El Tovar is the reason to turn the Grand Canyon from a day trip into an overnight. Opened in 1905 by the Fred Harvey Company and the Santa Fe Railway, the hotel was designed to be the finest lodging in the West, and more than a century later it still sits almost on the edge of the South Rim in Grand Canyon Village — a rambling dark-timber-and-stone lodge with a turret, deep porches and a lobby hung with mounted game heads and Arts and Crafts lights. It is one of the few original Harvey Houses still operating as a hotel, a member of Historic Hotels of America, and its El Tovar Dining Room is widely considered the canyon's top restaurant, with Southwest-inspired cooking under heavy beams and windows facing the rim; a lounge with canyon-view seating sits beside it. Rooms are traditional and, honestly, often compact for the price — the premium is location and history, not square footage — while the handful of suites and canyon-view rooms are the most coveted beds in the park. Stepping out at dawn to watch first light spill into the canyon, a two-minute walk from your door, is an experience no gateway-town hotel can match. For Page travelers, it pairs perfectly with the Desert View route in and a slow drive home the next day.
History is in the walls. Architect Charles Whittlesey, chief architect for the Santa Fe Railway, blended a Swiss chalet and a Norwegian villa into a building meant to make Eastern travelers feel the frontier had been tamed. The name honors Pedro de Tovar, the Spanish explorer whose reports of a great river led Coronado's men to the canyon. Harvey Girls once served the dining room, Theodore Roosevelt stayed in 1911 and 1913, and the hotel has been a National Historic Landmark since 1987.
Today it has 78 rooms, all with private baths, down from the original 103. The hotel is part of the Grand Canyon Village historic district, steps from Hopi House, the Kolb Studio and the Bright Angel Trailhead, and the Rim Trail runs right past the porch.
Room craft
Book as far ahead as reservations allow, and target the suites or rooms described as canyon-view if you can; standard rooms are smaller and face the village. Make a dinner reservation in the dining room as soon as you book the room, because tables fill. Sunrise from the rim in front of the hotel and sunset at Hopi Point on the free village shuttle are the stay's essential bookends.
Practicals
Inside Grand Canyon National Park on the South Rim, about two and three-quarter hours from Page via Cameron and the East Entrance; the park entrance fee applies. Parking around the village is tight in season, so park once and walk or ride the shuttle. If El Tovar is full, the park's other rim-side lodges (Bright Angel, Kachina and Thunderbird) put you in the same historic district for less, and Cameron Trading Post makes a characterful, cheaper base outside the East Entrance.
Fit
Couples, history lovers and road-trippers who want one unforgettable night on the rim.
Why stay here
- ✓Steps from the South Rim
- ✓Historic 1905 Harvey House
- ✓El Tovar Dining Room
- ✓Canyon-view lounge
- ✓Rim Trail at the door
- ✓Canyon-view suites
- ✓Village shuttle nearby
- ✓Historic Hotels of America member
Good questions
How close is El Tovar to the rim?+
Very close — the hotel sits on the South Rim in Grand Canyon Village, with the Rim Trail passing in front of the porch and the canyon edge a short walk away.
Are the rooms worth the price?+
You pay for location and history rather than space; standard rooms can be compact. Suites and canyon-view rooms are the splurge, and booking far ahead is essential.
Can we stay here as part of a trip from Page?+
Yes — drive in via Cameron and the East Entrance, spend the afternoon on Desert View Drive, sleep at El Tovar, watch sunrise from the rim and drive back to Page the next day.
