Bright Angel Lodge

The stone fireplace in the main lodge tells you everything you need to know: Mary Colter built it so the rock layers reproduce the Grand Canyon's strata in correct sequence from river bottom to rim. That's the lodge in miniature — obsessive, specific, earned. Colter designed the complex in 1935, folding in two structures that might otherwise have been demolished: the Buckey O'Neill Cabin and the Red Horse Station, which served as the area's post office before becoming overnight accommodations. The lodge's cocktail lounge carries murals by Hopi artist Fred Kabotie. Come for the fireplace. Stay because the canyon is right outside the door.