Grand Canyon-Thunderbird Lodge?

[keishashadow]

Has anyone stayed in the Thunderbird Lodge, onsite @ the Grand Canyon? Evidently, one of the few with AC I was able to secure a room with partial view of the GC for 1 night. Only other room available was non view @ El Tovar (sp?); nearly double the price.

We'll be driving in from LAS & returning the next afternoon for 2 nights in Vegas; before we fly to SNA/DL.

we were going to do the halapui indian walkway but, after checking it out couldn't justify the expense; figured for another 1 - 2 hr drive; we'd have more time to just gaze anyway.

just hope i'm not being too ambitious ; just not sure when we'll have a chance to head out west again & thought we'd get an overview to decide where we'd like to re-visit

 

[Avery's mom]

The Thuderbird Lodge is a good choice at the South Rim. I stayed there last April in a view room. It was on the 2nd floor with a great view of the Canyon. The location was fantastic - close to the other lodging and dining options. For the price difference over the El Tovar, I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again.

The drawbacks are: the beds were horrible!! After being so active during the day, I wanted a comfortable bed, but it was not to be! My back was killing me after waking up in that bed. Also, the walls were very thin and I could hear people up at all hours. The parking was awful, but since we had my mom (who had her disabled placard) we were able to find parking.

If I were to return, I wouldn't hesitate to stay there, though.

Please ask if you have specific questions!

 

[keishashadow]

The Thuderbird Lodge is a good choice at the South Rim. I stayed there last April in a view room. It was on the 2nd floor with a great view of the Canyon. The location was fantastic - close to the other lodging and dining options. For the price difference over the El Tovar, I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again.

The drawbacks are: the beds were horrible!! After being so active during the day, I wanted a comfortable bed, but it was not to be! My back was killing me after waking up in that bed. Also, the walls were very thin and I could hear people up at all hours. The parking was awful, but since we had my mom (who had her disabled placard) we were able to find parking.

If I were to return, I wouldn't hesitate to stay there, though.

Please ask if you have specific questions!

too bad about the beds i could only get a king room (still hoping to switch to 2 Q); DS will get a roll away

did you eat anywhere onsite?

believe the bright angel lodge next door has a restaurant & more of a coffee-shop type place?

did you try out any of the trails? thinking of just the 1st portion of bright angel (a mile or so ); then taking the bus over to the watchtower-eastern part?

 

[Avery's mom]

Yes, the Bright Angel Lodge had 2 restaurants. We only tried the coffee-shop type place. It was average. Nothing special. However, during spring break we had to wait 45 minutes anytime we wanted to eat anywhere! We also had lunch one day at the ice cream parlor (sandwiches and hotdogs as I recall) at Bright Angel. We looked at the El Tovar dining room, yet with a 4 year old, we decided to forgo it. ALthough if it were just my DH and me, I would have gone.

In terms of the trails, we had my mom in her scooter, so we didn't go too far down the trails. We only went down the accessible trails. We did do a lot of sightseeing by car - out to the Watchtower (where my mom's battery died and we had to push her back to the car!!). It was nice being able to come and go, and stop where we wanted to. We saw the sunset at one of the popular lookouts (forget the name) but the view was no better than what we had in front of the Thunderbird.

If we were to go back, I would leave my mom at home so we could explore more of the trails.

Hope this helps.

 

[keishashadow]

thanks again, i've got a feeling we'll just wind up checking out the sunset from the rim area if front of hotel since we'll be getting in late (long as we don't have a tree in the way i'm just going to open the curtains, peek out in the morning & hop back in bed lol)

I know from traveling with my mom at times, that it def presents challenges; i'm sure she was happy to get to visit. Next time = more adventure for you!