Bryce, zion, GC in Park Lodging
 

I'll be visiting the above in several weeks.

I decided to try for in-park lodging.

Since the focus on my trip is Bryce Canyon NP and I'll be arriving in the evening, I'll be sleeping there 3 nights.

At first I was able to get the first two nights at Ruby's and the third at the Lodge.

I called almost every day and sometimes twice a day.

Then I got the second night due to a cancellation.

last week I got the first night but it was a suite and I was told I would have to check out and then back in.

I was prepared to have then offer the suite to a one-nighter and I would pay the difference and take their room.

Today I hit a cancellation and got the last night.

If you want in, you must persist. or plan far enough in advance. It got to a point where some of the telephone clerks recognized my voice.

Good for you Myer! Congratulations!

Do whatever you have to do - beg, borrow, steal, <u>anything</u> - but <b>DO NOT - REPEAT - DO NOT stay at Ruby's!</b>. The experience between staying in the park 100 yds. from the canyon rim and back at Ruby's is night and day. We did the same thing last year - checked online and called daily until we got the nights we wanted in a cabin inside the park. We stopped in Ruby's to pick up supplies on the way to the park. We could not get the hell out of there fast enough! We were so glad we were not staying there.

For Zion, on the other hand, staying in the park is nice but not critical. In some ways, Springdale is a better base. There are plenty of good hotel options in Springdale and several good restaurants within walking distance to most hotels. At Zion Lodge you can either eat in their restaurant (mediocre) or drive into town or take a bus if it they are still running.

I cancelled my reservation at Ruby's yesterday.

All of my reservations are now in-Park.

Bryce (3), Zion (1) and GC(1).

Mediocre food is not an issue. I'm not fussy and not there for the food. As long as I eat enough to get me thru until I return home.

I don't think Ruby's is that bad. I do prefer inside the park but come on, I've seen worse places... At least it's clean and it's close to the entrance.

I agree with maria_so. I prefer lodging inside the park, but ripit's warning of &quot;hell&quot; is ridiculous. I've stayed at Ruby's and it was fine. I would have no qualms about staying there again.

Myer congratulations on your in-park lodging! I usually bring a cooler so I can grab a sandwich in case I don't feel like a long wait for mediocre food. Have a great trip!

Re: Ruby's - were it in Moab, I would agree, it's not too bad. However coming from the peace and tranquility of Zion and Scenic Rte. 12 I found all that activity jarring, to say the least. Ruby's is more like a small city than a hotel. Unfortunately if you can't get a reservation in the park, you don't have many appealing choices outside of Bryce, unlike Zion, where Springdale is very attractive and welcoming to visitors. I would choose the Desert Pearl Inn over the Zion Lodge any day.

I love the Desert Pearl Inn! I do agree Ruby's is like a small city. The foreign currency exchange desk cracked me up. We only used Ruby's as a place to sleep for the night and spent the day in Bryce. We avoided the crowds by eating out of our cooler for dinner. Waiting in line for dinner would have drove me batty. We were able to avoid the activity, so our stay was fine. Ribit, thanks for the clarification, I now understand your point of view.

I have to admit, the place is great for comic relief! We were a group of 4 adults and 3 young kids working our way across the SW. We stopped in to pick up some wine, among other things. We had to wait about 45 min. until the front desk staff locate the <i>one person</i> that had the key to the liquor cabinet. Since this is the <i>only</i> place to get wine anywhere in the area, we figured we should stock up. When we asked for 4 bottles, the lady looked at us as though we were the James gang and were sticking the place up. I think she said something about alerting the sherriff. We still laugh about that....

The in-park accommodations at Bryce are nice. There is something about being near the rim. I particularly enjoy a walk along the rim near dark with a short walk back to my cabin.

At the Grand Canyon, the North Rim accommodations are nice, but the South Rim has more of them.. It also has more people!!!

Zion has good in-park accommodations as well.

My favorite continues to be Bryce.

Agree with those saying Ruby's is not really that bad. It is what it is - a large motel with everything self-contained - restaurant, pool, laundramat, shops. Certainly not high class or scenic. What it is is a reasonable price, clean, efficient. Our room was quiet and when we needed to check out a few hours late, there was no problem.

Restaurant was the weakest point, but it was OK for breakfast - and I would put it on par with other motel-type restaurants. We ate one dinner there and stuck with grilled meat (steaks, burgers) salad bread and it was fine.

Certainly a different atmosphere from staying in-Park, but not torture.

Wow ripit, seriously? I remember seeing vodka there too and some other hard liquor. 4 bottles of wine can cause less damage than one bottle of vodka adn there were 4 of you guys too! Sometimes I think people don't think before they want to make a big deal out of things. Geez. I agree, Ruby's is a zoo but it was entertaining to see all these people. They do the tourist a service though because honestly, a huge percentage of the tourist don't do planning ahead of time and also alot cheaper. I've stayed in park at Bryce before but it is more expensive than Ruby's and I don't normally stay in Bryce for too long since we like to hike and hiking in Bryce isn't as varies as say Zion or other parks nearby.

Funny though about the wine...

Good grief, people. I had read all the warnings about Rubys, just stayed there earlier this week and did not find it offensive. It's not really THAT big of a deal! Even if we had stayed in the park, we would have driven our own car to see the viewpoints which we did from Rubys instead of the bus, and it was perfect. We saw plenty of Bryce by car. Our room at Ruby's was huge which was great for our family of 5, and included a fridge &amp; microwave and 2 kingsize beds, the gift shop/grocery store are very convenient, and while the diner was convenient we were not thrilled with the food. We enjoyed the rock shop across the street. We enjoy beautiful hotels in beautiful locations, and would prefer uncrowded locations like anyone else, but Ruby's was fine. I think people are generally more able to enjoy themselves wherever they go if they go with an open mind, and a make-the-best-of-it-countenance. Happy travels!

I'll sure echo the majority of sentiment here about Ruby's!

I too would far rather stay in the park, and have done so in Zion and the GC, but park lodging was closed when we were at Bryce, and Ruby's was perfectly fine!

We had a room toward the back, all clean and very well kept. It overlooked a pretty little lake. Their store was convenient for snacks and front desk very friendly. It's not like you are in your room or hanging out at the motel all day. How anyone can rant about a place they've never stayed?? :)

I've heard great things about the Desert Pearl in Zion but we really enjoyed staying at the lodge and watching the deer on the meadow, the sunrise and sunset on the mountains, etc. We found the food at the lodge to be pretty good as well.

Well, I've been back 2 weeks. I wrote a very long and detailed report under the heading of a trip report.

I passed Ruby's and even ate there. While I did not actually sleep there and did not see the inside of the rooms, I don't think I would have had a problem there if I did not have in-park reservations.

At least I wouldn't have gotten lost on the night of my arrival.

It was very convenient to walk out of my room with my backpack and wearing my hiking boots, walk over to the rim and then to Sunset Point and down.

However, being at Ruby's looked fine.

I can understand some people being disappointed with the diner at Ruby's (they also have a regular restaurant). It's more of a fast food restaurant than a diner. Looks and serves much like an Mc or BK. Knowing that, you can decide.