coolaholigah

Hi from Australia... we are planning on taking our 4 children from Las Vegas by rental car to Grand Canyon ( it is not that long a trip for us aussies!). we will just stay the one night and hope to have the evening and following morning to show the children the magnificent landscape. Hy husband is keen to stay at/near the rim. We dont have a strict budget (we find we are lucky to just find somewhere that can take us all!). Any suggestions/recommendations would be appreciated. as we dont have a lot of time, we would prefer to be close. thanks in advance, kate

J62

Your options are one of the several hotels right in the park, at or near the rim, or one of the commercial hotels just oustide the park in the small town of Tusayan.

All of those in park are run by the concessionaire Xanterra, and the official website is www.grandcanyonlodges.com.

On the rim
El Tovar - most expensive and books up fast.
Bright Angel
Thunderbird - basic motel rooms
Kachina - basic motel rooms

very close by 5-10min walk to rim, or shuttle bus.
Maswick
Yavapai

I've only stayed at Yavapai. It's your basic roadside motel configuration with 2 queen beds in most rooms. It has worked very well for us - family of 4 in one room.

I'm not familiar with the properties in Tusayan. Some of them have pools, which families find attractive in the hotter weather. None of the in-park hotels have pools. You pay a premium for staying in park - many people complain that the in-park hotels are overpriced. They seem to expect fluffy robes, pillow top beds, spa salon shampoos, and a buffet breakfast for the price. You're in a National Park in the wilderness.

My recommendation is that if you find a room in-park at any of the 6 hotels, book it online even if you are not sure you'll keep it. You can cancel up until 3 days in advance without penalty. Many tour operators book large blocks of rooms, then release the ones they don't need up to last minute, so there are always cancellations. If you don't see something for your dates, check back once a week or so. If you find one and need 2, book it, and check back to find a 2nd room.

emalloy

There is lodging right at the rim. If you go to www.nps.gov and search for Grand Canyon you will come to the site which tells all about the park, including lodging. There is one nice hotel, el Tovar, two motels (Thunderbird and Kachina), and Bright Angel Lodge (small cabins and a lodge) directly on the rim. There are two motels (Yavapai and Maswick) that are back a short walk from the rim. Except for el Tovar all are typical National Park type places, basic, generally clean, no frills, some with no TV, or phone, in Bright Angel lodge some rooms share a bathroom.

These tend to fill up, but because people make reservations so far in advance, there are always cancellations as the time goes by. If they tell you they are all booked, take the phone number and call every day to find a cancellation.

There are motels outside the park but staying inside is my preference, just a short walk to one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Myer

I stayed in a Bright Angel cabin a couple of years ago. It was basi and clean and had a bathroom.

It was about a minute from the rim.

Call early and often for your days.

gail

Bright Angel has a lodge and cabins and is right at the Rim. Most of the cabins have 2 sides, rented separately, each with 1 or 2 beds, a complete bathroom with shower, separate locked entrance. When we went with our 2 almost-adult kids we rented both sides of a cabin - there is a door between that you can leave open if you wish. They can also put in a cot/roll-away bed in one or both rooms - it will be crowded but you will all fit. These cabins are basic but clean and have huge windows, a TV that gets 3 stations. No need to select one overlooking the Rim - these book really far in advance and all the others are about 100-200 feet away so you are not talking a great distance. I have been told the ones with a view of the Canyon get noisy, since people walk by your windows all day and night.

reedness

We stayed in Sedona and got a tour out of our hotel up to the Grand Canyon

MFNYC

When are you going? Rim rooms book early. The rim hotels are all very near to one another, so even if you can't get a room at El Tovar, you can enjoy their lobby and eat in their restaurant. Several years ago we stayed in El Tovar. It was off season and the only place open at the time (in January). A few years back we stayed at the Kachina, and at the time it was the only place with a n available rim rooms for a family of 4. Kachina is a very generic motel, looking kind of place. But we just needed a place to stay for the night, and wanted a rim room, so it served the purpose just fine.

We also drove from Las Vegas. I think it was 4-5 hours if I remember correctly and we drove through a snow storm for part of the way (it was in March).

volcanogirl

Bookmarking.

Dayenu

With 4 children, maybe you can book 2 rooms? One parent with 2 chidren, another parent with 2 children. This way you can choose the location you want, not the suite that takes in 6.

You cannot book a room just for the children, must be at least one adult per room, but they will never check who slept in the room, so if you want you put the kids in one room without adults after you check in.

coolaholigah

thank you so much!! I am fairly new to this though and i dont understand what bookmarking means??? could anyone explain please? thanks again, kate

emalloy

kate, if someone wants to be able to get back to a thread that has information they might use, they will "bookmark" so that it will come up as something they commented on if they click on their name. If you click your screen name you will see what I mean.

enzian

Unfortunately, none of the lodges inside the park have rooms that will accommodate 6 people---5 is th emaximum, and that only for a few types of room . Possibly the very pricy suites at El Tovar are an exception; I'm not familiar with those.

Given that you will likely need 2 rooms, th ebest suggestion is Gails: try t get both sides of a Bright Angel cabin. Most of these are set up to take 3 people in each room, making six in all.

To book these (and ask about the suites at El Tovar) you will have to call Xanterra; you cannot book them on the website. 303.29.PARKS (303.297.2757)

Lodging inside the park books up almost a year in advance, and after that there is spotty availability. Hopefully they will have something. If not, th enearby town of tusayan, just outside the park entrance, offers the usual chain motels.