I’m so glad we were able to stay at the El Tovar! We lucked out with a great parking spot just about as close to the lodge as you can get and then were surprised with a free room upgrade to a deluxe double queen room, instead of the standard room I had booked! The lodge itself is beautiful and the room was quite spacious and clean. The beds were also super comfortable. There is no elevator in the lodge, so luggage was kind of a pain, but that is a very minor inconvenience. It’s worth dealing with for everything else the El Tovar offers! We ate only once in the lodge dining room, but it was one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time! I hope I get to stay there again some day!

My second time in many years eating here and I will pass next time. We were left sitting in the lobby watching other people seated before us, when I complained the lady said she was waiting for 2 tables to leave. Then suddenly we were seated and both of those tables were empty and reset... I ordered Chicken breast with fettuccine. The fettuccine was dry. I asked for butter and parmesan cheese. I was given both and the waiter said he "had to scrape the bottom of the barrel " to get it for me... Their wine by the glass menu is horrible. None of the wines we tried were good. My husband had the French Onion Soup which was delicious but served in a small cup. He also ordered the steak special and he like it. My sister warned me it was about the ambiance not the food she was right. But at 830 at night in the fall it was pitch dark so not much ambiance.

Very attentive staff. Hotel is a treasure. Sits on the south rim of the grand canyon. Pricey yes. Worth it yes. Rooms are small. Rooms on the West side get very warm in the afternoon. AC controls it. East side contends with the morning sun. East side also gets views of the wild life. Our friends had a elk outside their window one morning. No elevators in this hotel. but bell staff was very efficient at getting bags into and out of the room. Room is pricey for what you get but you are in a national park and not 20 yards from the rim of the grand canyon. you pay for the location and the view

Have had the joy to stay at many of our historic NPS lodges - this one ranks right up there as the best. Iconic. Oozes with history and old time charm. Dinner was great - rooms comfortable. Loved it so much!

This place was a highlight of our trip! I had planned a year in advanced and seen some mixed reviews on El Tovar, but I’m please to report that it was fantastic! Thank you to everyone at El Tovar who made our stay so much fun and for all the sweet ways you made our 10th Anniversary unbelievably amazing!!! we had read both the good and bad reviews. We knew to expect stairs. We knew it was a historic hotel. We knew the cost was high because of how sought after it is/location. So I think having proper expectations is key. We were appreciative to be able to experience it all! We got into GC village and checked into EL Tovar. (Standard room-queen)What a lovely, historic hotel! The room was spacious and so was the bathroom. I had mentioned when I booked almost a year earlier that we would be celebrating our 10th anniversary. I was SHOCKED to learn that our room overlooked the canyon!!!!!! (#6464). Gorgeous and surreal! It was on the second floor(accessible through stairs only which was exhausting dealing with first day altitude issues but well worth the struggle!! ). Drink lots of water on day one if you are from a low altitude place like Alabama. **Tip-mention celebrations when booking** We put our stuff down and went out to look over the rim and it was breathtaking. Hard to describe the overwhelming feeling you experience the first 15 minutes you see the Grand Canyon in person. It was beautiful. We watched sunset (the first 30 minutes anyway) and enjoyed watching the colors hit the canyon walls in different ways. We went to change for dinner as we had booked reservations at El Tovar restaurant the second it opened up (90 days in advance) and received a 6:30pm reservation. I had also mentioned to them our 10th anniversary and was again surprised when they sat us at a table near the window as the sun was setting!! I felt like I was in a dream! Gorgeous! The service was wonderful and so was the food. I was not planning on having an appetizer but the server described a lobster bisque soup and so I decided to try it. So yummy!! I actually filled up on that and didn’t each much dinner (chicken fettuccine Alfredo), but the husband loved it!! The cost wasn’t as expensive as I had budgeted for and everything was so great! **room tip for #6464 is a big step up to the bathroom. I got up in the middle of the night and didn’t turn on the light. I fell pretty hard on the way back to bed. Make sure you leave a light on in the bathroom to prevent a late night fall** The next morning we ate a delicious breakfast at El Tovar with again great service! After breakfast we went to most of the shuttle overlooks, did Powell point, Mohave point, trailview overlook, Hopi point, and hermits rest. Every overlook offered a new breathtaking view. So glad we spent time taking it all in! We left the park through the east entrance and saw lipan overlook and dessert view watchtower (and ate some good ice cream!) This place hit it out of the park for us. I would gladly stay here again!! It exceeded all expectations we had(research is key) and made our Grand Canyon stay even better. It was VERY clean, and the bed was super comfortable! There is a safe in the room as well as a flat screen tv(that we didn’t use because HELLO-you are at the GRAND CANYON!). The hotel staff was amazing and attentive! All of our dining hosts, front desk crew, gift shop crew were SO friendly and helpful! On check out day, I would come to discover that I had left my iPhone at the resort (I had previously upgraded but had the old phone until I got all of my stuff transferred over. I realized I lost it when we were unpacking our bags 5 days later!!! I frantically called GC lost and found. Spoke to a very sweet lady who had found my phone(!!!) and she had it shipped to me in 3 days!! Another wonderful customer service example!!