Grand Canyon advisory---2007
 

If you are planning to go to the Grand Canyon (South Rim) in 2007, be aware that the Bright Angel Lodge is closing for renovations on January 2, 2007. I called Xanterra to ask about it, and they do not know how long it will be closed. They are not accepting reservations there at least through May of 2007. This will put extra demand on the other lodging at the Rim.

When we talked to Xanterra, they also mentioned that the cabins would not be available until April 1, 2007. We are going to visit the last week of March.

What would be your next choice for lodging?

Interesting. They would not let me book April dates, which we are tied to because of spring break. So we booked rooms at El Tovar, which will cost about $100 more per night per room. I guess if they do actually open up Bright Angel in time we could change. We were just there last week and really liked it.

I realized I didn't answer your question very well. El Tovar, Bright Angel Lodge, and the Thunderbird are all spread out along the south rim, right "at" the rim---mere steps away. El Tovar is one of the lovely historic National Park inns, so we chose that. The Thunderbird is newer, and looked to us very unappealing---like a college dorm on steriods. But the rooms are probably fine, and many have a view of the canyon. So that is probably a fine choice too. The other two Xanterra lodges are not right on the rim.

topping for others to see. . .

Kachina Lodge is also on the rim, between El Tovar and Thunderbird. Kachina and Thunderbird are similar, and both were renovated in 2004. Both have some rooms with partial canyon views.

Only Maswik and Yavapai are away from the rim, in wooded areas.

Thanks for the correction. Neither one (Kachina nor Thunderbird) has a sign on the rim side, so it's kind of hard to tell that there are two different lodges there. But it's good to know for people looking for rooms close to the Rim.