This hotel is a beautiful old lodge. It has some modern amenities (e.g., very fast wireless internet). The hallways are wide and the room doorways are beautiful wood (but with electronic locks). There are animal heads in the lodge lobby watching the guests.
Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, playwright George Bernard Shaw, western author Zane Grey, and telegraph inventor Marconi all visited and stayed at this hotel. I know Teddy liked to hunt big game, but I'm not sure if he provided one of the animals for the El Tovar taxidermist to preserve.
I was in the “basement” (a garden view room). It was nice and comfortable. There’s one thing that’s missing: there are no elevators. I’m not looking forward to having to get my heavy luggage up the stairs this morning!
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| These guys watch over the guests. Note the logs and the beams, too. |
I took this shot of the hallways outside of my room at El Tovar. Does it look familiar to you?
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| Here's the hallway outside my room. Does it remind you of the lodge in "The Shining"? "Come out, come out, where ever you are." - Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), The Shining. I didn't see the Grady Twins lurking at the end of the hall exclaiming, “Come and play with us.” I resisted the urge to type repeatedly, “All Work and No Play Makes Jack a Dull Boy.” |
