Accommodations:
A basic, but well-maintained family friendly three-star hotel in Williams, Arizona, home to the Grand Canyon Railway Depot and jumping off point to the excellent train trips to the Grand Canyon.

Location:
Williams, Arizona is due south of the Grand Canyon. The only real reason to come here (and it’s a good one) is to travel to the Grand Canyon by train. It’s a comfortable and entertaining two hour and fifteen minute journey. Most people return the same day, we stayed overnight in the park at the Kachina Lodge.

Sleeps:
2-5 in standard rooms.

Highlights:
The indoor heated pool and Jacuzzi were a welcome sight after two long days of driving to reach Williams and the location is within easy walking distance of charming downtown Williams.

Good to know:
The hotel’s restaurant is an all buffet café in a separate building on the property. If that doesn’t blow your hair back, there are plenty of restaurants a five-minute walk away in town. You will hear train whistles in the morning, but it’s no big deal since you’ll be getting up to board the train anyway.

Contact:
www.thetrain.com

Written by Jamie Pearson

Accommodations:
A no-frills hotel on the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Rooms feature two queen beds, satellite TV, mini fridges, and tea and coffee making facilities.

Location:
Just steps from the canyon itself, and right next door to El Tovar Hotel (in case you want to avail yourself to the most expensive dining in the park). Also convenient to Vercamp’s Visitor Center (where you can pick up your Junior Ranger program materials) and the Rim Trail (a two-mile paved path that will work well for most families  looking to hoof it a little but not a lot).

Sleeps:
2-4 in standard rooms.

Highlights:
The ranger programs here are absolutely amazing! We attended one on the California Condor (there are only 185 living in the wild, and we saw one along the Rim Trail) and one on Mountain Lions.  Also, this is a small thing, but I liked the real coffee mugs in our room. They made a nice break from the usual Styrofoam or paper.

Good to know:
Beg, borrow, or steal a second floor, canyon-side room if at all possible. We had jetlagged Europeans clomping around upstairs and early birds rolling their luggage outside our window at 6am.

Contact:
http://www.grandcanyonlodges.com/kachina-thunderbird-410.html

Written by Jamie Pearson