Thunderbird Lodge Reviews

I stayed two nights at the lodge. The room was clean, the staff was friendly, and the room had a lovely view of the canyon. I would definitely stay here again.

Over crowded... it's very hard to find the parking space...

It was a lot of money for a not nice room that was not worth over $200 like I paid

An ok place to stay, but leaning way too hard on its location to justify the price. Needs a real update, and for the love put a coffee machine in the room.

I loved the rooms, the only downside is that the room we got was on the wrong side of the lodge for the Canyon view, so I can't comment on the view for the room. Other than that, though, it was a spectacular visit and you're just a 30-second walk from a spectacular view either way.

Just steps away from the south rim!, Grand Canyon!

Great being at the rim. Parking is terrible, lodge is older but well maintained

Loved our stay here. It is literally right on the canyon. I wouldn't want to be any closer to be honest. The room was nice and had everything we needed. Food and shops were close by. We had a snow storm and some deer show up right outside our window. It was a great trip all around.

Location is great, room was fine, parking was abysmal - we spent as much time looking for a park and walking over as we spent at the actual canyon. WiFi is non-functional, which can make planning the rest of the trip difficult.

Looked nice from the lobby. We didn't stay here, just ate dinner. The food was good.

The room was good with comfortable bed. Had problem with lotion dispenser that maintenance fixed promptly. We ate BQ upstairs, the steak was superb but the rest of the meal was subpar. Potato salad the potatoes weren't cooked enough.

Room was nice and steps away from the rim of the canyon.

It is the best place to go with nature.
I need a check-in at Bright Angel Lodge.

Excellent location. Decent rooms. Very good staff. Parking is not adequate, had to park in a lot farther away.

5 stars for location, 4 starts for room and no stars for parking. No dedicated lot, you'll battle the day visitors for a spot.

Location is fantastic. Rooms are small and outdated but serve the purpose after a long day of hiking. Our interactions with the hotel staff at check in was absolutely horrible, rude, not helpful, not friendly, with a huge attitude.

Clean room, coffee maker, TV. The location what you are paying for. Thirty seconds to the Rim Trail. Parking could be somewhat challenging during the day, but ok at night as many day visitors leave.

Pricey, basic room with absolute garbage wifi. Clean, but utilitarian. Can't beat the location, tho.

The room was good and you have a great view. The WLAN is a disaster. It takes 10min to load a website. I assume 0.02 MB / s

Amazing views of the canyon and a wonderful walking path along the ridge! There are plenty of art and gift shops along the way so there is always somewhere to shop and you won't go hungry with the great restaurants around the village!

It was great experience living by the Canyons. The view was spectacular and can be seen through the windows. The room was clean and had all the basic amenities.

Clean and modern rooms with a rustic touch (one of the walls is stone). Keurig gel, shampoo and coffee machine included. The bathroom is small, and check in is at Bright Angel.

Amazing location just steps from the south rim trail. We had two rooms, which were both quite nice. The beds were comfortable.

I called to try Tom find out pricing and possibly book a stay and the automated system did not give me an option for location, it stated to stay on the line to speak with someone, said it did not recognize my input which I did not type anything. It forever me to go through the entire automated system again and said to try my call again later after not recognizing any input. Very disappointing.

Great stay, questionable customer service when it came to late check-out, but otherwise okay

Great place to stay when visiting the canyon- almost nothing matches the views

Rooms need some attention and TLC.. Great location at rim with view of canyon....

1960's lodge that has been upgraded. The room is ok. Close to the Grand Canyon rim which was cool.

I felt compelled to write a review. I think the price you pay for the room will impact your experience. For regular full price, it's too much. It's location is spectacular, no worries there. Cleanliness? Very clean, (even the shower seals). Outdated, yes a bit, but quaintly enough and it feels warm, comfortable and homely. No issues there. So is this worth 250-350usd? In my opinion: no, (but keep in mind, location is literally 50mtr/150ft from rim, so if you find that perk very important it might be worth it to you!) However sometimes big discounts can be found online, and at that rate, the rate is similar to lodging outside the park. That's why we did choose Thunderbirds in the end. It's not posh, but it sure was comfortable and convenient!

Great view overlooking the South rim of the Grand Canyon. Reasonably priced, and comfortable beds.

Basic hotel necessities, but clean and comfortable. Loved having a view from the rim.

The hotel has the charm of a youth hostel but nothing is missing except a good wireless internet. Parking right outside the door, chlorine-free, cold drinking water in the hallway and direct access to the canyon! We ate in the neighboring hotel, where the breakfast is served. We left out and arrived on the way.

Room was decent and clean, views are amazing, you can walk right out of your room and be at the canyons edge. The negatives are, the rooms are noisy you can hear everything your neighbors say and do. The food was the worst part very overpriced and not good at all. We ate at every restaurant the park had to offer and every place has what seems to be pre made food that is heated up. The 2 decent places to eat are the Mc Donald's and the Mexican restaurant located in the town closest to the park.

View and location were stunning. Be prepared to check-in next door at Bright Angel and park a ways away. Overall clean, perfectly located, and worth the price.

Good hotel woth great view of canyon if you are in the right spot. It is right on the rim so it makes you easily accessible to near by shops and the rim trail.

The room was much bigger than we anticipated and it was very clean with everything we wanted. We will stay here again.

Rooms were awesome and was the view of the grand caynon from the room

Clean room, nice accommodations. Would have liked a large common room with a fire place, but you can't beat the location. Staff was friendly and helpful, I would stay there again.

Comfortable, clean, great amenities and perfectly placed to explore the amazing South Rim of the beautiful Grand Canyon.

Amazing, beautiful view of Canyon. Easy to get around park from this location. Clean rooms.

Comfortable room to come back to after an adventurous day at the Grand Canyon. Partial view of the canyon from our room.

It's ok. A/C was working hard to not get very far. Bed is comfy. Fridge but no microwave. Food was good but pricey. Lots to do.

Good location, basic rooms, great view of the canyon

When we entered our room, it did not smell clean, but very stale (and this is January). The room was reasonable priced for being beside the canyon, but cleanliness is more important than all the other things that might come with a room. Also, the wifi is so slow that one can hardly send or receive messages. I can only say that I have reservations about the quality of this place.

This lodge is inside the park and the grand canyon is just steps away. I've been to the grand canyon many times but staying inside the park and being able to just wake up and go outside and look at this breath taking view has been a whole new experience for me.the grand canyon at my finger tips for 3 whole days,Evey part of it within walking distance during any time of the day, YES!! it's worth it, just being able to settle down and take it all in was amazing

Banquet room here has the Absolute Best view of the Canyon! For special functions reservations for this room is so worth it!

The best aspect is location! Right on the south rim, a few short steps to the Bright Angel trailhead. Also right next door to the El Tovar restaurant, the only restaurant in close proximity open at this time. It's a pricey hotel room with front desk staff located at the Bright Angel Lodge. Had to walk back and forth to get keys reprogrammed. We found the heat thermostat was broken with no ac available yet (seasonal we were told), so they provided a fan. Parking is anywhere around the property, with no carts available, so plan to shuttle your luggage a ways, depending on where you find parking. On a positive note, it was clean and they let us in early since we had to transition from the Bright Angel lodge due to limited availability.

Exactly as the website describes. Wonderful to be able to step outside and be able to look at the Grand Canyon!

Had room on 1st floor looking out at the Canyon. Very nice accommodations with everything you need within walking distance. Free NPS buses will take you anywhere else. Great time!

Impeccably clean and a charming rustic vibe. And the location can't be beat! I will definitely be staying here again if I return to Grand canyon village!

The Grand Canyon is a must see
However I think it is terrible how much the hotels in our National parks cost!!
Our room is $300 a night. It's a no frills room!! BASIC amenities
Not even coffee or a microwave!
What I always say. The more you pay for a hotel room the less you get!

First of all has cutthroat parking! Took us almost an hour just to get in our room and find a very far away parking spot! No elevators and lots of stairs. You have to check in to the hotel next door there is not even a front desk in the building! No cell service and you only get Wi-Fi for 1 guest per room which sucked! Also asked for extra coffee and creamer and it only took them 2 hours to bring it! Way over priced and the partial view room was pretty sad. But we were close to the canyon and that was a bonus.

Canyon was amazing. Room was pretty good, good mediocre.

We stayed for two nights; 9/2/2016 and 9/3/2016.

We arrived in the middle of a torrential downpour, as we now know that early Fall is considered "monsoon season" in and around the Grand Canyon.

So this is worth noting because....given the rain and wind, and our total and complete unfamiliarity with the area, we had no idea where we were going. First off, there are *zero* signs for the Thunderbird Lodge as you make your way down the various roads after entering via the South Rim entrance. So a heads up....follow the signs for the "Bright Angel Lodge". After circumnavigating the hotel area two times (including the train depot and the "village"), we decided to roll the dice and pop into one of the hotel-looking structures and ask for directions. Next tip....some of the free-standing structures are standalone and there isn't a "front desk" or anything remotely helpful to assist you in determining where you may be. We came across a fellow traveler, and they directed us to the Thunderbird Lodge front desk. We arrived, and as the gentleman behind the counter seemed preoccupied with his computer, we gave him a minute. Or two. After several moments, he looked up and appeared to have been rudely interrupted when he asked "Yes....?". I asked if he could check us in, and he said he could. Great; from my years of travel, that is one of the main functions of a front desk. Anyways, I attempted to inject some levity and suggested that the Thunderbird Lodge add a sign or two to help folks determine where they are. Well, he didn't like this one bit; he said there were signs all over and implied I simply didn't see them. So after getting our keys, and once the rain stopped (it did finally stop, and the rainbows were magnificent), we looked about for the signs. We saw two; one was a sign affixed to the side of the building by the door, that you could only see if you were on the sidewalk on your way to the building. The second was one that *maybe* someone could see if they knew exactly where to look; understand that this sign was located in the proximity of the parking lot, and a vehicle's passengers would only see if if they turned INTO the parking lot assuming they knew where they were going.

The location of this hotel can't be beat. We had elk right outside our window one morning. The rooms were cozy and clean. We had a wonderful experience with the young lady at the Kolb Studio; she went out of her way to act as a tour guide for ourselves and another party. Hats off to her.

Bottom line: decent enough hotel, some really annoying quirks, but at the end of the day, they know that you can't stay anywhere else....because there is nowhere else to stay.

The room was nice, the view was great. It took forever to get checked in.

Good location. But old rooms. Relatively noisy due to location. If your room is on the first floor you have little privacy to open the curtains. Tourists everywhere. Location is prime. If you want to be close to the village heart that's the spot.

Nice enough room. Great view of the canyon. Convenient location.

Crowded, confusing maze of different things mottled together. Limited parking bizarre hours for the restaurant.

Location was amazing, as the rim trail was just outside the lodge building. We didn't get the canyon view room but can imagine how amazing the view would be. However, other than the location, the experience was not great. Too few parking lots, and the room was dirty. Bathroom lotion bottle was covered with lotion residues and the back of the toilet had pink bacteria growing. Gross.

From our window we could see into the Grand Canyon. What more can you ask for.. it was fun.

What a great view from our room, worth every penny. Good room services as well.
Located right on the canyon rim it just doesn't get any better.

Old hotel, views are decent, good hot water. Doors are difficult to open. Took forever to check into our room. Dont try to arrive early, check in is 4pm and not a min sooner! Did not stay a second night as first booked. They did refund for second night.

The Thunderbird Lodge was a good place to have a delicious milkshake and ice cream social for our larger party.