El Tovar Hotel, Grand Canyon Village

Unfortunately, we made our reservations in the spring of 2008 for October 2008, it was too late so we did not stay at the El Tovar. We fine dined at the restaurant in the El Tovar....Excellent! Excellent! Excellent! The food, the service and the entire El Tovar. I will stay their when I visit again. The Grand Canyon was much more than I expected. Breathtaking. There was nothing, I disliked about the my Grand Canyon experience. Just remember to pack a flashlight because its dark after sunset. Sunset is a must see.

I didn't stay at this hotel in my last visit. But I would have to agree with most people experienced in their restaurant. The people there are rude. The hotel has the best location and view, no doubt about that. I guess the restaurant in the hotel wanted to present as an first class restaurant. If you dress less than causual, they probably think you can't afford their expensive meal. Their attitude will make you turn around and won't even try to get a table. If you have a reservation, you may still have to wait for a long time. If you don't have a reservation, they will tell you they won't able to serve you with a flat face. The only way I can describe their attitude is that you are not welcome if you don't have a reservation. Partially if you are not their hotel's guest.

THE EL TOVAR WAS SO CLEAN & PERFECT! I LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT IT!! WALK OUTSIDE OF THE PORCHDECK & THERE WAS THE GRAND CANYON! UNBELIEVABE! I WOULD GO BACK IN A MINUTE! & HOPE TO! MY BEST TRIP! COMING FROM THE EAST COAST,USA. NOTHING CAN COMPARE TO THE GRAND CANYON & SO MANY CANYONS OUT THERE! THEY ARE MAGNIFICANT!!EVERYTHING IS SO CLOSE & CONGESTED ON THE EAST COAST USA!!

What I liked was the location! What I disliked, the rooms are just ok! The service is bad, staff are rude! The food is terrable, New York Strip is the worst I have ever eaten, breakfest was cold!

What can I say the food was great, had the New York Strip steak. The service excellent and the accomodations were to brag about. When we ate breakfast the next morning, as we gazed out of the large window, deer could be seen walking gingerly around. It was great not to mention the grand canyon itself the view is spectacular and I have been there at least 6 times and never was it the same twice. A must see and stay.

It had great survice, it was the cleanest room I ever seen, the location was so perfect that I thought I was in a movie and it was affordable.

The view Spectacular! The accomdations were fair (Don't expect the Marriott in a regular room. If you want nice, get a suite.) The restaurant a bit pretentious. We had booked a table overlooking the canyon six months in advance and were seated at the opposite side of the restaurant. We wound up eating at the Bright Angel Lodge, it was a lot friendlier atmosphere. We'll probably stay there instead the next trip.

We were guests at the El Tovar and couldn't even get the hostess to talk to us. She was openly rude to people calling in for a reservation while we were standing there waiting to talk with her. We never got in for dinner during our stay. At breakfast we received cold coffee and never got offered coffee again. We finally got the pot and served ourselves. At lunch we couldn't get any water so we finally got the pitcher and served ourselves again.

I found it interesting that the reviews listed here were basically either a 1 or a 5. Please make no mistake, this is a wonderful old hotel is a fantastic location. The rooms are quite nice though typically small for that period of time. I thought the rooms were quite well appointed and very comfortable. The bell staff was also very helpful. The overall decor and views were outstanding. That said, the service was absolutely horrible! I stay in hotels 3 nights a week on business. Some are 4 star and some are motor lodges so I think I probably qualify as a reasonable judge. We travelled with our young children for 8 hours to get to the hotel the first night. We had made reservations in the only restaurant in the facility. Understandably our 6 and 2 year olds were pretty wound up after the drive and were not exactly poster children for the well behaved. Nonetheless, we did our best to take them out of the restaurant for walks to burn off energy during the dinner. The staff gave us more dirty looks than I have ever seen. Nobody was helpful or even gave the look of understanding. My wifes fish was nearly raw (no it was supposed to be) and there was no apology or explanation, only another 20 minute wait for her recooked fish. None of the other patrons in the restaurant seemed to mind our kids, they obviously understood our attempts to keep them mannered. Getting our server to respond to any requests was an exercise unto itself. In the lobby the staff constantly gave us dirty looks when our kids wanted to see the various animals on display. The hostess was as mean as a snake! I was quite ready to explain my frustrations upon checkout but was never asked how my stay was. Honestly, I can't remember the last time I was not asked how my stay was upon checkout My suggestion is to never stay here with children under 25! It probably is a nice place for a couple to stay but if you have expectations of a reasonable level of service you will be disappointed.

Not what is advertised to be. We made reserveration at 5:30p.m. We arrived about 10 minutes early and was told we would have to wait. We went into the lounge for a before dinner drink and was completely ignored, we finally walked out and sat in the lobby. Finally we were motioned to go in(no one was there to seat us, just waved us in. Then after we sat ourselves, we were very rudely told that we couldn't do that we had to wait to be seated. We didn't move, if I had to get up and be reseated we would have left. Definitely not a 4 star action. We had to wait 35 minutes for someone to take our order and another 45 minutes to receive it and when we did get it is was awful.The entire meal lasted from start to finish 3 hours, the food was cold and bland and we had to pay an outrages price for it. We could have done better at McDonald's. We won't go back and we won't stay at the El Tovar Hotel, because if their dining is that bad I can imagine what their room and staff will be like. We were extremely disappointed, this was to be our 27th wedding anniversay celebration. Will not recommend to anyone.