Grand Canyon Lodging

When it comes to planning a Grand Canyon vacation, you will be presented with a list of options for places to stay. For those who love the great outdoors, Grand Canyon camping may be the option of choice. Others could be visiting other parts of Arizona, such as Sedona, Phoenix or Flagstaff and will choose to book their accommodations outside of the Grand Canyon area. This is also true for those who decide to plan a Grand Canyon tour from Las Vegas, which is just 275 miles away from the park’s southern entrance. However, many people make the Grand Canyon their main target when traveling to the Southwest, and as such, they decide to stay closer to the park. Outside of Grand Canyon National Park there are plenty of choices for Grand Canyon hotels which can be found within a mile of the park’s entrance, or in the nearby town of Williams. From Williams, visitors often arrive at the park by way of the historic Grand Canyon Railway. But, there are a select bunch of visitors who will decide that staying within Grand Canyon National Park is the best, and only way to go. For Grand Canyon hotelsfound within the park, you will have your choice of eight unique lodges, all of which are operated by Grand Canyon National Park.

Most visitors who come to the Grand Canyon will choose to stay at, or near, the park’s South Rim. Here, you will find more in the way of travel services and facilities than you will at the park’s North Rim. You will also find a grouping of Grand Canyon National Park lodging choices here, some that are situated along the canyon rim. Among the Grand Canyon hotels found on the South Rim are the Bright Angel Lodge, the Thunderbird Lodge, the Kachina Lodge and El Tovar Lodge. El Tovar Lodge, considered by many to be the premier choice among the Grand Canyon lodging options, first opened in 1905 and received its latest renovations in 2005. A National Historic Landmark, El Tovar Lodge is keenly situated right on the canyon rim within comfortable reach of the many South Rim travel facilities. Rustic, yet elegant, the most surprising thing about El Tovar Lodge may just be the price. For its location and amenities, you might expect to pay a lot more. Especially in the summer, you’ll have to book well in advance if you want to secure one of the lodge’s 78 rooms, some of which have views of the Grand Canyon, and this is true with all the Grand Canyon lodging options. All rooms and suites here feature cable t.v., a telephone, air-conditioning and full bathrooms. Lodge facilities include a restaurant and bar, both of which serve up great food in a welcome atmosphere.

Another National Historic Landmark among the Grand Canyon National Park lodging selections is the Bright Angel Lodge. Designed in 1935, by Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, the Bright Angel Lodge has long been a center of South Rim activity, still serving as the hub for the famed Grand Canyon mule rides. Guests here will appreciate the family-friendly restaurant, where breakfast, lunch and dinner can be enjoyed. If Southwest cuisine is what you’re in the mood for, then you might duck into the Arizona Room. At the Bright Angel Lodge, you can arrange all your travel and tour needs at the lobby’s activities desk, or peruse the hotel’s gift shop during down time. At this wonderful choice for Grand Canyon lodging, you can select from the lodge rooms, which are void of televisions and sometimes private bathrooms, or opt for the highly recommended rim cabins, which do have television and private baths. Between Bright Angel Lodge and El Tovar, you’ll find more South Rim Grand Canyon National Park lodging at the Kachina Lodge and the Thunderbird Lodge. These lodges are more contemporary and can be a wonderful choice for families.

For Grand Canyon National Park lodging options that find you a bit more removed from the canyon rim, you can find accommodations a the Maswik Lodge, the Yavapai Lodge and Phantom Ranch. The Maswik Lodge offers year-round motel-style rooms that feature full bathrooms and cable television. In the summer, you can try to rent one of the lodge’s rustic cabins. One of the more modern Grand Canyon National Park lodging selections, Maswik Lodge takes up a couple of acres of prime ponderosa pine forest a quarter-mile from the canyon’s rim. At Maswik, you will find a cafeteria, a sports bar, a curio shop and an activities desk. About a half-mile from the canyon’s rim is where you will find the Yavapai Lodge, which is the largest of the Grand Canyon lodging facilities. Set in a wooded area, the Yavapai Lodge offers up 198 rooms with air-conditioning and 160 rooms without it. The Yavapai Lodge features hotel facilities that are akin to Maswik Lodge, and it is conveniently located within walking distance of the South Rim’s Market Plaza. While all these lodges are great and affordable options, none is cheaper than Phantom Ranch, which has dormitory-style rooms and 11 rustic cabins found inside the canyon’s rim. The only Grand Canyon lodging option found within the canyon, you’ll want to book as far in advance as possible here for meals at the Phantom Ranch Canteen and for rooms. Phantom Ranch is a hugely popular refuge for those who are Grand Canyon hiking, and for those booking Grand Canyon mule rides and Grand Canyon rafting trips. Open year-round, Phantom Ranch was completed in 1922, and was also designed by Mary E. J. Colter. If you are looking for Grand Canyon hotels on the less-visited North Rim, there is the historic Grand Canyon Lodge.