So, I’m not a Vegas fan. But I will say that your wife may want to rethink her aversion to the city. If she likes to eat and drink at high end places, it’s a good place to do so.

" Any suggestions on lodging would be nice."

See the posts above for suggestions on lodging you've already received.

He wants a to b locations and hotels to match apparently. Doesn't take notes for HIS vacation. LOL

Yeah, real funny! What's so damn hard to understand about the question? If I stayed at a place I would be glad to tell others about my experience whether good or bad. I'm fully aware of how to see the available lodging, but obviously all you have to offer is the last couple of posts which tells me you probably shouldn't respond to this thread as you apparently never stayed in one of these hotels in order to report good or bad reviews. Is that so hard to understand?

The hotel that I stayed in in Las Vegas for more than 1 night was the Luxor. It was OK but the inclinators (not elevators) in the corners of the pyramid were a little weird.
for a good buffet in the old downtown, I like the Golden Nugget where you can get a table along the wall where you can see the swimming pool with the slide that goes through the shark tank.
For outside LV, the Fiesta in Henderson is good. They even have a movie theater. I have stayed a couple times at the Hoover Dam Lodge (formerly the Hacienda). They have a fair buffet downstairs off the casino floor.

Rudeness is not going to help you on your quest here.

Look, we don’t know you or your wife. We don’t know your budget. We don’t know what’s available. If you do some legwork, find a few hotels that suit, and come back to ask, chances are someone will have an opinion. At that point, I usually go over to TripAdvisor because there are a lot of area specific locals there, including hikers that likely know these NPs like the back of their hands.

And I can tell you that the number of days somewhere like Mesa Verde (Durango) or Moab comes down to availability and price. I’ve planned similar trips before. So, like, unless price is no issue for you, there’s no way one of us can tell you how many days you should spend in each place. I have no idea which parks you want to see or what you want to do in each park. I plan my number of days based on hiking trails and side trips to historical sights. If I was made of money, it would be extreme adventure outings and unique wilderness lodges. What do you want to plan yours around?


The main issue I’m seeing is that you want to take your wife- who enjoys sedentary beach vacations aided by daiquiris- to a NP vacation in Utah. Nothing wrong with that, but you’re going to have to figure out what appeals to her. Me, I’d do Sedona, Durango, Santa Fe, GC with someone like that. I’d imagine someone like that has decided opinions on what she wants in a hotel. So maybe she should be the one researching.

To add on to my below post, because I realize you’re frustrated. I would gladly help you sketch out an itinerary. That’s fun for me, and why I’m on here.. It’s just that you’ve given us very little to work with. (I stand by what I said about UT, though. Glorious scenery. Less than glorious food and cocktail options).

Yes, the itinerary IS the thing. I offered the suggestion of Far View Lodge IF you decide on a wonder of the world (my opinion) at Mesa Verde. I have already said that I can't help you with Utah things.
I'm POSITIVE people will be happy to supply lodging WHEN you say "where". And pretty sure we can assume it can and must be 5 star, MarvelMouse!!

Unless the original post said that, I’m not sure we can assume it. He doesn’t mention a budget. All we really know about his wife is she doesn’t think she’ll like Vegas, and she enjoys eating, drinking, and beach time. Nightlife may be more of interest to her than 5 star hotels, who knows.

but at any rate, I think he needs to do more research...

I do believe that any rudeness did not start with any post from me. Let's put that behind us now. Budget is not an issue, my main concern is having decent places to stay around the parks. My wife is easy going and I just want to expose her to a different vacation environment for a change of pace and get her to see some of what I got to see as a 10 year old. I'm just going to be a couple of thousand miles from home in a rental car with limited time and I want to make the best of it. I have already received some great suggestions on which parks to visit and I appreciate that. I don't have to have 5 star lodging, just decent and clean. Thanks Tom for the Vegas suggestions, I will look at those choices. I think I have it from here. I've learned a few things.

Most National Park lodging is pretty basic, clean, comfortable, but not fancy. The possible exception is elTovar in Grand Canyon You are paying for the location This is more important to those of us who want to be in the park when the day trippers have left and do not want to drive on unfamiliar roads after dark when large animals like elk and deer are about .

So, see if you can get lodging at el Tovar for GC, if not make a reservation that can be cancelled in Tusayan where there are plenty of choices. For the other parks, either read some trip reports from people who have answered your questions or use one of the sites that rates lodging and pick one that suits you or try for in the park lodging.

Yes, el Tovar will be the most impressive at Grand Canyon, but any of the lodges will probably be adequate We stayed at Maswick Lodge, which some people "dissed," but it was quite comfortable. Two nights at Grand Canyon allows you opportunities to walk the rim for sunrise and sunset Be sure to go at least a little way down Bright Angel Trail for some amazing scenery. You also might consider heading south from GC to Sedona, Arizona, where there are some nice resorts surrounded by beautiful scenery. The little old mining town of Jerome is about 30 miles from Sedona and fun to explore and get some taste of the Old West.

Agree with the idea of spending at least one night coming or going in Las Vegas, where you can add in a splash of fun culture shock to your natural scenery tour.

Also agree with the September travel dates as a better choice than June.

Thanks for the responses. I appreciate that.

I was reading back to your original post saying that your two musts were Grand Canyon and Sequoia, but it seems that Grand Canyon won out. Could I make a suggestion to maybe choose Sequoia instead? With that, you could also see Yosemite and Big Sur, which may interest your wife more. Depending on how much you want to tackle, you may even be able to add in wine country.

If if you choose to stay with Grand Canyon, I would also suggest looking at doing the loop out of Albuquerque and using stops like Santa Fe, Durango, and Mesa Verde, which again may interest your wife more.

If you want some help researching and putting an itinerary together, I’m more than happy to help you as well. I’m the trip planner for our family and friends, and we tend to prefer action packed trips, but can certainly help you choose things that better suit your tastes.

Thank you Virginia. Grand Canyon may have won out because I've already been to Sequoia, not that I don't want to go again because I do. I never got to see the southwest because my dad broke his ankle in Ca. We are going away this weekend for a 5 day trip and I'll be doing some thinking about this and discuss it with my wife. I may send you a message next week some time and again, thank you.

Virginia's loop would really satisfy the desire for "high end" accomodations with wonderful national parks, IMO

I like the local brewery idea. I'm a brewer myself and always enjoy visiting local breweries with the wife. These are all great suggestions. We are heading out Thursday morning for a long weekend get away with another couple. I think by next week I'll be ready to start lining something up.