Paul, it's called the "hit the trail hotel" you get to it by taking the road up to, or as close as you can get to the portal. Park, hike up a ways and camp. Get up the next day and hike a little more. Enjoy the views and the relative solitude. No room service, but then again, no TV blaring til three in the morning.
Personally, the best way to acclimate––or re-acclimate––is to hit the Dow Villa when you get down to Lone Pine and get yourself in the hot tub.
Yeah, there really aren't a lot of options other than getting up into the mountains and just taking your time should acclimating be an issue for you.
I think you might find that now, with all the snow coverage and the slower pace you might come into––you'll work right into being acclimatized, whereas, if it was the middle of summer and you just blasted up the trail and into thin air––you'd be hurting before you know it.
Last summer I got a ride from the Portal from a very fit looking guy, who told me his mistake was that he just went up as fast as he could and for all reasons, ended up turning around just past trail camp. tortoise and the hare . . . just get there.
