Grand Canyon Lodge - North Rim - North Rim, Arizona

Mike B.

I had a friend tell me that if you went to the Grand Canyon, you had to see the North Rim. So we planned our 9-day trip to basically go all the way around the canyon, ending up at the North Rim. Now he was right, the views of the canyon and the drive around the park are amazing. But our experience with the Lodge...pretty average. To be fair, we couldn't get into the fancy cabins with porches and rocking chairs up by the Lodge, and we didn't try to get into the hotel and the entrance of the property. We booked about 8 months in advance, and the good stuff was already gone. So we ended up in a 2 BR pioneer cabin, and "pioneer" is the operative word. It is sparse. No TV, no wi-fi, a ceiling fan in only 1 BR, and a shower stall that you could barely turn around in. It got up to the mid 80s during the day while we were there, so only 1 ceiling fan was a bit of a problem. But on the bright side; they did have a little 1-cup coffee machine, and Starbucks coffee. We slept okay the two nights we were there, but wouldn't do it again, and dragging your suitcases across the road and then down sloping sidewalks to you cabin was a big hassle. ||The Lodge itself is beautiful, with the giant windows and the views from the "living room" and the 2 patios out of either side. But they seemed to get a lot of tour buses, so the place is much more crowded than we expected. If you want to get a seat on one of the decks for the sunset, you better stake it out around lunchtime. Both nights we were there, there was no chance of getting a spot on either patio within a couple of hours of sunset. ||This is the only game in town on the North Rim, as you have to go several miles back out of the park to the Kaibab Lodge, or 40 miles down the road to Jacob Lake. But the views are amazing off the back of the lodge and along several of the trails around it, so it was worth a little discomfort in the end.

Diane A.

We did not stay here but the lodge was very nice there was access through the viewing room lots of nice comfortable couches, patio area that led to Trail accesses, the visitor station is right with directions and suggestions of how to enjoy the park And a water bottle fill up station and does not have a shuttle service. But we just hiked some on the trails and drove to the different overlooks the views were breathtaking it was not overcrowded even though there was lots of people there. I don't think the colors were as Vivid as the south rim but certainly it was more enjoyable to us even though we had to do our own driving and some of the roads were pretty sketchy, not rough but extremely narrow, with lots of blind curves, and sheer drop offs.

Pamela H.

Thanks to Misha, Monica, Vlad, Brad and all the staff at the lodge. Helpful and welcoming. We enjoyed our stay in a cabin; it was small, but it had everything we needed: good shower and bed, small fridge, rocking chairs on the porch. Enjoyed talks about the forests, geology, and astronomy. Great hiking along the rim. Magnificent views. The veranda gets very busy by mid-afternoon as people gather to watch the setting sun turn the canyon all colors of red.

Emily M.

Have stayed here many times & find the cabins and location overall enjoyable. Proximity to the lodge is the reason to stay here!|Find the new online booking process more confusing than it used to be and price increases are a bit much given no upgrades in cabin amenities or furnishings.|Rodents are an issue (always have been here) so keep food safely stored, door closed & don’t feed the wildlife. Unfortunately, the new company ownership is not dealing effectively with appropriate cleaning and safe trapping. Our cabin had 2 traditional mouse traps that could potentially be dangerous to children, so check carefully if you have young ones.

Chris B.

I took a look through the reviews before I wrote this one. Yes, the Grand Canyon is spectacular. Yes the Grand Canyon Lodge location couldn't possibly be any better. Yes we stayed in one of the log cabins so I was expecting a log cabin. But I've stayed in similar cabins in other parks and what I wasn't expecting was the number of bugs both live and dead in the room. The problem is clear. The windows and screens are old and unmaintained. The screens are ripped which of course increases the odds of insects entering the room and it is clear that there has been no cleaning of those windows for years. Piles of dead bugs and clouds of old spider webs. I don't understand why that isn't part of the cleaning routine. I'm not asking for a bleach rubdown, but for crying out loud, how much effort would be required to wave a duster through there every now and then! Never mind that the window release was broken on every window and I had to steal parts from one just to open two windows for ventilation.
That said, a shout out to Guy who is a waiter in the dining room and does and outstanding job.

Sean H.

For starters, some friends and I hiked rim to rim from the south rim to the north rim prior to our arrival at the Lodge. The lodge itself and the cabins were actually quite lovely. Obviously the only accomodations options you have on the north
rim are the lodge or the campgrounds, and we made our reservations at the lodge nearly 10 months in advance to ensure our stay.

The lodge and restaurant offer breathtaking views of the canyon with floor to ceiling windows, truly remarkable. The cabins were split into two rooms, one with a queen bed and the other with bunk beds and a futon, with a bathroom in the middle.
We were delighted to find the showers were nice and hot, which felt incredible after the long hike.

Areas for improvement were all on the service side. Upon arrival, we had requested bedding for the futon as there wasn't any in the room. After waiting a while, we tried calling guest services, to which it just rang for about 10 minutes before
we gave up and decided to go to the lobby, which was a 10 minute walk from our cabin in the cold weather. We were then presented with a sheet, and said they would bring the blanket and pillow, which never came. Our room also had no mugs or cups for the coffee,
and also had no shampoo or body wash in the dispensers in the bathroom. These should be simple checklist items for housekeeping, so not sure how they would be missed.

A shivering sleepless night with just a bedsheet would typically amount to a 1 star review, but understanding the remote location probably comes with staffing shortages and other logistical issues, I'm hopeful adjustments are made to enhance
this stunning location with an overall 5 star experience for many years to come.

Julie G.

Some reviews say about the lodge being dated, etc. we found that to be part of the charm. We stayed in September of 2024. We were only there for one night. We didn’t do any hiking here as we were there mainly to watch the sunset and rise over the canyon. There were alot of people to watch the sunset. I feel watching the sunrise is underrated as there were just a few of us out there. Bi actually preferred watching the sunrise more than the sunset. We got drinks from the tavern and took them with us to watch the sunset. The drinks were very good. As most reviews say, there isn’t much to do after sunset but we were tired from lots of driving. After watching the sunset, we got food from the deli that we took back to our room. The food was actually really good. We stayed in a western cabin and it was very clean, close to the rim and had a great porch to relax on after dark. Our only real complaint was that our AC didn’t work and beware of the toilet paper. It is very abrasive lol. We didn’t bother to call about the AC because our windows all opened and it got pretty cool at night. We had breakfast in the dining room and it was pretty good. Our waiter was very friendly and attentive. Here is a little tip. If you go to watch the sunset, there is a little spot just outside of like the movie room to the left as you come in the main lobby entrance. If there are no good seats to watch the sunset, go through that room to the right and grab a chair there. Then there are doors that take you out to a small stairway that has place for about 4 chairs and elevated you above all the chairs. Was a perfect spot.

Merry S.

We ate breakfast in the lodge. The food was hearty and plentiful and the coffee was good. The host and the server were very helpful in getting us our desired table and ensuring that my meal was gluten free. The view of the North Rim was outstanding!