It's, by far, the best place to stay for a Grand Canyon visit. Six family members met up there. And, everyone enjoyed the historic charm of the hotel. We ate every evening of our 4-day stay in the hotel's dining room. The food was fantastic. And, each day, we were only steps away from all of the sights and activities we wanted to experience. Highly recommend traveling the week after Thanksgiving. We had the place to ourselves!

Pretty older, refurbished hotel. Located in the Grand Canyon Village. Central to hiking and parking. Very nice, until a mouse who had been in our room all night, ran out and under the door. I wasn’t able to report the incident because there was only one person at the front desk and after waiting 15 mins to explain the situation, I gave up.

We paid a high price to stay in one of the corner suites on the top floor, and these suites are not about luxury. They command a high price due to location and view. The suite was showing a lot of wear and is in need of some TLC. I like the bathroom amenities and the bathrobe was heavenly soft, but other than that I really don't have anything better to say. Would I stay here again? Probably not, especially at these prices, my expectations were high and it didn't meet those expectations.

My wife and I spent one night here prior to a two night stay at the Buckey Oneil Cabin (Bright Angel Lodge). We have been to and stayed in many National park lodgings all over the country. With those visits, I fully understand you are paying for location and will be staying in VERY basic accommodations, which are often limited by the historic nature of the buildings. The El Tovar is certainly a historic structure, but outside of it's rim side location, it is nothing that special compared to the lodges at Yosemite, Yellowstone, Rainier, etc. The rooms are basic but clean. We had a standard terrace room which is downstairs from the lobby and partially subterranean, ours had a view of the service parking lot. With a queen bed, you could hardly move in the room, but it did have it's own bath (a strict requirement for my wife), and sufficed for one night. We had a drink in the bar, and were surprised to find they only offered appetizers and you could not order dinner. The bartender was pleasant, and represented the best staff experience we had at that property during our entire stay on the rim. We are non-foodies and were not interested in the gourmet fair served in the dining room so we sought out dinner elsewhere. We did eat breakfast in the dining room all 3 mornings we were on the rim. The food was good, but the service was poor. In general, the attitude of all of the staff we encountered at the El Tovar was terrible. We are friendly happy people and always say hello to any staff we encounter. At best we received a grunt, but in general it was more of an empty dead stare. Once again, I understand I am paying for location, but at the rates they charge, the staff could at least be friendly, or maybe pleasant.... The sad part is that this is the off-season - I cannot imagine how miserable these folks get during the busy season. The next time we stay at the rim, we will choose any accommodation at the Bright Angel lodge over the El Tovar.

So I decided to splurge and stay here over he Bright Angel Lodge and have dinner in the dining room. Although it was good it wasn't a $300 a night good. I opted to splurge as I really wanted a good nights rest before hitting the trail the following morning. Kids were screaming in the hall or lobby at 10:30pm and not sure why their parents allowed or management? We opted to stay at the Grand Hotel just outside the park the night we came out of the Canyon for $100 and WOW it actually much nicer and less crowded than El Tovar. But the history of the El Tovar is what sucked me in, but I definitely wouldn't do it again.