This video answers the simple question, how much does it cost to stay at Phantom Ranch, and further ponders, is it worth it?

• Phantom Ranch sits a mile deep in Grand Canyon, about 3/4 North of the Colorado River along Bright Angel Creek.

• It is a complex of cabins and a Canteen, designed by Mary Colter and opening more than 100 years ago, in 1922. The cabins have a cold water sink, toilet, and most have two bunk beds, accommodating four guests. There are dorms as well, but they have been closed since covid. Showers are in a separate shower house and meals are served family style, at a set time, in the Canteen.

• Guests can hike the 7-9 miles to Phantom, and when available, can also book a ride by mule. Mules also carry supplies to the Phantom and refuse to the rim.

• Notably, operating Phantom is not cheap and there is huge demand for the rooms, which are booked via a lottery system 13 months in advance. Cancellations, once allowed within two days of a stay, were once common, but Xanterra has now limited cancellations to 45 days before a stay, meaning cancellations are uncommon. However, sometimes guests with multi-day stays decide to leave early, resulting in a few rooms opening up a day in advance. These are booked through the Bright Angel Transportation Desk, which creates a waiting list starting at 6:00am the day before a stay, and can be reached at 928-638-3283.

• It’s been years since I have stayed at Phantom, but I am heading out next week for my regular rim to rive to rim hike and decided to take a look at whether a night at Phantom would be worth it.

• These prices are early 2024. It used to be the Park Service only allowed annual price increases at the Lodges, but recently they have been more frequent, so double check if your trip is price dependant.

• The basic room at Phantom costs $213.50 a night for two people. Additional guests are $21.50 each. Accommodations are basic, vinyl mattresses, do-it yourself bedding and concrete floors. Bugs are common and your food must be placed in a metal ammo can to protect it from rodents.

• Meals are not cheap. The steak dinner is $61.15 a person, breakfast is $30.98 and a sack lunch is $25.65.

• My assumption is that all of these are subject to the local sales tax of 6.9%, so a one night stay for two people with three meals is about $480. With a beer or two at the canteen, I will round it up to $500.

• This leads to the second question, is it worth it?

• If you have never stayed at Phantom before and you can get a room, I would say defiantly yes. The location is novel, historic and could even be described as magical. The first time I stayed was in Spring with my brother, and despite being seniors, we laid in bed in the dark in the cabin talking well into the night as we had done as children. It was great to take a nighttime walk, linger on Black Bridge in the dark, looking at the stars and hearing the passing river. It was a once in a lifetime experience.

• But I went back again. This time was June, it was 117 degrees in the shade and the overworked wall air-conditioner in the room never dropped the inside temperature below 86 degrees, and that was the morning I left. The room was full of bugs. The floor was dirty, and when I went to the shower house, I picked up a bad case of athlete’s foot, something that was bothersome on my hike back to North Rim. Although I have since walked through Phantom dozens of times, I have not stayed since.

• So, the question I am asking myself now, is it worth going back again?

• First, the cost is high. I have a room on the rim at Maswik for $69 a night. I also bring my own food to the Canyon, so my food costs are minimum. I could stay 5 nights on the rim for the cost of one night at Phantom.

• Another thing, after staying at Phantom, I was sunrise how much I missed my stuff. I mean, keeping weight light on the hike, you leave a lot of things behind. Shaving cream, razor, skin cream, beer and evening snacks--they don’t come on the hike, but I have them in my room on the rim. I miss things like this.

• Plus, at Phantom, you are on their schedule. Dinner and breakfast are at 5, and if you are late, you miss it. There is no coffee maker in the room, you get a cup when they give it to you. As I age, I have odd hours, sometimes getting up at 3:00am, and if that’s what time I start my day, I want a cup of coffee and breakfast then, not two hours later. If I stay at Phantom, I will need to wait for breakfast on their schedule and will start my hike at dawn, not the usual hour or two before dawn that I prefer.

• Plus, meals are family style. The people at Phantom are nice enough, and more adventurous than most, but the older I get, the more I like solitude. I think I would rather eat alone than in a room with 30 other chatty guests.

свернуть