Grand Canyon Inn??
Aug 24th, 2004, 12:11 PM
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Grand Canyon Inn??
Anyone have experience with the Grand Canyon Inn at Williams (Valle) on the way to G.C.? No openings at the rim, so this is 20 minutes away - better than the 60 minutes into Williams - if it is 'acceptable.'
Thanks for the help.
Thanks for the help.
May 30th, 2009, 10:55 PM
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In planning our trip we were in the same situation as you. Our AZ trip started with backpacking into Havasu Falls then recover at a hotel, then head to grand canyon. I wanted to save money so i reserved a room at the Grand Canyon Inn for $76 (plus tax).
We checked in late about 10:30pm (2 couples)- Everyone crashed having just backpacked 12 miles in the heat. The rooms were old and basic, but we didnt care, we were tired.
It wasnt an hour later that I got up to use the bathroom and there was RAW sewage that was coming out of the toilet and onto the floor. I picked up the phone to call the front desk. NO ANSWER - it went to answering machine i left a message. I got up walked to the lobby. It was locked. They were closed for the night and would not open until the the morning. I walked over to the gas station. It was closed. I walked around the building. There were NO toilets, no night service.. nothing! I called the number to the hotel from my cell phone - no answer - i left ANOTHER message.
I went back to the room, it was really smelling bad now, we had the fan on, door and window open (in that HEAT) trying to get the smell out and taking turns sleeping.
I went back down to the lobby and started banging on the door. NOTHING. A scary looking guy came from who knows where across the street and started to come towards me. He did not say anything but appeared drunk, i quickly went back around the building towards my room - he followed me until i started going upstairs then he turned and walked away. I was terrified.
About 30 mins passed i was dying to use the bathroom but to afraid to leave. I woke my boyfriend up and he walked me to the car so i could drive and find someplace to use a bathroom. Theres no where. The hotel across the street is owned by same company I called their 24/7 emergency line - got the voicemail, i left yet ANOTHER ANGRY message along with my cell phone number.
Nearly 4 hours had passed since we checked in, no one could sleep the sewage was STILL coming up into the room. We packed up and went to the campground across the road - us girls slept in the car.
The next morning I went to complain. I asked for the manager who told me she was sorry and would give me a $7.60 (yes you read right) refund for the inconvience. I told her she was crazy! She gave me the number of the owner and told me i could wait to talk to her (she would be in that afternoon).
I called the following day. The owner called me a liar saying that never happened. I told him to check his survelliance cameras and you will see a girl in PJ's pounding the lobby doors. He became rude told me i should have called, I told him I DID and told him to listen to the MULTIPLE messages I left, he told me the phone does NOT go to voicemail- bullshit! When I told him what the message said on his Voicemail he quickly said he would call me back.
I did not hear from him so the next day I called back, I asked for the owner, i was told I could not talk to him but to the manager. I demanded to talk to the owner. He got on the phone told me he would NOT give me a refund - when I told him I would be reporting him to the BBB - he laughed - told me to go ahead, then hung up on me.
I reported them to the health dept, complained to the town, BBB.. etc. I was told by someone at the town this is NOT the first complaint they have gotten and sadly they own both hotels and there is little they can do.
Yes it's long winded - but you have the FULL experience - you can decide if you wish to support a business such as this.
We checked in late about 10:30pm (2 couples)- Everyone crashed having just backpacked 12 miles in the heat. The rooms were old and basic, but we didnt care, we were tired.
It wasnt an hour later that I got up to use the bathroom and there was RAW sewage that was coming out of the toilet and onto the floor. I picked up the phone to call the front desk. NO ANSWER - it went to answering machine i left a message. I got up walked to the lobby. It was locked. They were closed for the night and would not open until the the morning. I walked over to the gas station. It was closed. I walked around the building. There were NO toilets, no night service.. nothing! I called the number to the hotel from my cell phone - no answer - i left ANOTHER message.
I went back to the room, it was really smelling bad now, we had the fan on, door and window open (in that HEAT) trying to get the smell out and taking turns sleeping.
I went back down to the lobby and started banging on the door. NOTHING. A scary looking guy came from who knows where across the street and started to come towards me. He did not say anything but appeared drunk, i quickly went back around the building towards my room - he followed me until i started going upstairs then he turned and walked away. I was terrified.
About 30 mins passed i was dying to use the bathroom but to afraid to leave. I woke my boyfriend up and he walked me to the car so i could drive and find someplace to use a bathroom. Theres no where. The hotel across the street is owned by same company I called their 24/7 emergency line - got the voicemail, i left yet ANOTHER ANGRY message along with my cell phone number.
Nearly 4 hours had passed since we checked in, no one could sleep the sewage was STILL coming up into the room. We packed up and went to the campground across the road - us girls slept in the car.
The next morning I went to complain. I asked for the manager who told me she was sorry and would give me a $7.60 (yes you read right) refund for the inconvience. I told her she was crazy! She gave me the number of the owner and told me i could wait to talk to her (she would be in that afternoon).
I called the following day. The owner called me a liar saying that never happened. I told him to check his survelliance cameras and you will see a girl in PJ's pounding the lobby doors. He became rude told me i should have called, I told him I DID and told him to listen to the MULTIPLE messages I left, he told me the phone does NOT go to voicemail- bullshit! When I told him what the message said on his Voicemail he quickly said he would call me back.
I did not hear from him so the next day I called back, I asked for the owner, i was told I could not talk to him but to the manager. I demanded to talk to the owner. He got on the phone told me he would NOT give me a refund - when I told him I would be reporting him to the BBB - he laughed - told me to go ahead, then hung up on me.
I reported them to the health dept, complained to the town, BBB.. etc. I was told by someone at the town this is NOT the first complaint they have gotten and sadly they own both hotels and there is little they can do.
Yes it's long winded - but you have the FULL experience - you can decide if you wish to support a business such as this.
May 31st, 2009, 01:20 AM
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Keep calling the Xanterra # for in park rooms. Last summer I found that there were walk in rooms available at Yavapai lodge. That really surprised me since weeks & months ahead everything was fully booked.
Apparently tour operators book large blocks of rooms and hold them until the last possible minute (2-3d ahead), then cancel the rooms they don't need.
I say book something in Williams you can cancel, then keep calling Xanterra.
Apparently tour operators book large blocks of rooms and hold them until the last possible minute (2-3d ahead), then cancel the rooms they don't need.
I say book something in Williams you can cancel, then keep calling Xanterra.
May 31st, 2009, 07:06 AM
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Anyone have experience with the Grand Canyon Inn at Williams (Valle) on the way to G.C.?
Stayed there once (out of many trips to the GC) and now our nickname for it is "The Bates Motel" (have you seen the movie 'Psycho'?).
We would often drive up after work on a Friday and sleep on the ground in the national forest south of Tusayan (about 10 miles from the park entrance), get up around 4 AM and hit the trails into the canyon before dawn. On this particular Friday it was storming fiercely north of Williams, with lightning and high winds and rain gusts, so sleeping without a tent was out of the question. So we stopped at the motel in Valle.
It was very dark in the lobby and I remember a mounted rattlesnake with open jaws on the counter. Cute. You could also buy a rattlesnake head or a scorpion in a clear resin mount. Cute. Classy paperweight I guess. After a couple minutes an older bearded guy who looked like a meth addict came stumbling out and signed us up. At least it was cheap and dry.
Our room was across the street in some older pre-fab buildings, almost like a trailer. Very small room and as the wind would howl the door would flex in and out, creaking loudly. We were able to stuff towels around the door frame to slow it down a bit but it never did get quiet. Didn't get much sleep but it beat laying on the ground in the rain.
Have you checked Tusayan for lodging? This is about 15 miles north of Valle, about 7 miles south of the GC rim (and a couple hundred yards south of the park entrance). There are several decent hotels here, though prices tend a bit higher than inside the park. But easier to get reservations. There is one hotel that doesn't accept reservations in Tusayan so if you get there early you can always score a room, I think it's around $80/night so relatively cheap. And you can also keep trying the park lodgings, they have a lot of cancellations.
There is also a nice lodge at Cameron (east of the park on the Rez).
So think Park, then Tusayan, then Cameron for accomodations, in that order. I would probably stay at the Bates Motel again before I'd stay in Williams, if driving up and back each day, since it's about 40 more minutes to Williams but if you're coming in from I-40 and not driving up and back more than once then Williams makes a lot of sense.
Stayed there once (out of many trips to the GC) and now our nickname for it is "The Bates Motel" (have you seen the movie 'Psycho'?).
We would often drive up after work on a Friday and sleep on the ground in the national forest south of Tusayan (about 10 miles from the park entrance), get up around 4 AM and hit the trails into the canyon before dawn. On this particular Friday it was storming fiercely north of Williams, with lightning and high winds and rain gusts, so sleeping without a tent was out of the question. So we stopped at the motel in Valle.
It was very dark in the lobby and I remember a mounted rattlesnake with open jaws on the counter. Cute. You could also buy a rattlesnake head or a scorpion in a clear resin mount. Cute. Classy paperweight I guess. After a couple minutes an older bearded guy who looked like a meth addict came stumbling out and signed us up. At least it was cheap and dry.
Our room was across the street in some older pre-fab buildings, almost like a trailer. Very small room and as the wind would howl the door would flex in and out, creaking loudly. We were able to stuff towels around the door frame to slow it down a bit but it never did get quiet. Didn't get much sleep but it beat laying on the ground in the rain.
Have you checked Tusayan for lodging? This is about 15 miles north of Valle, about 7 miles south of the GC rim (and a couple hundred yards south of the park entrance). There are several decent hotels here, though prices tend a bit higher than inside the park. But easier to get reservations. There is one hotel that doesn't accept reservations in Tusayan so if you get there early you can always score a room, I think it's around $80/night so relatively cheap. And you can also keep trying the park lodgings, they have a lot of cancellations.
There is also a nice lodge at Cameron (east of the park on the Rez).
So think Park, then Tusayan, then Cameron for accomodations, in that order. I would probably stay at the Bates Motel again before I'd stay in Williams, if driving up and back each day, since it's about 40 more minutes to Williams but if you're coming in from I-40 and not driving up and back more than once then Williams makes a lot of sense.
May 31st, 2009, 07:36 AM
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Stay in Tusayan, not Williams.
Tusayan is just outside the park boundary and within easy driving range of the rim (I think it's 7 miles). There is also a great IMAX movie in Tusayan that is fun.
Williams is just too far away.
Tusayan is just outside the park boundary and within easy driving range of the rim (I think it's 7 miles). There is also a great IMAX movie in Tusayan that is fun.
Williams is just too far away.
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