White Wolf is a great option if you don't mind being outside the valley. Close to a lot of good hikes on the Tioga Road. It has nice tent cabins and a few "luxury" wood cabins.

OP again.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. To 15:13, I do want to go to Monterey and was trying to figure out how to coordinate it.

I'm not really familiar with Sonoma or the wine country. But my husband loves wine, so I was thinking we'd go to a winery or vineyard for a tour. The kid actually likes wine, too. I wasn't thinking of a tasting for him, as he is obviously underage, but he's been known to have a sip of our wine at dinner and then made intellectual comments on the flavors he tasted.

I'm thinking now 4 nights in SF, leave SF via Muir Woods and then spend 1 night in Sonoma. Then 4 nights in Yosemite and 1 night in Monterey/Big Sur. Fly in and out of SFO. And not to do a rental car until we are actually leaving SF.

Another option would be 2 nights in Big Sur but only 3 in Yosemite.

Idea is to do 10-11 days for this vacation.

i know a lot of people stay outside the park, but if you plan to do many of the trails and things in the valley, i would stay there. it can be a bit of a drive depending on where you are staying and after a long day of hiking that's the last thing i would want to do.

14:07 here. Sonoma is fine, if I had the choice I'd do Highway One to Monterey & stay overnight in Big Sur instead. Unless I could ditch the kid with grandparents. My kids aren't big on wine tasting or nude hot tubs

There are homes in a development called Yosemite West that are inside the park. We stayed in a home there and liked it.

We rented a house in the town of Foresta which few people know even exists - it is a collection of houses INSIDE the western part of the park that were grandfathered in...you can rent one with a view of the tiptop of El Capitan! No stores, restaurants, just a handful of homes in a beautiful woodland setting.
Wawona Hotel is another option if you can't get into the Lodge or Ahwanee and do not want to leave the park. You'll be close to the Mariposa Grove of sequoias, but you have to drive back past Glacier Point to get to the valley.
Another option is a rental home in the town of Groveland, it's basically the last 'real' town on the drive up from the west side. There's a golf and lake community called Pine Mountain Lake, set along the edge of the "Grand Canyon of the Tuolomne." The eastern entrance of Yosemite has Lee Vining but it's very remote, not near anything else and you drive over a long mountain pass to get back to most of the points of interest.
If you go def. plan to check out Tenaya Lake and hike around the low-rise domes near Tuolomne Meadows.

I have stayed in a cabin in curry village, which was barebones but fine. I think a lot of the tent cabins are or were closed because of the hanta virus outbreak. If money is no object, go for the ahwahnee. I think Yosemite Lodge would be nice too - it's much cheaper than the ahwahnee and they have a cafeteria and other stuff for the family.

You could also tent camp.

BTW this is the site for booking lodging in the park: https://gc.synxis.com/rez.aspx?Chain=398 Looks like Yosemite Lodge is booked for all but a few nights in August. And for your first trip I would definitely recommend being in the park. The geography is so stunning and it's amazing to wake up and be at the base of half done, etc. Depending on what you're planning to do you may not want to spend 45 minutes in the car every day to get to the valley - which is what you'll be looking at if you stay anywhere besides the valley.

Tenaya lodge (just outside the park) is beautiful and family friendly. I personally hate the lodging in the park - it reminds me of camping.

Whoops, this is PP and I was skimming your original post and thought you were going to have nine people, not a 9-year-old! Obviously the place we'll be staying is way too big for your small group. But you might check VRBO for other options.

We are going to Yosemite in June-- six adults, five kids-- and staying here: http://www.vrbo.com/141500

Looks like they still have some dates open in August, depending on when you'll be there.

there are really very few lodging options that are actually in the park.
Yosemite Lodge and the Awahanee hotel are in the park. Curry Village (which is tent cabins, and a few hard sided cabins) are in the park. That's it-- everything else is outside the park.
I have stayed at both Yosemite Lodge and Curry Village. I like them both. If you can get reservations I would stay in the park-- but especially in August it can be tricky. Keep on checking- there is no cancellation penalty so things do get cancelled.

We stayed at Evergreen Lodge, which is outside the park near Hetch Hetchy. The cabins have no TV or wifi, so you have to want a technology break. Our last stay was 2009, and we plan to return for Spring Break this year. Hope you have a great time in Yosemite!


http://www.evergreenlodge.com/

If you intend to stay the Valley, then I would stay at the Lodge. The Ahwahnee Hotel is lovely, but expensive, and the rooms can be small. The Lodge is a better value. Other locations in the Valley are mostly tent cabins, which is where they had the deadly virus outbreaks last summer (in Camp Curry, specifically). If you don't mind staying outside the Valley, I love the Wawona Hotel at the southern end of the park. Nice, historic hotel with lots of charm and character. There is plenty of hiking all over the Valley and buses to take you to lots of trailheads.

And I see I put a darn typo in the title. Should be LODGING, not Loding.

Ugh. I am late in planning for our lodging at Yosemite for August. I just love procrastinating. Ugh.

I've read several threads here about "things to do" in Yosemite, but didn't see any lodging recommendations. I checked on tripadvisor.com and do see that there is some availability for the days we want to go. So I'm hopeful that someone will have a particular lodge/hotel you can recommend. Yes, in the park.

Travel will be a small family - mom, dad, and kid (age 9). We all like hiking and trails. This will be our first trip to Yosemite. Just want to go for a few days. Also spending time in San Francisco and maybe Sonoma.