Monument Valley lodging
 

We're spending one night in the Monument Valley area as a stop on the drive between the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park and Moab, Utah. I'd like to find a place that isn't too expensive (e.g. Gouldings) but I'm running into trouble booking for just the one night.

Kayenta looks very central but the Hampton Inn won't take us for just the one night and the other hotels didn't seem very good. Do you think that Bluff would be a good bet or is it a bit too far? I think we could get into the Desert Rose Inn. Mapquest indicated it was nearly a 5 hour trip from the Grand Canyon. This doesn't seem too bad. I did check with the Valley of the Gods B&B and they were very reluctant to book us for just one night. I didn't want to push them into giving us a reservation when they really don't want to.

BTW, this trip is in the middle of September.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Have you tried the Holiday Inn in Kayenta ? We staid there in Sept. 1998.Paul

I did look at the Holiday Inn but even with the AAA discount it ends up being over $150 and doesn't include breakfast. So I could book there but it's a little steep price-wise.

The Anasazi Inn is also in Kayenta. It is basic but nice & clean. Excellent restaurant on site. There are motels in Mexican Hat but they do not look so nice from the outside. If I remember correctly when I was looking, they do not have basic amenities either.

Rather than backtracking to Kayenta, try the San Juan Inn just north of MV.
This keeps you on the route to Moab. Not quite on the level on Valley of the God B&B where I've stayed but my SIL & her husband stayed there for one night on the way from MV to Moab and found it acceptable and thought it was neat that it was on the banks of the San Juan River. They said that the food at the restaurant was OK considering the dearth of choices in the area.

Here's thier website:

http://www.sanjuaninn.net/the-inn/


and here's some pictures from our couple of trips.

http://www.pbase.com/peterb/utah_03

http://www.pbase.com/peterb/utah04

and some my wife took as well

http://www.pbase.com/peterb/sharons_utah

I gotta get back out there again real soon!

Thanks Peterboy for sharing your photos - they are excellent. I hope you've enlarged some of them and they are up on your (or others) walls.

I see what you mean by backtracking. We're going counter-clockwise on our trip. I think a lot of people go the other way around so Kayenta would make more sense.

I'll check out the San Juan Inn.

The Holiday Inn is $119.00 for Priority Club members, non refundable.

ceezee,

Just jumping in to second peterboy's suggestion that you check out the San Juan Inn in Mexican Hat. My husband and I spent a night there last May on our way from Moab to the Grand Canyon (South Rim). We could have driven farther, but had an afternoon Monument Valley tour.

We had an upstairs room. It had A/C and was clean and comfortable. I wouldn't want to spend a week there, but for one night it was fine. Being right beside the river was a bonus and the folks who run the place were very nice. As for the restaurant. I had the stew and it was delicious. My husband had some huge tostada-like thing - it was actually served on fry bread - and it was pretty tasty, as well.

I hope you're planning a tour of Monument Valley. We did ours with Simpson's - thanks peterboy and others - and it was one of the, if not the, highlights of our trip. It was a magical place at sunset.

Like peterboy and his wife, sharondi, we've fallen in love with the Southwest and plan many future trips to that picturesque area.

Have a great trip.

Fran