Wow - I thought I was planning well in advance for our mid-October trip to Grand Canyon, but am finding my 1st and 2nd choice lodgings already full (Bright Angel & El Tovar). My choices now are Thunderhead (street-side) or Maswik (north).

Any pros & cons for these two properties you can share? They are $116/nt and $118/nt respectively.

Thanks in advance!

Haven't' stayed at Thunderbird or Maswik, but both have rooms with 2 queen beds, so I imagine they are good size. Maswik are not on the rim side, they are on the other side of the road from the El Tovar, Thunderbird and Bright Angel lodges. However, it is a very short walk to the rim from Maswik, so unless you have a confirmed view at Thunderbird it is probably a toss-up given that the rates are so close.

All the hotels in the park are on the old side and all pretty basic, even El Tovar (other than a few suites they have with balconies, see below) so you are paying for the location -- but it is definitely worth it. You are right there for sunrise, sunset and seeing all the wildlife, not to mention not having to drive into the park everyday.

I was in the same position a few years ago when I started calling in April for an October date; however, by calling literally every week, I was able to finally get a confirmed reservation at El Tovar in about August. Once you have a confirmed reservation at one place, you can try to move around. So take what you can get and then keep calling to get to El Tovar if that is what you want.

FYI, the El Tovar "standard" rooms are very small and some look onto the outside bar area and are noisy, so you might prefer Thunderbird if they only have standard rooms. Also, give the 800 number a call and ask specifically about their suites. They have 4-6 of them, all with balconies on the rim. They do not seem to advertise them, and we actually found out about them when we checked in and complained about the size of our standard room. At least one of the suites was empty and we got it. Very nice good size living room and bedroom, very large terrace -- you can even get a roll-away and sleep out under the stars!

I personally like the Thunderbird..some say it looks like a dorm...the rooms are roomy..most El Tovar rooms are small and quaint..I don`t care for the cabins(BAngel),,only a few are on the rim the rest circle the parking lot...there is also the Kachina on the rim too...keep calling..people always cancel last minute..

Kay, Don't give up on El Tovar or Bright Angel yet, If you keep calling you'll likely find a cancellation. That's what I did. Also, our room at El Tovar was quite big. I think they reserve the big rooms for families, because everytime I called they asked how many people would be staying in the room. When we arrived, I noticed an open door to another room and thought "Oh my god, what a small room!", but our room was probably twice that size. We paid $140/night.

The other alternative is Kachina Lodge, which is like a dorm but has fantastic views over the canyon and queen beds.

I can't comment on Thunderbird or Maswik, as we didn't stay there, but I think there's a good chance of you getting Bright Angel or El Tovar if you keep trying.

Thanks for the encouragment to keep trying.... I will secure what we can now & keep looking for the cancellations. Thanks!