Monument Valley Part 3 - The View Hotel

Wednesday, July 9

It had already been a wonderful day, but it was now late afternoon and time to check into the hotel.  The View Hotel was built and is run by the Navajo nation.  It has only been open since December 2008. As the name implies it is all about location. 

The View Hotel on the rim above Monument Valley.  This picture was from their website

We had a very difficult time finding any available rooms this summer at the View when I started checking some months ago.  I checked repeatedly and stumbled across one room available on this one day (apparently due to a cancellation), so we planned our entire vacation around that availability.  I suspect the heavy booking is at least in part due to the large number of tours bringing in people by bus and the relatively small size of the hotel.  As was clearly evident when we were in the restaurant later in the evening, many of the hotel guests were from outside the U.S.

We did some exploring through the hotel, including some time in the trading post.  The Frog bought me a beautiful Calvin Begay inlay pendant.  It is native Navajo jewelry, but it has a more modern design.  I am not sure of all of the stones, but the sales person indicated it included turquoise, spiny oyster, and lapis lazuli.

I have to give the designers of the hotel credit, they have gone out of their way to take advantage of the view of the valley in every way imaginable.  There were overlooks on both the front and back of the hotel.  The trading post, lobby and dining room all have expansive views of the valley and (what a surprise when you enter!) even the elevator has a fantastic view.

View from a window inside the elevator of the valley

But the best part of the hotel, and the only reason for paying such a high price for a room, is the view from the individual rooms.  Every room has a balcony that overlooks the valley.

View to the left from our balcony, West Mitten Butte, East Mitten Butte, Merrick Butte and the valley road.

View to the right from our balcony, Merrick Butte on the left, Spearhead Mesa and Artist's Point in the distance on the left, an unidentified butte in front of that, John Ford's Point in the distance to the right, and Mitchell Mesa in the foreground to the right.

The view from our balcony was especially nice since we had already driven through the valley and knew more or less what we were looking at.  With binoculars I could even see the horse and rider occasionally make the trip out onto John Ford's Point.  Our balcony with its table and chairs was a perfect spot to relax and enjoy this magical place.  That is exactly what I did.  It was fantastic watching the changing light, the changing clouds and the approach of rainstorms from across the valley. 

Of course, all of that meant taking pictures.  The Frog had lots of fun playing with his camera and his new panorama setup.

On the balcony of our hotel room overlooking the valley

A portion of the view from our hotel room

We sat on the balcony and took in the changing view until it was too dark to see, then walked to the restaurant for dinner.

View from our hotel balcony as sundown approaches of West Mitten, East Mitten, Merrick Butte and the valley road.  Some of the rocks on the ground in the foreground are shiny from the light rain and there is a rainbow just visible over East Mitten.

Of course, having this view from our room also meant we could set the alarm and get up in our pajamas to watch the sunrise. 

Sunrise from our balcony

Finally, here is one last shot before leaving the hotel.  We thought we needed photographic proof that we did come together.

The two retirees on their hotel balcony before checking out--life is good.