The Best Hotels to Book Near the Grand Canyon for Every Traveler

The Kachina Lodge is a Grand Canyon hotel so close to the rim that you could almost roll out of bed into the canyon. That’s an exaggeration, but its proximity to the park isn’t. Step outside your king room and walk directly onto the Rim Trail. These simple guest rooms are perfect for active travelers who only need a little shut-eye between adventures. Follow the scent of eggs and bacon next door for a mighty breakfast, or head straight onto the trail to snag an energy boost from Canyon Coffee House.

Let’s not beat around the creosote bush – you’re here to see the Grand Canyon as much as possible, which the Holiday Inn Express understands. This hotel near the South Rim of the Grand Canyon helps you spend less time lodging and more time gazing longingly at layered bands of red rock. No sit-down, wait-forever breakfast here – just grab-and-go food so that you can head out on your adventure. You’ll be in and out of this hotel so fast that you’ll hardly remember what color the triple-sheet beds are.

A five-minute drive south to the Grand Canyon National Park Airport. A five-minute drive north to the Grand Canyon National Park Sign. And what’s in the middle? A Best Western to help you maximize your time at one of the greatest wonders in the nation. When you’re not staring slack-jawed at the long way down to the Colorado River, this Grand Canyon hotel will keep you busy with the on-site bowling alley, arcade, hot tub, and indoor and outdoor pools.

While it was built in 1998, this lodge-inspired hotel has plenty of Old West spirit. It has a hulking stone fireplace in the lobby, horse-saddle seats at the Canyon Star Saloon and unique items in the gift shop. Pillowy mattresses top the beds in the ochre-toned, contemporary rooms. Its best feature, though? Its location. It’s only a mile (1.6km) away from the Grand Canyon National Park, surrounded by the aromatic sprawl of the Kaibab National Forest. If you stay here, you’ll get a head start on the day trippers.

This rustic, homey lodge sits about as close to the South Rim as you can get without falling in. Built in 1935, it’s a vision of country charm, with chunky limestone walls, tree-trunk beams and plenty of antique furniture. Rooms are cottage cozy, with tongue-and-groove paneling and beds half-recessed into lamplit nooks. Alternatively, you can hang your hat in one of the standalone cabins – two of which date back to the 1890s – that open directly onto the Bright Angel Trail.

Barely altered since it first opened in 1905, El Tovar Hotel is not just a local legend but also a National Historic Landmark – the lodging of choice of presidents and other prominent figures for decades. Everything about it hollers Golden Age bullishness, with pillars made of hand-hewn Oregon pine, cavernous stone fireplaces and stuffed hunting trophies of buffalo and elk adorning the walls. The 78 rooms are more demure, but you’ll find four-poster beds in some suites.

Among the ponderosa pines at the fringe of Grand Canyon Village, this 1970s-built two-story lodge complex has a friendly, summer-camp charm. The 280 rooms are frill-free but comfortable and cozy, with folksy touches such as cowboy-scene lampshades and views of the forest where deer roam. There’s a cute little gift shop on-site, and when you’re ready to behold the main event in Arizona, you’re just a short walk from the Rim Trail and Bright Angel Trail.

The chocolate-bar look of the brutalist facade of the Thunderbird Lodge betrays nothing of the most beautiful canyon views you’ll find anywhere in the park. Sandwiched between two of the oldest hotels hereabouts – Bright Angel Lodge, where you’ll check into the Thunderbird Lodge, and El Tovar Hotel, right on the South Rim – this hideaway is a first-class location for a more affordable price. You’re within walking distance of the shops and restaurants in Grand Canyon Village and the historic Grand Canyon Railway.

Yavapai Lodge offers two accommodation options: rooms in Yavapai West, a mid-century building, and those in Yavapai East, housed in a more contemporary two-story block. The latter offers noticeably more spacious rooms, with more furnishings, too. Either way, you’re a stone’s throw from the general store in the village and as close as you can get to the jaw-dropping Desert View Drive, which skirts the South Rim.

If you’re looking for an immersive, back-to-nature experience – with a lick of luxury – this upscale glamping site should more than fit the bill. The stylish, spacious canvas tents are available in various sizes, from classic two-person safari tents to stargazers, with a night-sky-viewing window above the king-size bed. There are even sprawling four-person suites. You’ll be invited to join complimentary camp activities, such as guided walks and landscape-painting classes.