If you’re expecting Four Seasons, you ain’t gonna get it. But, the history of this place more than makes up for its shortcomings. This place was opened in 1906, and is more or less the same place it was then. Right on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, with wide porches and comfortable lobby, this all-wood structure evokes the early days of Southwest tourist travel. Sure, the floors and staircases creak a little, but the character of the place is undeniable. We loved our stay at the El Tovar!

My wife an I stayed in the El Tovar for one night, in a supposedly deluxe room for $500. I had low expectations to be fair, given that I did expect to be paying for the location, which is great. The room looked like it had not been updated for decades, and if ours was a deluxe room, I dread think what the standard ones are like. It was just about functional, although has a hard bed and the smallest pillows I have ever seen. The air conditioning unit however, was so loud when it kicked in, that it resulted in pretty much a sleepless night - I don't think that our was faulty, as I have seen other comments about how noisy they are. The restaurant tries to trade on fine dining, but again it's lost in a time warp, and not in a good way, although the food was acceptable. The lobby area is gloomy and uninviting. It could and should be great given its location, and the amount they charge. It needs some serious investment of the huge profit they must be making based on what they charge before you should go anywhere near this place. In hindsight, we would have been better staying somewhere else and taking a short drive to the rim. I was asked to complete a survey by the hotel, and was asked what the best thing about our stay was - my response was when leaving the hotel to take in the view. I have stayed in a lot of hotels, and this is hands down the worst of the lot.

Amazing view. Nostalgic decor! For $1000 a night- air conditioning units in room MUST be replaced. We didn’t sleep well the whole time we were there. The air conditioning units ran EXTREMELY LOUD. The one in the bedroom didn’t even cool the room down. Slow running drains in the bathroom. If it weren’t for the deck and the view we would not have stayed in that room.

I had overall a really nice stay of one night. The hotel was really nice overall. The food was excellent and not too expensive (not cheap mind you but tolerable). The views of course from outside were spectacular. The people working at the hotel (e.g. at reception, the lounge, the restaurant) were all very nice and helpful. My only real issue was the air codnitioning in my room and the bathroom fan (which came on whenever one turned on the bathroom light) were both exceptionally loud. It was not easy to ignore the noise. Otherwise everything was really nice.

The El Tovar has a fantastic location just across from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. You can't see the canyon from the 1st floor rooms in the main lodge, but it's only a short walk away. The hotel is historic with an atmospheric dining room, but considering the high price for the rooms, they could sure use an update of decor. The AC didn't work well, there were only a few electrical outlets, the TV picture was very grainy, and the mattress was very soft and bouncy. But the bathroom had striking black & white tiles, and both the toilet and shower were great. The main reason to stay here is the convenient access to the South Rim and the free shuttle bus, although the nearest stop required a walk down & back up 2 sets of steep steps.