Several times I've been to the Grand Canyon and always thought it would be nice to spend a night at El Tovar Lodge, but it is always booked months and months ahead. This week we started playing with plans for a summer 2005 driving trip out west. I had penciled in Grand Canyon, and even went to the website, but nothing tells me how far ahead you can book. I called them to ask what the limit was. She told me they book two years ahead -- presently taking bookings for March of 2006. I asked if I could book for September of 2005. She answered that would be OK IF they have any rooms still available. As luck would have it, they did. So I now have a reservation for a room at El Tovar on September 23, 2005. Unfortunately one must pay in full now, but at least it is totally refundable up to 48 hours before arrival.

Can you believe it? Incidentally when I started playing around on their website I couldn't find any rooms available now for September of 2004.

LOL, Congratulations Patrick.

It is nice to know what one will be doing , a year or so from now~

You win the anal rententive award! MAke sure they are the largest rooms available, and upstairs. Room size varies a lot, and they don't always explain that. Rooms on the ground floor tend to be noisy as they look over the bar and some are near the lobby. I think the larger rooms are called deluxe. The best rooms are the suites which have balconies looking right over the rim. They also may not mention these on the phone, you might want to call and ask as you are booking so far ahead.

LOL! Good for you Patrick!

If you can, get an aerial view of the Grand Canyon. On a recent cross country flight the pilot circled the Grand Canyon for us. Totally different than how I have always seen.

Patrick - we just stayed at El Tovar 2 weeks ago. I booked the 2 room suite on the 3rd floor with a balcony ( it's called the El Tovar suite) in October and it was one of the last rooms available for a not so busy day!
The room itself was ok - king bed, and a living room with a fold out couch, but the point of the room was the balcony - it was almost bigger than the room!

Fantastic view, and there were four chairs and a table. We sat outside and watched the stars at night and got up at six, made coffee and watched the sun rise - completely staggering!
You made me feel better - I thought I was nuts because I've just started scoping out our next March vacation!

If you ever think you would like to hike down and spend the night at Phantom Ranch, you will need to start even earlier. The earliest reservation they have is for December 2005!!

I made reservations yesterday for March 2006. Who knows what will be going on in our lives in two years but their 48 hour cancellation policy with a FULL refund makes it worth the risk.

Since they take reservations so far in advance and have such a liberal refund policy - it is often possible to catch cancellations with less lead time.

Check the long-range weather forecast for 2005. When we were there last summer we were treated to a magnificent thunder storm during dinner.

Patrick,

You are correct about Sep 2004. It looks fully booked, but August and October 2004 are pretty much wide open. Is there something special about September?

A bit confusing. I'm not looking to go this September, but only was entering those dates for this year to see how far ahead they would be fully booked. It is September of 2005 we're planning on stopping there on a grand circle: Florida to Glacier NP, Canadian Rockies, Vancouver, Olympic NP, Crater Lake, Ashland, Tahoe, Los Angeles, Grand Canyon, Sante Fe, and the Ozarks, then back to Florida. All in just under three months.

What I reserved was a King Deluxe, only the suites have the balcony and view. I'm not sure since we will only be there from about 3 in the afternoon until early the next morning that we need the suite. This is actually a sort of stopping point between Las Vegas and Sante Fe. Although as I said I've been to the Grand Canyon several times and seen it from the air, just wanted to stay in El Tovar, one of the few "grand lodges" of the Western National Parks I've not stayed in. And yes, I know it isn't all that grand, much like most of the others.

We visited the Grand Canyon last year in April on the way to California. Not being one to plan very far ahead, we waited until the night before and called the El Tovar. The reservation lady first noticable stiffled a laugh, then told us they just had a cancelation and we could book for the next two nites.

It was not one of the more desirable rooms, sort of like a dorm room, but it is nice to be in the park. Watched sunsets and sunrises from the nearby lookout while the mule deer grazed behind us on the lawn.

Rooms are about average for a park hotel but ambience was fantastic. Dinners were pretty crowded, but breakfasts were not and were good

Have fun . . we did! . . Rich

Hi Patrick, Since you said you're not sure you need a suite, i thought you might want to check this out, too.

We stayed in a two queen room on the second floor, ALSO with a very spacious balcony shared with only the next room.

Granted, it faced the parking lot, but you could EASILY see the canyon just by facing our chairs to the left! It was wonderful in the morning for coffee and for people watching later. This was in july '02 and the rate was around $170.

I am booking as Labrador cruise for June 2006! I missed the GC due to a snow storm in'01 will try again someday!

Patrick,

I know what you mean about wanting to stay in the old park lodges. We had gone to Yellowstone several times, camping, and I always yearned to stay in Old Faithful Inn.

We did this past year and while the rooms are small and noisy, I was so glad to finally do it, just for the unique experience.

We just stayed at El Tovar. I overheard a woman telling her partner that they were "in" for the night, so last minute cancellations are available. I planned ahead many months to get our reservations, but I did want to offer a ray of hope for those who don't have such luxury.

I know that many people have last minute luck getting in these places, but I'm often curious what they planned to do if they couldn't. When I can't get into the "lodge" of choice, I invariably end up making reservations at an alternate place, and in or near those National Parks, etc, usually I find you can't cancel those alternate places without a fee or 48 hour or longer notice. So if I arrived and found that there was a room avaialable, I'd end up paying for two places, the one that is too late to cancel as well as the last minute place.

Patrick-
If you want to have dinner at the El Tovar Lodge while there, make sure to arrange reservations a few nights in advance. We stayed at El Tovar in January 2001 and had no problem making reservations the same day we checked in, but this time we stayed at Bright Angel cabins (Mar. 19, 2004), and could not get a reservation for dinner. We were very disappointed because we had really enjoyed our dinner at El Tovar.

Funny you mention that. When I made the lodge reservation (for 18 months from now), the girl gave me the restaurant reservation number and said I should call up to six months ahead (when they start the reservations) for dinner.

I am shocked! They didn't tell us that when we made our lodging reservations, because we certainly would have made them at the same time. I just thought a few days would suffice!

Patrick - it's funny you're staying the same amount of time we did - arrived around 3:00pm walked east around the rim for an hour, ate an early dinner at El Tovar (NOT worth it) then retired to our suite, stargazing and reading for the evening. In the morning we got up early, watched the sun rise from the balcony, then caught an early (7:30AM) shuttle bus going west around the rim. We got off the bus a few miles out, then hiked back to the village. We ate a big, suprisingly good breakfast at Bright Angel Lodge, packed up and hit the road to Phoenix by 11:00AM. One night - but the balcony was worth the expense ($285.)

"I know that many people have last minute luck getting in these places, but I'm often curious what they planned to do if they couldn't"

In our case, we would have stayed at one of the many commercial hotels outside the park. We carry a bunch of hotel guides and usually make our reservations via cell phone from the car the day before . . sometimes the same day and adjust our travel accordingly.

Knock on wood. . so far, we have had good luck with this.

Rich