Our last two nights in Utah were spent at the Bryce Canyon Lodge in the heart of Bryce Canyon. The Lodge dates back to the 1925 when tourists first started to appreciate the splendors of the natural formations in Utah's national parks.
The Lodge is located around 5 miles from the entrance to Bryce and site a few hundred yards from the edge of the canyon itself. It consists of the main lodge building itself which houses the restaurant, shop and theater, and is surrounded by a number of log cabins which form the rooms for the hotel. The facility is operated by Xanterra Parks & Resorts which seems to run many of the in park facilities within Utah.
The log cabins have an old-world feel to them and the one we had had two queen sized beds, a bathroom with bath and shower and a separate dressing area with sink, mirror and hanging space. The room was heated with a gas log fire which when we arrived didn't work but we got it fixed for the second night.
We ate at the main restaurant both nights we stayed there, as there wasn't really any option other than to drive the 10 - 15 mile round trip to the park entrance and hope to get something there. The food was better than we expected and the service was friendly and efficient - on the positive side they served a good glass of beer! There is a small grocery/gift shop on site which sells various packaged food - sandwiches etc. which we did try but only once as they were very 'processed' and pretty tasteless.
The location of the lodge and its proximity to the canyon and all that is there is superb as we were less than 200 yards from the rim and about 500 yards from Sunset and Sunrise points. As you would expect the place was very busy and there were a number of coach parties which tended to swamp the lookouts.
On our second day we ventured down into the canyon and did an 8 mile walk which was great as there were few people and some amazing rock formations - highly recommended. If you do decide to follow in our tracks make sure that you take plenty of water with you and it would be a good idea to take a trowel as the the only toilet in the canyon is locked for some reason!
If you are visiting the canyon this is a great place to stay if you can get in - we had to book several months in advance to get in.