welcoming and friendly, but not intrusive. He and Carol live next door and invited us to call them if we needed anything and said they would come right over, but we never needed to call them.
Location is the closest you can get without being in Yosemite Valley itself. It takes about 30 minutes to drive to the Valley Visitor Center, but is very near destinations such as Glacier Point, Tunnel View, Bridalveil Fall, and Wawona.
The kitchen had cooking and baking implements, and a few ingredients, such as cooking oil, coffee, tea, sugar, and condiments, but these are apparently left from previous guests, but looked usable. We brought most of our groceries from home, and bought a few items each day at the Market in Yosemite Valley. There is no place to buy food or gas in Yosemite West.
There is a gas fireplace and games and VCR/DVD in the living room, and an outdoor patio with a BBQ grill, but we didn't use any of these much because we were out all day enjoying nature. Beds were comfortable, there was ample storage, and the 3 kids fit perfectly in their own room with 1 double and 1 twin bed. Only slight inconveniences were having 1 bathroom, a dining table that only fits 4, and the many bear-themed decorations which crowded the space on bedroom dressers, counters, and beds. Also be aware that there are 4 separate levels to the house, so you will be going up and down stairs constantly.
This is a Duplex, so occasionally we could hear the Cozy Bear South guests moving about or speaking, but it wasn't a problem because they were not overly loud. The neighborhood was quiet at night while we were there.
We cleaned the kitchen and took out the garbage as instructed and Carol and Neal refunded our full cleaning deposit before we even got home from our trip.
Overall, this is a very comfortable and conveniently located place to stay. It is very good for families with kids and if you like saving money by cooking your own food and don't mind washing dishes while on vacation.