The View is exactly what the name promises: the first and only hotel inside Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, set beside the visitor center on the valley rim at about 5,200 feet, with the East and West Mittens and Merrick Butte rising more than a thousand feet from the desert floor directly in front of it. The low, earth-toned building is designed to blend into the mesa, and the hotel encourages guests to watch the sunrise from their guestroom balcony, which is the whole argument for staying here rather than in Kayenta or Mexican Hat — you wake up inside the postcard. Beyond the main hotel, a line of premium cabins sits along the valley rim, and the hotel itself says the view from the cabins is even better than from the rooms; there is also a campground with RV and wilderness sites. A restaurant with panoramic windows serves regional and Navajo dishes, and the Valley Drive and the Navajo-guided backcountry tours that this guide recommends start a few minutes away. Expect a remote, simple-luxe experience rather than resort amenities: the setting is the luxury, and the night sky after the day-trippers leave is extraordinary. The hotel is Navajo-owned and opened in December 2008. It has 95 rooms on three floors, and every room has a private east-facing balcony, so every room faces the sunrise over the buttes. Book well ahead for spring and fall.
Location strategy
Monument Valley is about two hours from Page, which makes it a long but doable day trip; staying overnight turns it into something better, because the valley's finest light comes at sunrise and in the last hour of the day, exactly when day-trippers are driving. From The View you catch both, then take a Navajo-guided tour into the backcountry in the morning before the heat.
Room craft
The top-floor StarView rooms are the ones to target, with the cleanest balcony sightlines over the Mittens and the most open sky for stargazing; otherwise splurge on a rim cabin for the widest, most private view. Rooms are simply furnished with locally woven Navajo rugs and a traditional Navajo dye chart, a microfridge, a microwave and a coffee maker, which helps because dining options for miles around are few. The hotel advertises Wi-Fi in the lobby and conference room, so do not plan on streaming from your balcony.
The on-site trading post sells contemporary and traditional American Indian art and is worth a look before you leave. Plan dinner at the hotel restaurant at sunset, and set an alarm for dawn — the Mittens light up from behind and then glow orange. Remember that the Navajo Nation observes daylight saving time while most of Arizona does not, so check tour times carefully, and note that alcohol is not sold on the Navajo Nation.
Practicals
Inside the tribal park off US 163 on the Utah side of the border; the park's per-vehicle entry fee applies. Services nearby are limited, so arrive with fuel and supplies. Compared with the motels in Kayenta, roughly half an hour south, you pay more here but trade a highway view for the Mittens. Fit: photographers, couples and road-trippers who want the most cinematic night of a Grand Circle loop.
Why stay here
- ✓Only hotel inside the Tribal Park
- ✓Balconies facing the Mittens
- ✓Premium rim-top cabins
- ✓Panoramic restaurant
- ✓Next to the park visitor center
- ✓Campground and RV sites
- ✓Dark-sky stargazing
- ✓Navajo-guided tours nearby
Good questions
Is The View really inside Monument Valley?+
Yes — it is the first and only hotel inside Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, next to the visitor center and facing the Mittens.
Hotel room or cabin?+
Hotel rooms have balconies facing the buttes; the premium cabins sit along the valley rim, and the hotel itself says their view is even better. Book either well ahead for spring and fall.
Is it worth staying instead of day-tripping from Page?+
For photographers and anyone who loves light, yes — sunrise and sunset are the valley's best hours, and staying inside the park puts you there for both.
