Grand Canyon South Rim KOA Journey — Hotel in Four Corners States

We rented the Deluxe Cabin (#3). It's about 45 min-1 hour from Grand Canyon, something I didn't think was too big a deal when reserving, but it was slightly miserable when we were actually going back & forth. The cabin itself was great. Staff was tremendous, helping w/ directions, pointers, & suggestions. They even mailed me my glasses that I left on their counter when we left. Good things about the cabin: lots of outlets in sensible places. My son loved that the headboard of the bunk beds had charging ports. There are built-in nightstands next to the other beds. Remote-control ceiling fans & a/c were great, albeit a bit tricky to figure out how to operate w/no instructions. They really provide everything you need by way of kitchen tools (flatware, BBQ tools, hand towel, soap, sponge, paper towels, dishes). They provide a small drip coffee pot as well as a Keurig. Full-sized fridge, dishwasher, big microwave, 2-burner stove. Ample lighting in all rooms including bathroom. Handy clothes line in shower to hang wet items. Showerhead height was good. Laundry room (3 washers & 4 dryers-could use more of each for a place this big) is in the same building as the office, right next to the kids' play area & pool. We didn't use the pool but it seemed popular. Nice that they have an area for kids to play right there by the office. There were a bunch of kids playing ga-ga ball & my boys were glad to be able to join them. They also had several board games, giant Jenga, arcade games, & pool table in the rec room connected to the laundry. They provide you w/a propane grill, so easy to use my 16 yr old daughter who's never grilled before was able to figure it out & make us dinner! They also provide fire pits & chairs between the cabins. The porches are huge with good lighting & nice tables & chairs. Minor things that could be improved: The Keurig only accommodates short cups. You have to use a small mug first if you're trying to use a travel mug, and pour it after it's made. Pods were NOT good. Plan to bring your own pod coffee if you care what your coffee tastes like. The kitchen sponge was clearly very well-used & very dirty. We used paper towels to wash dishes. Sponges should be replaced for every guest. The handle for the shower was broken off & had to be gingerly positioned in order to get the water to come on. For a cabin that sleeps 8 for a 2 night reservation, they only left one extra roll of toilet paper. Thankfully I was able to track down the security guard that night & he very quickly brought more to the cabin. The shower curtain was way too long for the shower opening & it bunched up a good bit in the water. May sound inconsequential, but if you're like me, you realize that if it's sitting in runoff water from your shower, it has also soaked up runoff water from everyone's shower who stayed here previously. Pretty gross when you consider it. As others have pointed out, do not expect wifi OR YOUR OWN CELL SERVICE to work here, especially if you're on the outer edge of the property (which the deluxe cabins are). But then again, maybe we all need to be reminded to unplug a little bit more when we come to enjoy God's great outdoors? Overall the linens appeared sufficiently clean. The bedding for the bunk beds and sleeper sofa were packaged in plastic zippered bags (the queen loft bed and king bed were already made up). The sheets looked acceptable, but the first blanket I opened had hairs on it. We tried to avoid using the blankets just in case. The bathroom counter/sink area was very small. It would have been tremendously helpful to have a mirror over the bench in the king bedroom (under the clothes rack and shelf). There was a mirror in the hallway across from the bathroom, but you can't use that for getting ready as there is no place to set anything and no outlet close enough. This would be a really easy fix and other families would no doubt appreciate having better layout for getting ready. Overall the stay here was very enjoyable. These cabins appear to be pretty new and in nearly...

Day 1:

issue 1: arrived to discover our cabin was really nice other than the broken microwave. However they did have a tiny little microwave sitting on the floor off to a corner in the hallway for us. Would have been nice if we would've been told microwave is broken.

Issue 2 day 1: 30 minutes after we checked in we raced over to the office with our three kids super Duper happy to check out some of their bicycles since that is literally the only activity they have here to do. Bicycles or checked out for only 30 minutes. It was one hour before closing and immediately after we asked to check out the bikes, they had this really weird look on their face and said that they were sorry but they couldn't check out the bikes to us because it was too late. I said really? The rental is only for 30 minutes which means we would be back 30 minutes before closing. The ladies at the front desk then asked what looks like the maintenance guy and the maintenance guy said no because he usually gets really busy at around that time and it gets dark and it's pretty difficult for him to put the bikes away. In other words, it was too much of an inconvenience for them to rent us a bike for 30 minutes.

My issue with this scenario is that nothing was written, nothing was posted and this was not a set policy or rule. It was all based on how they felt at the end of day Friday.

Issue 3 day two: I asked the girls at the front desk specifically to speak with the on-site manager, they said that she would not be until the next day at 10 AM but that they would make sure to tell the manager to give me a call. I think gave them my cell phone number. An entire day later, the on-site manager never called me. I went to the front desk to follow up. I told them that since the on-site manager didn't call me back, I no longer wanted to speak with her, I wanted to speak with her manager.

Issue 4 day 2: I didn't go back on day two and hour and a half before closing time with my three kids again to ask to check out three bicycles. The girls at the front desk I can look does though they wanted to cry and they pointed to a typed out piece of paper that they now had posted on the front desk saying that an hour and a half was too late to rent bicycles.

I have called and emailed the general manager and am currently waiting for a response. All I am looking for is a little customer service and someone to show as though they care about offering a good customer service experience. Still...

Terrible internet. My first impression of the Journey KOA campground 5 miles north of Williams, Arizona, directly south of the Grand Canyon, was mixed. Campsites are level, and feature red lava-rock surfaces with a few trees that provide a little shade for some of the sites. The campground provides pads for motor homes and trailers, personal tents, and rented tents plus several small log cabins and larger apartments. Full hook-ups with power, water, and cable TV are available. However, cable TV was limited to a 19 low-definition channels. The small heated pool was fenced with translucent hazed glass, but we couldn’t find the advertised “soaking tubs”. Space is ample, and sufficient toilets with showers are available to meet campsite needs. An extra portable toilet facility provides additional clean facilities for high-use periods. Our greatest disappointment was internet (WiFi) service. I clocked the internet service for campers at a snail-speed of 10 to 20 Kbytes/second, far below acceptable WiFi standards. I had difficulty opening simple web pages, and service was intermittent--even though occupancy was relatively low. On further analysis, I found bandwidths into the campsite from Centurylink to KOA that registered 106 Mbytes/second and higher, but that the campsite management then throttled bandwidths down to a stingy “next to nothing” speed. All campers that we talked to complained about the poor internet service (see also prior reviews). After speaking with the campsite manager, who was less than cooperative and decidely unfriendly, she disclosed that most of the bandwidth was “reserved for office needs”. Since the office closed at 8 p.m., I asked why the available internet service was not distributed to the paying campers after-hours. She referred me to the campsite owner in California. After a lengthy discussion by phone with the owner, he agreed to at least temporarily increase bandwidth to the campsite. Subsequently, speeds increased by a factor of three during our last two days, which the campers appreciated (but it was still extremely slow). We lost cable TV one evening due to a mole attack on an underground cable, but the campsite maintenance crew made speedy repairs. The store is modern and well-supplied, but prices are high. Overall, we enjoyed our experience at the Journey KOA, but were perplexed at the management reluctance to provide a reasonable internet...