Where to stay in Arizona: the 5 areas to know in 2026
Our three city reviews of Arizona all say the same thing, and one of them gives 1/5: the town is only a bed. "Don't waste any more time than you have to and get out there to enjoy the region!" at Grand Canyon Village; "you only stay here to spend the night" in Holbrook; "there is not much to see" in Page, which is nonetheless "a pretty central city for visiting the parks". In this region, the only question that matters is the one this guide answers.
And two of our reviews answer it by naming their hotel. "To enjoy the sunrise, I stayed at The View, the only hotel located inside the park" at Monument Valley. "I had the experience of sleeping in a hard-sided teepee at a very original motel, the Wigwam Motel" in Holbrook. That leaves the constraint nobody else mentions: "the time zones between Page, Monument Valley, and Antelope Canyon are not the same". Five areas below.
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In the city itself, there is not much to see. You mostly find hotels, shops, and restaurants.
One base or several?
The Arizona of our reviews is a road, not a holiday: four areas lined up in the north, Tucson six hours to the south. Our reviews give every length of visit, and only one obligation to sleep somewhere, Monument Valley, because you need two moments of the day there.
- A long weekend: Grand Canyon Village, two nights, on the rim. Our reviews allow "a full day" for the park, and sleeping on the edge avoids the village our review gives 1/5.
- A week: Grand Canyon, Page, Monument Valley: two nights, two nights, one night. Antelope has to be booked "well in advance" according to our review, and mind the time zones between the three.
- Ten days: Add Holbrook, one night, for the Petrified Forest, where our review says "half a day is enough", and for the teepee motel it names itself.
- Two weeks: Drive down to Tucson, two nights, and change landscape: it is the only area where our reviews talk about mountains, a gondola and trails that are "marked and very safe".
How much driving between two bases?
Everything is done by car, and our reviews assume it without ever discussing it: the visits to Monument Valley and the Petrified Forest are themselves driving loops. Two exceptions our reviews name: the Grand Canyon shuttles, and the Mount Lemmon gondola.
| Route | Driving time | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Grand Canyon Village → Page | 2 hr 30 | 220 km on the US-89 |
| Page → Monument Valley | 2 hr | 180 km, and a different time zone |
| Page → Horseshoe Bend | 10 min | 10 km, 10 dollars to park |
| Monument Valley → Holbrook | 3 hr | 270 km on the US-191 |
| Holbrook → la Petrified Forest | 30 min | 40 km, visited by car |
| Grand Canyon Village → Tucson | 6 hr | 550 km on the I-17 then the I-10 |
| Tucson → le Mount Lemmon | 1 hr | 45 km of switchbacks up the mountain |
At a glance: our picks by traveller type
Pick the profile that fits you and go straight to the recommended area.
Map of the areas in Arizona
See how the areas sit relative to one another before choosing your base. Click a name to jump to its description.
Grand Canyon Village and the South Rim South Rim, Tusayan, shuttles
7 of our 19 reviews, and a 1/5 for the village itself
Our six reviews of Grand Canyon National Park all describe the same two things, the colour and the depth: "the rock really takes on different colours depending on the strata, the perspectives, the light", "the different colours of rock could have been painted by an artist". Two give the length of stay, "allow a full day of walking at the Grand Canyon South". Two warn that this is not a hiking park, "it is all paved". And two name the alternative: the shuttles, "to go and see more distant viewpoints without walking too much", and the helicopter, "around 250 dollars for 30 minutes of flight, but the experience is really worth the price".
Don't waste any more time than you have to and get out there to enjoy the region!
What to see and do in this area
Where to stay in this area
El Tovar Hotel Luxury
78 rooms from 1905 set directly on the South Rim, listed as a National Historic Landmark. This is the answer to the 1/5 our review gives the village: you don't cross the village, you sleep on the edge.
Pros
- "Shuttles also let you get around the canyon", notes our review: useful "if you are short on time"
- Sleeping on the rim means being at the viewpoint at daybreak without getting back in the car
Cons
- Our review gives the village 1/5: "a few shops […] with pretty poor value for money"
- Two of our reviews warn that the park is not made for hiking
Kayenta and Monument Valley Monument Valley, John Ford's Point, Kayenta
3 of our 19 reviews, and the only place where our reviews tell you to sleep on site
Our three reviews describe a set and a routine. The set: "an arid ground, red in places like the soil of Mars. Gigantic rocks that look as if a giant had set them down there", "the sublime setting of iconic westerns". The routine: "the visit is done as a driving loop of about two hours", and "bring a good vehicle, because the uneven tracks are rough and shake you around a lot. This is a long way from the asphalt of the Grand Canyon." And above all the reason to sleep here, which two reviews give separately: you need both sunset AND sunrise, "very different and even more beautiful".
To enjoy the sunrise, I stayed at The View, the only hotel located inside the park, right on the cliffside. I really recommend spending a night there.
What to see and do in this area
Where to stay in this area
The View Hotel Luxury
96 rooms, every one with a private balcony facing the buttes, and the only hotel inside the Navajo tribal park. This is the address our review names and recommends for the sunrise.
Pros
- Both our reviews agree: without sleeping here, you miss half the site
- Our review ended the day "with a horse ride […] alongside the Navajo"
Cons
- "The trails are in fact closed during the summer months", warns our review
- "Bring a good vehicle, because the uneven tracks are rough and shake you around a lot"
Page, Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon Page, Horseshoe Bend, Lake Powell, Glen Canyon
5 of our 19 reviews, and three booking constraints
Horseshoe Bend is the simplest: "an hour is enough to take photos along the edge of the drop", "access costs 10 dollars by car", "you have to walk about 15 minutes". Antelope Canyon is the opposite, and our review does not mince words: "what a shame that the way it is organised doesn't let you enjoy it! If you were planning to wander through it on your own, forget it. You absolutely have to book a guided group tour, well in advance." The Glen Canyon dam rounds it off, without enthusiasm: "it isn't essential, but it is interesting if you are in the area". And the town itself? "The diners stay open pretty late (until 10 p.m.)".
Be careful if you are scheduling visits, because the time zones between Page, Monument Valley, and Antelope Canyon are not the same.
What to see and do in this area
Pros
- "It is a pretty central city for visiting the parks", notes our review, which also mentions "a huge Walmart"
- The diners "stay open pretty late (until 10 p.m.)", says our review: rare in this region
Cons
- Antelope has to be booked "well in advance" and closes "if it rains", according to our review
- We have not verified a single address in the town, and we would rather say so
Holbrook and the Petrified Forest Route 66, Petrified Forest
2 of our 19 reviews, and a hotel our review names
Our city review is entirely an accommodation review, and it is precise: "Holbrook is a roadside town in Arizona, right on the famous Route 66. It is the gateway to the Petrified Forest. I had the experience of sleeping in a hard-sided teepee at a very original motel, the Wigwam Motel. The price is really good, and it is best to book in advance. Just a heads up that restaurants close early because the town is pretty dead." The park itself is "far less known than the other parks of the American West, and yet it is truly unusual", with "quite impressive fossilised tree trunks" and "green or blue rock formations". Length of visit: "half a day is enough".
I had the experience of sleeping in a hard-sided teepee at a very original motel, the Wigwam Motel.
Where to stay in this area
Wigwam Motel city.oudormir_tier_economique
The hard-sided teepees of Route 66, named by our review: "a very original motel […] the price is really good, and it is best to book in advance". It is the only hotel in this guide that a member chose for themselves.
Pros
- The lowest rates in this guide, and our review says so: "the price is really good"
- "The advantage is that it is a perfect place to break up the drive", notes our review: it is a stopover, and it owns it
Cons
- "Just a heads up that restaurants close early because the town is pretty dead", warns our review
- No activity in the town has been photographed by our members: nothing to rank here
Tucson and Mount Lemmon Downtown, Mount Lemmon, Gaslight
2 of our 19 reviews, and the only area that talks about mountains
This is the south of the state, and our two reviews describe something other than the desert. Mount Lemmon Ski Valley: "it's a huge mountain with many stops and smaller beginner trails along the way that are still marked and very safe. Once you've finished the drive up, that's where you'll find all the wonderful restaurants with magnificent views." And a seasonal tip nobody else gives: "during the off-ski season, you can take the gondola to the summit and have a picnic up there". The second review describes a dinner theatre downtown, with "absolutely incredible actors", while regretting that "the room is a little small".
It's a huge mountain with many stops and smaller beginner trails along the way that are still marked and very safe.
What to see and do in this area
Where to stay in this area
Desert Diamond Casino & Hotel Mid-range Listed on Avygeo This property has its own page on Avygeo: it introduces itself there, collects guest reviews and answers the community's questions. It does not influence our recommendations, which stay editorial.
Resort
+1 rec 4.0
The only accommodation in Arizona listed on Avygeo, south of Tucson. An hour's drive from the Mount Lemmon Ski Valley our review describes.
Pros
- The only area in this guide with trails that are "marked and very safe", according to our review
- "During the off-ski season, you can take the gondola to the summit", notes our review
Cons
- It is six hours' drive from the Grand Canyon: this is not the same loop
- Only two reviews, by the same author, and none about the city itself
Our tips for booking the right place
- Our three city reviews say the same thing: in Arizona, the town is a bed: This is the whole reason for this guide, and it comes from our only three city reviews. The bluntest gives 1/5: "the Grand Canyon Village holds little interest for me, other than stocking up on anything you've run out of. A few shops to buy the essentials, with pretty poor value for money. Don't waste any more time than you have to and get out there to enjoy the region!" The second owns the stopover: "the town is pretty dead. You only stay here to spend the night. The advantage is that it is a perfect place to break up the drive." The third is the most nuanced and the most useful: "in the city itself, there is not much to see. You mostly find hotels, shops, and restaurants", but "it is a pretty central city for visiting the parks". Choosing a town here means choosing a position on a map.
- Two of our reviews name their hotel and say why, which happens nowhere else: At Monument Valley: "to enjoy the sunrise, I stayed at The View, the only hotel located inside the park, right on the cliffside. I really recommend spending a night there." In Holbrook: "I had the experience of sleeping in a hard-sided teepee at a very original motel, the Wigwam Motel. The price is really good, and it is best to book in advance." In both cases the hotel is not a detail of the trip, it IS the trip: one buys a sunrise you would otherwise miss, the other a night on Route 66. These are the only two addresses in this whole project that a member chose for themselves and then wrote about.
- The time zones differ between three neighbouring places, and only our review says so: This is the costliest constraint in the guide, because it makes you miss a visit you have paid for: "be careful if you are scheduling visits, because the time zones between Page, Monument Valley, and Antelope Canyon are not the same". The three are less than two hours' drive from each other, and the two visits booked by the hour there are precisely Antelope Canyon, "a guided group tour" to be booked "well in advance", and the Monument Valley driving loops. Check the local time of every booking, not the time on your phone.
- Monument Valley needs two moments of the day, and our two reviews say so separately: "You have to spend an evening there to see the sunset, then get yourself up to see the sunrise (very different and even more beautiful) the next morning", writes the first, who goes straight on to the rest of the programme: "then you take the car to drive round each of the characteristic rocks with a leaflet". The second organised it exactly that way: "to enjoy the sunrise, I stayed at The View". And she details the loop: "the visit is done as a driving loop of about two hours", taking in "the East and West Mitten Buttes and The Three Sisters", with her favourite, "John Ford's Point". Two reviews, one conclusion: you sleep on site.
- The Grand Canyon is not a hiking park, and two of our reviews regret it: "You can drive through this park, then stop at the good spots to take photos. But the topography is a bit too hostile for real hiking. A shame", writes the first. "It's beautiful, but not the best park for hiking because it is all paved", confirms the second, who "walked for a short day along the canyon rim" and gives the only real alternative: "I would have liked to go down to the bottom of the canyon, but unfortunately you have to allow at least two days for that route". A third review confirms the logistics: "the braver ones will book a descent into the canyon in advance, but it takes a bit of organisation". For anyone who wants to walk, the same member points out where to go: "this is a long way from the asphalt of the Grand Canyon", she writes at Monument Valley.
- Antelope Canyon: the most beautiful and the most constrained, according to our review: "It is one of the most beautiful parks in the American West. What a shame that the way it is organised doesn't let you enjoy it!" Then come three constraints: "if you were planning to wander through it on your own, forget it. You absolutely have to book a guided group tour, well in advance"; "the weather absolutely has to cooperate for you to admire the light, and if it rains, the Canyon is closed"; and "the groups follow one another and the passage through the canyon's 200 metres stays strictly timed. Just enough time to take a few photos and then you have to move on." With the purchasing advice that follows: "it's more expensive, but I would therefore recommend the 2-hour tour so you have more time". Three constraints and one buying tip, in a single review.
- Our reviews give every length of visit and several prices, and that is what builds the itinerary: Grand Canyon National Park: "allow a full day", and to go down, "at least two days". The helicopter from Tusayan: "around 250 dollars for 30 minutes of flight, but the experience is really worth the price". Horseshoe Bend: "an hour is enough to take photos", "access costs 10 dollars by car", "you have to walk about 15 minutes". Monument Valley: "a driving loop of about two hours". The Petrified Forest: "half a day is enough". Antelope: "a one-hour route through the Upper Canyon". Put end to end, that makes four days of visiting for five nights, and that is the itinerary this guide proposes.
- Scheduling a guided tour without checking the local time: our review warns that "the time zones between Page, Monument Valley, and Antelope Canyon are not the same".
- Arriving at Monument Valley for the day: both our reviews want the sunset AND the sunrise, so a night on site.
- Expecting to visit Antelope Canyon without a booking: our review says you have to book "well in advance" and that the site closes "if it rains".
- Coming to Grand Canyon National Park to hike: two of our reviews warn that "it is all paved".
- Arriving late in Holbrook: our review warns that "restaurants close early because the town is pretty dead".
FAQ: where to stay in Arizona
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