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- Julie C.AZ, AZ03Sep 29, 2023
Very easy to reserve online. The train ride was comfortable and fealt authentic. The car was clean and offered spectacular views. We traveled from Williams to Grand Canyon in late June- weather was perfect. Stayed overnight the night prior to train ride. Enjoyed the pool. Room was small but clean and comfy beds. All the staff we encountered- on the phone pre arrival, at the desk upon check in, our tour guide on train- were knowledgeable and professional and kind. HIGHLY recommend working with xanterra. The only reason I give 4 out of 5 is that the western show prior to train boarding was a silly waste of time. But hey, if a silly show is my only problem, I'm doing quite well.
Helpful 0Thanks 0Love this 0Oh no 0 - Walter Z.Somerville, MA01Sep 3, 2023
About El Tovar @ Grand Canyon, August 2023: No housekeeping if you stay less than 3 nights, no upfront info about it, not even at check-in.
Imagine it's your 20th anniversary with the love of your life, you booked the best hotel where you had met 20 years earlier, you leave for a 19 mile hike in the morning at 4 am from the hotel, you come back at 5 pm, completely exhausted and hungry but really happy as you re-lived how you met and then your room is like you left it 13 hours earlier and the front office manager gives you the attitude "we are not here to make your stay a pleasure - you however are here to pay and shut up" - and she does that without losing composure. Well done Xanterra, this is exactly how you should train your staff for the short term bottom line!
Potential guests: Better stay outside the National Park in one of the regular hotel chains, 20 minutes away by car. They will make way more effort.Helpful 0Thanks 0Love this 1Oh no 0 - Jessica D.CA, CA02Feb 13, 2023
If you are wanting to work here because housing is provided, three meals a day and you get a ob with a-lot of hours -- great! But if you are wanting to come with the expectation of having fun and free time to explore -- that will not be the case. Unfortunately, staff are not well taken care of here. The exploitation of workers is insane: 10 -12 hours a day, 5 -6 days a week. They kept saying, "We are short staff, more workers will come soon." The work conditions were just horrible and inhumane; everyone was constantly exhausted and all we wanted to do on our days off was sleep. And because of the whole "short staff" thing they did not even reprimand men that were sexually harassing women consistently at the EDR (employee dining room). The bonds I came to make with my fellow employees was the reason I stayed as long as I did.
Helpful 1Thanks 0Love this 0Oh no 0 - Caitlin N.San Francisco, CA02Mar 7, 2023
My mule tour got cancelled, but it meant I got to talk to Paul, who is the best customer service agent I've ever talked to. He was incredibly helpful, patient and sweet. Thank you, Paul!!
Helpful 0Thanks 0Love this 0Oh no 0 - Sapna G.Calgary, Canada14581120458Jun 10, 2010
Being one of the restaurants located at Grand Canyon National Park (at the South Rim), I would expect this place to be exceptional. Well, it wasn't. It was actually far from.
It had a 'Smitty's' feel to it. The tables were all jumbled together and the servers spent a few minutes discussing (within earshot) who wanted to be the one to serve our table.
There was a funky smell about the place that kinda made me lose my appetite.
Once the food arrived, it was tasty, however the atmosphere took away from enjoying the food to the full extent.
Our server was attentive and accommodating, but again, the whole vibe of the place was completely off.
Not what you'd expect to find located adjacent to one of the Wonders Of The World.
PS. Because of construction, the only restrooms available for use are porta potties located outside. Seriously?!?!??!Helpful 3Thanks 0Love this 3Oh no 0 - Daniel K.Las Vegas, NV184631Dec 16, 2016
Check in was a disappointing, staff was not helpful with anything regarding things around the area, carpets were disgusting. They have never heard of shampooing the carpet? Sheets had hair, stains, and lint. Absolutely would avoid booking with this place.
Helpful 0Thanks 0Love this 0Oh no 0 - Russell H.Campbell, CA18113106May 1, 2014
This is a review of booking the South Rim Grand Canyon (El Tovar Hotel Suite) and Zion National Park Lodge (Suite) with Xanterra, Llc.
First: I'm a princess and refuse to suffer through a bad hotel/lodging experience.
Second: It's always better to call Xanterra's reservation line than use their website/online booking. (The site wouldn't work when I punched in my dates, even though it was within the "open" reserve time [see the next bit, below].)
Third: You need a PhD to figure out when to reserve your dates. The Zion website says reservations can be made "13 months in advance"; what they mean is: If you want to reserve a room, call at 7:00 a.m. (Colorado time) on the first day of the month ONE YEAR prior to your requested stay [start] date.
For example, I'm planning to stay May 2 to 4, 2015 at Zion, and May 5 to 6 at the Grand Canyon. I called May 1, 2014, at 7:30 a.m. (Pacific Time) and all but one suite was available at El Tovar, which has 12 suites. Yikes: you gotta act FAST.
Also, be prepared: I got a busy signal (haven't heard one of those in years)--12 times! Ten minutes later I got the phone tree. "Press 1 for Crater Lake. Press 2 for Glacier National Park. Press 3 for the Grand Canyon."
I figured that the Grand Canyon would book up faster than Zion, so I chose #3 first. The woman who answered was very nice, professional, and easy to understand (their call center is in Colorado, I think). My first "beef" was that she couldn't help me with Zion. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm not trained on that park." She was very knowledgeable about the Grand Canyon, though.
I'm booked in the "Whittlesey Suite"; It took me an hour online to find a picture of this specific suite, but I hit the jackpot here: http://www.azconnected.com/print/RoomPhotos_120417.pdf (it shows all the suites at El Tovar). [An aside (dear Yelpers/reviewers): if you're going to post a photo of your room, it's more helpful to those of us researching options if you put "Room/Suite #XXX" in the photo title or caption than simply "My room/View from my room."]
She said she would find someone who could help me with Zion, but must have forgot; because as soon as the booking was complete she said "thank you" and hung up (second "beef"). But I get it: they're a call center... and probably overworked, underpaid, and timed.
So I called back to book Zion. Must have taken 20 tries (I didn't count, but I was hitting re-dial, getting the busy signal, and hanging up for at least 15 minutes).
The woman who helped me book Zion was equally as pleasant, professional, and knowledgeable as the first woman with whom I spoke. Since it's the same company, and my dates were sequential, she was able to put my Zion booking under the same confirmation code. I was right: there were a lot more rooms at Zion free--and she booked me in a 2nd floor King Suite with a balcony, no problem.
I'm happy that Xanterra was able to book me acceptable lodging!Helpful 1Thanks 0Love this 0Oh no 0 - Jesse F.Denver, CO012810Jan 27, 2012
I've spent nearly $1,000 with this company on two nights of lodging, a sunset tour for two, and a mule ride for two. The only thing they didn't do wrong was the lodging. They gave us the wrong time for our sunset tour, and luckily we were there 45 minutes early, so they were able to get us caught up with our group. They said "sorry, this happens all of the time"... Really? I could understand the opposite, that this is a rare occurrence, but this happens all of he time and you do nothing to prevent it? Same for the mule ride. When I booked on the phone, they said be there at 9:30. When I called to confirm two days prior (which they require), the guy on the phone said 9. When I came to check in the day prior (which they require), she said 8:30. This is no way to run a business, and you guys know it, so DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Ask me for the names of who I spoke to, SOMETHING. At least pretend like you care.
I read all of the material about being prepared for the Mule Ride, such as weight limit, what to wear, etc., and yet they failed to include multiple items on their list, like a beanie, glasses strap, gloves, etc. They luckily had ones you could borrow, but not without first looking at me like I'm an idiot who didn't read their rules beforehand. How about reading them yourself and realizing you need to update them? Besides, I'm an adult. If I don't want to wear a beanie, why are you forcing me to bring one? I know what I need to wear to be warm, and a beanie isn't on that list. Keep your lice to yourself.
I'm writing this as I'm sitting in their coffee shop. We brought our own bagels and cream cheese and planned to toast our bagels here (which we were told we could do the day prior), and we were just told we can't now. Thanks, way to top it off Xanterra.
Edit: I just got an email asking for feedback. My God, you people have comment cards for everything, yet you just ignore them. You already know what needs to be done, so do it.Helpful 6Thanks 0Love this 4Oh no 0 - Stacey M.San Carlos, CA1961715May 15, 2016
This is a review of Xanterra Parks Inc., the contractor that runs concessions and services at the Grand Canyon National Park. Every interaction we had with a Xanterra employee at the GCNP was a demonstration of their complete contempt for the park guests. Complaints about horrid food at one restaurant were met with indifference. We sat in another restaurant for nearly 40 minutes waiting for ANYONE to even take a drink order, asking again and again about our server, until we were finally told she wasn't even at work yet. When we asked for another we were told to wait. When she arrived, she was just as bad as could be expected. The bus drivers were rude and unfriendly. We were left in the pouring rain with 50 other people by a driver who pulled up to the stop, slowly crept up to the stopped smiled at us all and then left without picking up a single person. Just unbelievably horrible people. They must import them, there can't be that many nasty people all in one place?! The bottom line is that Xanterra and it's employees know that you are trapped there, so they can charge what they want, serve you crap and treat you like garbage with impunity. Their motto should be "Xanterra. We don't care, because you're trapped and we don't have to. Ha Ha." Because that's exactly how they all act.
Helpful 2Thanks 0Love this 1Oh no 0 - Ra's A.Columbus, OH26610221Apr 21, 2016
Stopped here for food while walking the Grand Canyon trail. Food was better than expected. Service was excellent. All in all it was a good experience with the few options while walking the trail. Final bill for two sandwiches with a big salad was $26. Would recommend for lunch and we are super picky.
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