I rented a canyon view room on the second floor thinking that it would afford a great view. However, it was somewhat disappointing to have to view the canyon through a window screen with the lower floor's white roof in the foreground. The rooms were OK: clean but on the small side, small bathroom, mini-refrig, ironing board & iron, TV, coffeemaker, hairdryer, heat lamp in bathroom, etc.

Be aware that check-in time is after 4 pm - a bit later than other places.

Also, there is no elevator so this might be a problem for those less physically capable people.

Location is good: right in the middle of the other lodges.

Parking is scarce and I'd hate to be here in the middle of summer or during a weekend. But that's a fact of life for any and all of the lodges from what I saw. Some cabins, however, seemed to have their own stall adjacent to the dwelling.

All in all, I think I'd try staying in one of the cabins the next time I'm here - for $40 to $50 less they might be a better deal.

My wife, two children and I just returned from a fantastic trip to the Grand Canyon and the Thunderbird Lodge.

When booking our accomodations for the Grand Canyon back in September, we were disappointed that El Tovar was already booked. There was a room available at the Thunderbird Lodge. I was a bit hesitant about booking the Thunderbird because I saw it had only a single star in the 2004 Mobil Travel Guide. We decided to chance it and I'm very glad we did.

We had a second floor, canyonside room. Even though we had to look past the roof of part of the first floor, our view of the canyon was amazing! The only negative about the room is that it was small. On the positive side, it was very clean, had an iron, ironing board, coffee maker, small refrigerator, plenty of drawer space and a roomy closet with plenty of sturdy hangers. The bathroom was roomy and looked newly refinished.

The location is ideal. It is sandwiched between El Tovar and Bright Angel Lodge with their shops and nice restaurants and snack bars. The Maswik Lodge and its cafeteria style restaurant is an 8-10 minute walk away. The Bright Angel trailhead is a five minute walk away. There is a shuttle bus stop right at the end of the Lodge's driveway. The only negative is parking. Spots near the building were hard to come by. There is a large parking lot with plenty of empty spaces on the opposite side of the Bright Angel lodge, but it's a long walk when carrying heavy suitcases.

We spent three nights at the Thunderbird and the whole time we were very comfortable and felt very safe. We even had a USA Today newspaper at our door every morning. Nice touch!

I would definitely recommend the Thunderbird to anyone who doesn't mind a small room and possible inconvenient parking. When my family and I hopefully return to the Grand Canyon, we will definitely book the Thunderbird again.

The Thunderbird Lodge in Gran Canyon was such a disapointment , when we checked into our room at two o' clock we were horrified to find that it was obvious that our room had not been cleaned after the last guests had left. The bed covers had been pulled up over dirty sheets with human hairs all over it, the pillows were creased from whoever had slept there the night before, the bathroom was dirty, the coffee pot half empty with coffee still in it,and dirty glasses were left out on the table, it was a disgrace. We saw a maid in the corridor and asked her if the room had been cleaned and she said it had. She said she would have the room cleaned again. We left the Lodge and had to drive 8 miles away to try and find another hotel to stay in. We were very lucky to find a room in the Grand Hotel for the night. we went straight back to the Thunderbird Lodge, saw the Manager and demanded a total refund, this was given to us with sincere apologies from the Manager.It was unbelievable that the conditions in this establishment were so bad,the lodge is so dirty and neglected looking,the Management really need to clean their act up. Ugh! A very bad experience.

I have spent one night in this hotel. Small rooms but they do have everything you would need. We didnt get a room with a view. This didnt matter as it got dark at 6.30 so you couldnt see antyhing. It was hard to find a parking space during the day and took some time getting through the gate where you have to pay. Great place tho wouldnt have missed it for the world.