Visalia or Bakersfield
 

I am going to be exploring Yosemite and Sequoia next month and may well stay at both these properties but would appreciate any comments especially if one is significantly better than the other. Thanks.

We've stayed at both Marriotts (a good part of my husband's travel is in the Central Valley). Nothing special about either.

For your intended purpose I would split the stay between Visalia Marriott (to visit the southern end of Sequoia) and the Clovis Fairfield Inn (for Kings Canyon and Yosemite). The Fairfield Inn is fairly new and nice.

Bakersfield is much too far from the parks. Even with the above hotels, you'll drive 90 minutes just to get to the park entrance.

ETA: I thought we'd talked about this before. I found a good thread by using the search term Yosemite:
California National Parks

From Bakersfield it is 110 miles to Fresno/Clovis. From there, another 60 miles to the south Yosemite entrance, and another 30 miles in the park to reach Yosemite Valley.

For Sequoia & Kings Canyon if you want to stay within the Marriott family I would stay at the Visalia Marriott (Sequoia side) & one of the Fresno or Clovis properties (Kings Canyon).

If you're willing to stay outside the Marriott family, either stay at Wuksachi Lodge in the Sequoia park or at any of the small motel/hotels, B&Bs or Best Western properties at Three Rivers at the entrance to Sequoia.

For Yosemite I would just forgo staying at a Marriott & stay as close to Yosemite as you can get. You're there to see the park, not drive 90 miles to get to it. When I was there I stayed at a hotel/motel about a mile away from the park entrance. While no Marriott points it was a decent property.

Cheers.

The closest one is FF Clovis for the south entrance, there is a CY in Merced which is roughly the same as from Clovis.

I've stayed at the CY Merced. It's a standard new-construction CY but it's expensive for its unattractive location hard by the highway. It's 2 hours from there to Yosemite Valley. Staying that far out from the park is okay on the way in or the way out, but not while visiting for multiple days. It chews up too much time driving.

I'd recommend the Marriott Visalia. Not as a base for exploring Sequoia, but as a stop over. It is walking distance to downtown Visalia and there are several attractive Restaurants and even a couple of Brew Pubs. It is a relatively short drive to SEKI. There are many great things to see and hikes for all levels. Don't miss the General Sherman Redwood. You'll have a great time.

[QUOTE=spotfin;26687254]I'd recommend the Marriott Visalia. Not as a base for exploring Sequoia, but as a stop over. Don't miss the General Sherman Redwood. /QUOTE]

The tree & the Marriott aren't close, although I know what you're saying :p :D :D

BTW - from Visalia to the entrance of Sequoia is 45 minutes (lovely drive) & then it's 30 minutes up the hill basically to get to the main Sequoia stuff (although the caves are closer). The 30 minutes is primarily due to the switchback curves up the mountain. My sister was a park ranger at Sequoia for many years so I'm familiar w/ it.

Cheers.

Visalia Marriott is a decent property, probably one of the nicest between the Grapevine (LA outskirts) and Sacramento.

I can't recommend Fresno or Bakersfield. For anything.

Thanks to everybody for the useful information.

Not even the Basque restaurants? :D

Okay you got me :)

But seriously, in the summer, it's not a place you voluntarily go. Same with Fresno. (Very nice people though . . . much nicer than here in the bay area.)

"Go" and "pass through" are two different things. I agree on "destination", but you have to pass through somewhere to get to the National Parks (and other destinations that are "worthwhile") in the eastern part of the state if you live in one of the big population centers along the coast, and the alternatives to Bakersfield and Fresno are no better as stops along the way.

Now, if you're visiting the parks, you certainly would be better off staying closer to them (Oakhurst is my favorite for Yosemite, coming from the south), even if that means not using Marriott properties (other than at most "along the way" to the parks).

It sure seems that way every time I get a bulletin from my real estate agent. :D

Visalia is better than either. That was kind of my point. And given that, for a visitor to Yosemite, there is no reason to stop in either Fresno or Bakersfield (especially not Bakersfield).

Also, from the Bay Area, you do not even come near Fresno (let alone Bakersfield) to reach Yosemite. The main route is via Manteca on Hwy. 120, which is more than 100 miles north of Fresno.