![]() We booked our rooms a year in advance to get a second floor room. The lodging inside the national parks normally fills well in advance. My advice would be to go to the cafeteria at Maswik! The service was shockingly bad - self serve and yet my bagel was stone cold by the time I got to pay for it, despite there only being a few people ahead of me in line. Because breakfast wasn't included (and Thunderbird itself doesn't have any eating facilities) we went to the Bright Angel coffee shop, and it was APPALLING. The location in terms of proximity to food and the free shuttle was good. We were right on the rim and although we couldn't actually see the Canyon from our ground floor room (I think "partial canyon view" is a bit deceptive), we did have elk LITERALLY on our doorstep, which was exciting. Xanterra certainly has a monopoly on park accommodation. But for what we got (no breakfast included, no laundry on site, just a basic room with no actual view of the Canyon) it was fairly expensive. The room was clean and comfortable, if a little on the small side. Note: This review has been updated since it was first posted in Mar 2008.Having stayed the previous night at Maswik and not been happy with the cleanliness, we were much happier with Thunderbird Lodge. Our Rating of the Kachina Lodge Grand Canyon: And that in itself makes staying on the rim of the Grand Canyon well worth while. This hotel is expensive for what you get, but you need to keep in mind that you are paying mainly for being right on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. The internet in the Bright Angel Lodge lobby area costs $2.00 for 7 mins which is just enough time to send a couple of emails. Unfortunately there is no internet in the rooms which meant we were unable to keep up with our business commitments.The room is very clean and comfortable to be in.The ‘Ecossential’ brand toiletries smell almost good enough to eat, they have a rich, tangerine citrus aroma.It’s nice having the bath, means I can thaw out with a nice hot soak at the end of a cold winters day ‘touristing’. The bathroom isn’t huge but there’s enough room to move around easily.As a result the room is not well lit, but once the blinds are opened there is plenty of light. Lighting in the room is okay although as with most hotels we have stayed at in the US, there is minimal ceiling lighting and instead the room is lit by a series of lamps.There is a TV cabinet with a 26in (68cm) TV and a table with one chair, large clock radio, and the usual bedside telephone.The décor is restful with nicely presented artwork and attractive wooden lamps.Each bed had two pillows and one of the pillow slips had black stains which were ingrained, and although the pillow slip had been laundered the stains made it look very unappealing.There are 2 double beds, which are comfortable.The room is similar to all the others we have been staying in. ![]() ![]() We were probably about 30 feet from the Canyon edge.Kachina advertises their rooms as having partial Canyon views but we found that the only thing obstructing the full view of the Canyon were a few trees.Our room is #6313 and is situated on the bottom floor of the hotel on the Canyon side.If you are arriving at a busy time of the year you may find it difficult to find parking so keep this in mind. ![]() We were warned that parking may be sparse and were considering keeping our car space outside the El Tovar but luckily when we got to the Kachina Lodge we found a space right by the entrance. Once we received our room keys we had to go back to our car and drive around to the Kachina Lodge.The El Tovar is an historic hotel and the lobby reflects this with its dark wood theme and deer head decorations. Check in for the Kachina Lodge is done through the El Tovar Hotel.The young lady behind the counter said she would list us as being in the hotel so that housekeeping would move our room up the list of rooms to be serviced. When we did return at around 2.30pm the room still wasn’t ready so we sat in the lobby with a number of other people who were also waiting to check in.However the young man checked our reservation and suggested we return around 2pm to see if the room was available. Check-in is at 4pm and it’s only around 11am. It’s only a short distance away and we have arrived too early to check into the Kachina Lodge. ![]() We have arrived from Tusayan, where we stayed for a couple of nights at the Holiday Inn Hotel. ![]()
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