Grand Canyon and surrounding are - Help, please!!

Stefanie

Hi!!

Wasn't sure if I should post this in the Las Vegas bit or not????

Hubby and I are hoping to go to Vegas in May and then do a self drive from there to take in Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Zion National Park - that sort of area. We're having real trouble finding accommodation available for our dates (17-24 May), as we just want an odd night or two at a destination!

So firstly, any recommendations for reasonably priced accommodation in these areas, perhaps some we're not seeing????

Our other thought was to hire a campervan (or the equivilent) and do it that way, staying in National Parks. I wanted to know if anybody had a personal recommendation of rental firm that we could use??

If anyone's done similar it would be good to hear!

Thanks!!

Always_Harassed

Lovely area and when we were last there years ago it was possible to get accomodation as you went but not in the national parks which I have been told is booked up a year in advance. Always find trip adviser is good for these type of specific queries as you have people in that area looking at the sites and can give you local info.

pigsCANfly

We are going in April, and have booked Bright Angel Lodge at the South Rim through http://www.xanterra.com they handle all the park areas. Dont know about your dates though - all the park lodging does get booked up well in advance. Also look at staying just outside the park (we are also staying in Tusayan at the Grand Hotel as couldn't get both night at Bright Angel) only about 2 miles from the park entrance and lots of places to stay.

HTH

blindman

Stefanie wrote: »

Hi!!

Hubby and I are hoping to go to Vegas in May and then do a self drive from there to take in Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Zion National Park - that sort of area. We're having real trouble finding accommodation available for our dates (17-24 May), as we just want an odd night or two at a destination!

So firstly, any recommendations for reasonably priced accommodation in these areas, perhaps some we're not seeing????

Our other thought was to hire a campervan (or the equivilent) and do it that way, staying in National Parks. I wanted to know if anybody had a personal recommendation of rental firm that we could use??

If anyone's done similar it would be good to hear!

Thanks!!

Not sure if you have enough time to do the trip.

Hope you've planned the route this Southwest web-site will help.

I look at TravelAxe for hotels and prices in the areas.

I'd be surprised if you can't easily find accomodation in May (but not in the parks) at a nearby town. Usually loads of motels with availablity.

Look at Tripadvisor first though!

When we went to GC we stayed on Route 66 at Williams.

red_pad

If you're thinking about getting a campervan or RV, we went to America last year and used http://www.cruiseamerica.com/ Excellent company, the RV's are spacious and they've got everything you need.

We stayed in the Grand Canyon National Park itself using one of the many RV sites. Think it was around £15 per night.

franklally

There's a nice looking holiday inn literally outside the gates of the grand canyon - just by where the helicopters take off

sturll

Best place to stay is Williams. Having turned up twice and then had to look for accommodation ive not once found a full hotel.

Prices are about $75+

Be sure to go to the BBQ grill at the north end.

Jelly79

I stayed at the Grand Canyon a few summers ago. I think maybe the RV camping spots were all full but I managed to book (a couple of weeks in advance) a couple of nights on a tent pitch. This might be worth considering as as far as I can remember the toilets and showers were clean and the pitches are fairly cheap. You get a decent pitch with a picnic bench. You can pick up a cheap tent and matress from Walmart while you are there.
Even if you don't like camping it will still be worth it just to see the Grand Canyon.
You can book camping by going to the nps.gov website.

arealhighlander

We will be over there about the same time.

We are flying out 16th May, 4 nights in las Vegas and then taking a RV and going to Grand Canyon, Death Valley and Kings & Sequoia National park. First time with an RV.

We rented ours through http://www.ideamerge.com I think it was $1500 for 12 days.

A lot of the RV camps in the National Parks will not take bookings, its a first come first served at that time of year. There are many other private ones though that you can book.

We are planning on stayin in South Rim in the park and doing some hiking.

Be aware of the weekend of 22-24 May as this is Memorial Weekend where all of America go outdoors. EVERYWHERE will be busy, this probably is why you are struggling to find anywhere.

We found this out last year when we were in Yosemite.

We aren't going to bother with helicopter trips, the helicopters only get to fly at the west end of the Grand Canyon, they are not allowed into teh area of Grand Canyon National park. Check out Tripadvisor, great site for info.

amrad

Are you saying you have a week to do Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon and Zion and back to Vegas? If so I think this is adequate time.

The Hoover Dam will take you an hour or so, and its en route to the South Rim from las vegas (total drive time around 6 hours).

You need to decide whether you want to do the South Rim or the North Rim or both. Accommodation inside the national park area or in Tusyan (sic) is very overpriced. My suggestion would be to stay in Williams, a lovely little Route 66 town about an hours drive from the Canyon. No need to book, just turn up and ask a few of the motels. We got one for $40 a night for a double, but there are some really lovely family run ones there which will be around $75.

Think about how much time you want to spend at the Canyon. I would say a full day at the South Rim is a minimum. You could spend two days there and do a hike.

Similarly elsewhere on your journey just turn up in local towns and stay in motels, you can ask to see the room first and there are always good quality ones available at reasonable prices.

If you are going to Zion you could probably stop by the North Rim as well. In a week you would probably be able to do Death Valley as well if you wanted to.

curlylox

I stayed in the Holiday Inn Express just outside the park. It is very close and I would def use it again.

If you are going to Yosemite, I would suggest staying at the Yosemite View Lodge - it is situated on the bank of the Merced River and you can have a river view room with patio - fantastic!! Again it is just outside the park.