Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Best Western Squire Inn review

The hotel I booked around Grand Canyon was the Best Western Squire Inn. It is in the town of Tusayan. I would like to provide you a short review of the Best Western Squire Inn.

I payed 150$ per night for my room. Breakfast was included and quite okay. I mainly liked the large diversity of fruits and cups made of 100% corn syrup. That was something special for a Best Western breakfast.

The Squire Inn's rooms are okay and clean. The Air condition is very silent. All in all the Best Western Squire Inn is a good hotel. Half a mile from start the Grand Canyon helicopter tours. You can book them right in the hotel. The rates are okay and I must really say that it was one of my best hotels on my national park route.

Hope you enjoyed my Best Western Squire Inn hotel review. Below is a map of its location in Tusayan.


View Larger Map

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Grand Canyon Helicopter tour review

A friend recommended me to check out the rims of Grand Canyon in an helicopter. So I booked an Helicopter Tour starting in Tusayan taking you through the Grand Canyon. The name of the company is Papillon helicopter tours. I would like to provide you a short review of my Grand Canyon Helicopter tour.

They offer 2 main helicopter tours through Grand Canyon, the North rim tour for 130$ and the Imperial tour for 190$. The North rim tour takes you with the helicopter to the north rim of Grand Canyon and then back to Papillon Airport. The north rim tour is around 25-30 minutes. The Imperial tour is 50-60 minutes and is basically the same with the difference that the helicopter flies slower so that you can take better pictures.

The Imperial Grand Canyon helicopter tour was booked out in my. case so I took the North Rim tour. Heavy Thunderstorms made Papillon Helicopters cancel almost all tours. I was lucky to be in one of only three choppers that started. It was a bit scary because of violent lightnings on the left and right of the helicopter. Reaching Grand Canyon the view on the Colorado and the million year old cliffs was awesome. I really recommend you to book an helicopter tour through Grand Canyon. It is a much more breathtaking experience than just standing on the south rim of Grand Canyon. 30 minutes were enough for me to experience Grand Canyon from above. I think I would have gotten bored fast without the thunder storms if I had booked the longer tour. I think the rates for the longer Grand Canyon heliopter tour were a bit too long.

Here a video of the Papillon Helicopter tours:


And a map of the Papillon Helicopter start area:

Größere Kartenansicht

Thanks a lot for reading my short Grand Canyon Papillon helicopter tours review :-).

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Grand Canyon review

Leaving Lake Powell and Page behind I am traveling to my final national park – the Grand Canyon. I would like to give you a review of Grand Canyon and will write down all experiences I have on my way through Grand Canyon.

Here a Grand Canyon picture (click to enlarge):


To get more information about historic and geographic aspects of Grand Canyon national park, please check this and this link. I am just writing a review and will not focus on the park background.

My hotel is located in Tusayan and named Best Western Grand Canyon Squire Inn. I am heading there right now. To get there I have to drive through Grand Canyon. I am giving you a review of everything I checked out here in Grand Canyon.

Desert view point was my first stop. It is a relatively large viewpoint with shops and rest rooms. I parked my car and followed other people to a tower from where you have a good view over Grand Canyon. You should stop at Desert View point and check out the amazing view over Grand Canyon.

My next stop is the Lipan point. You have a pretty good view over Grand Canyon, as you are on 2300 meters. You can see the Hance rapid. It is around a mile long and Major and was terrific for early Grand Canyon expeditions.

Moran point is the next point on the way to Tusayan. It's named after a spanish expedition who were the first Europeans to see Grand Canyon. I saw several tourists next to me, climbing on rocks with the Canyon going a mile down right next to them. A biker with several Harley Davidson tattoos stood right next to me and told me with Texanian accent: „Mister, tellin' you somethin' – some people aint no' havin' a god damn brain in there head.“ Really, if you do not suicide in Grand Canyon, don't climb on the cliffs.

Leaving Moran point behind I am stopping at Buggeln point. It's a nice looking picnick area in Grand Canyon where I will now take some minutes off and eat something. Probably a good idea for you too :). Here are only a few benches and I had to choose another location and am now sitting on a tree. Be careful, I was just bitten by an ant. I have never see that large ants before. It hurts a little.

Next point is Grand view point. As the name says it offers a wide view over Grand Canyon. As a reason an hotel as once been there. If you are interested in walking you can take a 2 day trail from here down to Colorado river.

I am exiting Grand Canyon now and heading to my Best Western. Hope you enjoyed my Grand Canyon review. My rating is 10/10 points. You will be amazed. I will be writing a short conclusion tomorrow of all my national park experiences. Anyways, I am a bit fed up with national parks now and happy to see something different very soon. I am going over Flagstaff to Phoenix in two days, to then head back to San Diego and Los Angeles. Anyways, thanks for reading my recommendations, tips and review of Grand Canyon national park.

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