Kachina Lodge — Hotel in Tuba City

I’ll break my review down in a few sections.

The location:

Yes the kachina overlooks the Grand Canyon. Our room was actually right over the rim which made for easy access to star gaze. However, the kachina has significantly more rooms than they have parking spots. We arrived at roughly 3 PM and had to make a lap to find parking. We did eventually find a tight spot and unloaded. In order to get anywhere in the winter you have to drive. When we returned from our driving tour there was nowhere to park. We made multiple circles around the loop and eventually settled to park in el Tovar and make the trek to Kachina. I there are many reserved spots for staff but no reserved spots for patrons paying top dollar to stay in the lodge.

The room: the room was the worst room we stayed in on our Honeymoon which included the secluded town of Eureka, NV (population 100ish) and Baker, NV (population 30ish). The facility has a weird smell, which i don’t really care about but would note it. It reminds you of a freshman boys dorm at a party school. Musty and sweaty. When checking in to our room we noticed immediately the sink drain did not drain and the sheets and pillow cases were stained brown (not light stains, legitimately dark brown stains) I would assume they do not bleach sheets. The mattress was incredibly uncomfortable and when we left we were surprised to see MULTIPLE house keepers working. The room appeared as though it was remade with the old sheets from the previous guest.

The food: We ate at the El Tovar. I would also say this was the worst food on our honeymoon. They do have queso (it isn’t queso, it’s nacho cheese) and their food tasted like high school food. It was also more expensive than literally every where else we ate on our week long trip. I would say do not eat on top of the hill. Go down to the businesses at the entrance or the park.

Booking: originally we booked for the Bright Angel Lodge. We emailed back and forth and apparently I missed the final email after saying “yes i would like a king room. Thank you!” Which required me to say “yes confirmed”. Two weeks before we left we called to confirm and we’re told we never emailed back. After they took the money out of our account for the bright angel. When i was on the phone with the business the woman told me “we just missed a connection”, no you required a 2nd confirmation that makes no sense! Luckily we did get into the kachina but it required a phone call, they could not let me book via email or online and the woman could not hear me with my bank card info. I live in a highly populated area, and have never had an issue with anyone not hearing me. It made the booking process way more difficult.

All in all if you can stay somewhere outside the canyon id recommend that. I’d also recommend maybe finding a smaller...

I was most excited about this room! We splurged & dished out so much extra money for a rim side room. The view was beautiful even though it also overlooked the trail, but the room & building was disappointing. It honestly felt like being in public housing.

You have to check in at El Tovar, and there is no way to access Kachina until you have.

The room was small and kind of sad. We could hear our next door neighbors like they were in the room with us. Thankfully they weren't loud!

Foremost, the hallway & room did not smell very good. It smelled like an old, very used hotel (If that makes any sense). It didn't smell neutral, clean, or nice. The room kind of smelled vaguely of body odor. We just kept the window open, thankfully we were on the 2nd floor.

The furnishings are just average, and things like lamp shades were weirdly stained. The plugs for our phone chargers were loose & didn't hold the plug steady, so it made the chargers unreliable. We had a decent amount of space to put luggage, etc.

The mattress was quite bouncy and uncomfortable, and there was not a comfortable seat in the room, only one office chair.

The bathroom had cute tile in the shower & looked clean, but one of the towels appeared unwashed.

Water pressure was good & the water was nice & hot. Amenities were decent. I don't like when hotels leave large pump bottles that everyone uses. There are too many weirdos in the world for me to want to share toiletries that aren't sealed for my protection. I know it's considered more "environmentally friendly" to have large refillable bottles, I just don't like the possibility of tampering. The soap did smell nice.

There is no restaurant, gift shop or desk staff in this building. If there is an elevator we didn't find it, and we had to go up, then down some stairs to get to our hallway. Bright Angel is a bit of a hike, but they had the best restaurant and sweeter staff than El Tovar.

I wouldn't stay at...

This is one of the hotels that are inside Grand Canyon National Park. The room would have been fine except for two things. The first is that the air conditioner in the room barely worked, and the room never got truly cool. It was tolerable, but when was the last time someone asked you about your vacation, and you were happy to answer, "Oh, it was tolerable."? The second was the price. It was $300 for the night, which might not seem that unreasonable until you realize that the hotel rooms in Tusayan, which is the small town just outside the entrance to the park, less than a 5-minute drive from Kachina Lodge are of the same or better quality at half the price. The attraction to stay inside the park at Kachina or one of the other accommodations is that you avoid the long lines of cars waiting to get into the park. Normally, during peak season, it can be up to 2 hours of waiting just to enter the park. But, thanks to someone who lives on Pennsylvania Avenue, there are no longer any lines. I went the weekend of June 14-15, 2025, and I drove right up to the gate, no waiting whatsoever. I am a long time resident of Arizona, and I have been to GCNP dozens of times, so I am familiar with the usual flow of traffic to the park. At this moment in time, you can save yourself $150/night by staying in Tusayan without having to worry about how long it will take you to get into the park, with the added benefit of proximity to the restaurants and shops outside the park. Save yourself time and money and avoid the hotels...