Hotels in Grand Canyon South Rim
Keep in mind that the Grand Canyon is one of the most popular national parks in the country, and hotel rooms both within and just outside the park are in high demand. Make reservations as far in advance as possible. Don't expect to find a room if you head up here in summer without a reservation. You'll likely wind up driving back to Williams or Flagstaff to find a vacancy. There is, however, one long-shot option. Who knows? You might get lucky.
Inside the Park
All hotels inside the park are operated by Xanterra South Rim/Xanterra Parks & Resorts. Reservations are taken up to 13 months in advance, beginning on the first of the month. If you want to stay in one of the historic rim cabins at Bright Angel Lodge, reserve at least a year in advance. However, rooms with shared bathrooms at Bright Angel Lodge are often the last in the park to book up, and although they're small and very basic, they're your best bet if you're trying to get a last-minute reservation.
To make reservations at any of the in-park hotels, contact Xanterra South Rim/Xanterra Parks & Resorts, 6312 S. Fiddlers Green Circle, Ste. 600N, Greenwood Village, CO 80111 (tel. 888/297-2757 or 303/297-2757; www.grandcanyonlodges.com). It is sometimes possible, due to cancellations and no-shows, to get a same-day reservation; it's a long shot, but it happens. Same-day reservations can be made by calling tel. 928/638-2631. Xanterra accepts American Express, Diners Club, Discover, MasterCard, and Visa. Children 16 and under stay free in their parent's room.
In Tusayan (Outside the South Entrance)
If you can't get a reservation for a room in the park, this is the next closest place to stay. Unfortunately, this area can be very noisy because of the many helicopters and airplanes taking off from the airport. Also, hotels outside the park are very popular with tour groups, which during the busy summer months keep many hotels full. All of the hotels listed here are lined up along U.S. 180/Ariz. 64.
Campgrounds
Inside the Park -- On the South Rim, there are two campgrounds and an RV park. Mather Campground, in Grand Canyon Village, has 327 campsites. Reservations can be made up to 6 months in advance and are highly recommended for stays between March and late November (reservations not accepted for other months). Contact the National Recreation Reservation Service (tel. 877/444-6777 or 518/885-3639; www.recreation.gov). Between late spring and early fall, don't even think of coming up here without a reservation; you'll just set yourself up for disappointment. If you don't have a reservation, your next-best bet is to arrive in the morning, when sites are being vacated. Campsites are $18 per night ($15 per night mid-Nov to Feb; reservations not accepted).
Desert View Campground, with 50 sites, is 25 miles east of Grand Canyon Village and open from May to mid-October only. No reservations are accepted. Campsites are $12 per night.
The Trailer Village RV park, with 75 RV sites, is in Grand Canyon Village and charges $36 per night (for two adults) for full hookup. Reservations can be made up to 13 months in advance by contacting Xanterra South Rim/Xanterra Parks & Resorts, 6312 S. Fiddlers Green Circle, Ste. 600N, Greenwood Village, CO 80111 (tel. 888/297-2757 or 303/297-2757; www.xanterra.com or www.grandcanyonlodges.com). For same-day reservations, call tel. 928/638-2631.
Outside the Park -- Two miles south of Tusayan is the U.S. Forest Service's Ten-X Campground. This campground has 70 campsites, is open May through September, and charges $10. It's usually your best bet for finding a site late in the day.
You can also camp just about anywhere within the Kaibab National Forest, which borders Grand Canyon National Park. Several dirt roads lead into the forest from the highway, and although you won't find designated campsites or toilets along these roads, you will find spots where others have obviously camped before. This so-called dispersed camping is usually used by campers who have been unable to find sites in campgrounds. One of the most popular roads for this sort of camping is on the west side of the highway between Tusayan and the park's south entrance. For more information, contact the Tusayan Ranger District, Kaibab National Forest, 176 Lincoln Log Loop (P.O. Box 3088), Grand Canyon, AZ 86023 (tel. 928/638-2443; www.fs.fed.us/r3/kai).
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- Hotel
Best Western Grand Canyon Squire Inn
With a pool in the summer and a video-game room and bowling alley year-round, this hotel offers plenty to distract the kids. Parents will likely appreciate the large guest rooms with comfortable easy chairs and big windows. In the lobby, which is more Las Vegas glitz than mountain…$$$Tusayan
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Bright Angel Lodge & Cabins
Bright Angel Lodge, which began operation in 1896 as a collection of tents and cabins on the edge of the canyon, is the most affordable lodge in the park. With its flagstone-floor lobby and huge fireplace, it has a genuine, if crowded, mountain-lodge atmosphere. It also happens to…$Inside the Park - Hotel
Cameron Trading Post Motel
Located 54 miles north of Flagstaff on U.S. 89, at the junction with the road to the national park’s east entrance, this motel offers some of the most attractive rooms in the vicinity of the Grand Canyon. Adjacent to the historic Cameron Trading Post, the motel is built around the…$Cameron - Hotel
Canyon Plaza Resort
Despite the word “resort” in the name, the Canyon Plaza’s setting is none too pretty, behind the IMAX theater and surrounded by parking lots. Guest rooms are large and comfortable, however, with balconies or patios. The hotel is built around two enclosed skylit courtyards, one of…$$$Tusayan - Hotel
Grand Hotel
With its mountain lodge–style lobby—a flagstone fireplace, log-beam ceiling, and fake ponderosa-pine tree trunks holding up the roof—this modern hotel is your best bet outside the park. Just off the lobby are a dining room (with evening entertainment ranging from Native American…$$$Tusayan - Hotel
Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites—Grand Canyon
With modern, well-designed, and predictably clean and comfortable guest rooms, this hotel also has a separate building with 32 large suites that are ideal for families. These suites are among the nicest accommodations inside or outside the park. Parents take note: The main building…$$Tusayan - Hotel
Maswik Lodge
Set back 1/4 mile or so from the rim, the Maswik Lodge offers spacious rooms and cabins that have been comfortably modernized without losing their appealing rustic character. If you don’t mind roughing it a bit, the 28 old cabins, available only in summer, have lots of character,…$Inside the Park - Hotel
Phantom Ranch
Built in 1922, Phantom Ranch, the only lodge at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, has a classic ranch atmosphere. Accommodations are in rustic stone-walled cabins or 10-bed gender-segregated dormitories. Evaporative coolers keep both the cabins and the dorms cool in summer. Make…$Inside the Park - Hotel
Red Feather Lodge
With more than 200 units, this combination motel/hotel is often slow to fill up, so it’s a good choice for last-minute bookings. Try to get one of the newer rooms, which are a bit more comfortable; the older ones date to the lodge’s opening in 1963. In summer, the pool makes this…$$Tusayan - Hotel
Thunderbird & Kachina Lodges
If you want great views, these hotels are your best bets—but only if you get a room with a view. These two side-by-side hotels, dating from the 1960s, are a far cry from what you might imagine a national park hotel would look like. They do, however, have the most modern rooms on the…$$Inside the Park - Hotel
Yavapai Lodge
Located at the east end of Grand Canyon Village (a 1-mile hike from the main part of the village, but convenient to the Grand Canyon Visitor Center), the Yavapai is the largest lodge in the park, comprised of several buildings; this is where you’ll likely wind up if you wait too long…$$Inside the Park
