Holiday Inn Chinle, Chinle

I only found one review of this hotel on Yahoo Travel as we were planning our family vacation to Canyon de Chelly (which by the way is pronounced “de Shay”). That review sounded like it was written by a marketing person or something. (It’s gone now.) We decided, since the area didn’t seem to be very busy, to wait till we got there to choose between the Best Western, Thunderbird Lodge, and Holiday Inn. The Best Western appeared first, and judging from appearances, we thought we’d give the next one a shot. The kids were hungry by this time, and when we saw the Holiday Inn was also the Canyon de Chelly Trading Post and Garcia’s Restaurant— noticeably nicer than the Junction Restaurant in the middle of the Best Western— we stopped for dinner. Charmed by the place, we stayed the night too. It has all the professionalism of a good Holiday Inn, but all the charm of an independent local hotel. There is a story behind it, something to do with Camillo Garcia and his wife, and their long friendship with and service to the Indians. The wall between the conference room and the restrooms has lots of photos of Garcia and various people who sound important (“GreyEyes”?) as well as photos of the hotel/restaurant while it was being built, all nicely matted and framed. Part of the hotel construction seemed to do with preservation of some adobe and stone ruins: you can now see them partly restored between the pool and the hillside behind it. The staff are all Indian, reticent but friendly. Decor is classy Southwest with (no surprise) authentic Indian crafts, without being cluttered. All 5 of us fit into one two-bed room in the rear building: it was simple, comfortable, with nearly instant hot water. Pleasant surprises: 1. Free wireless internet access everywhere on the property: right after dinner it was a little slow, but after we put our kids to bed it was just as fast as my DSL connection in Los Angeles. 2. Price: dinner was very reasonable (only $46 for all five of us, 15% tip included). So was breakfast, though I don’t remember how much that cost. Our $79 room rate dropped to $49 with our AAA discount. 3. Service: both our servers were kind and accommodating, and got all our complicated orders just right. Our kids were made welcome, and they had everything from highchairs and booster seats to exciting “crayon-tip” lids for the kids’ drink cups, which you can take home with you. 4. Food quality: it was excellent! Everything was great, and tastefully presented too, as if it were a much more expensive restaurant. 5. Immediate hot water. Wasting water is my pet peeve. Disappointments: 1. No backstory of the hotel, despite all the hints of a very interesting one! 2. Service: it was slow at the restaurant, not the front desk.