Grand Canyon Caverns, on Route 66 between Seligman and Peach Springs, Ariz., boasts a number of gimmicks and attractions to draw in tourists. But the latest one may be the strangest — and among the most enticing — one yet.
A few weeks ago, Grand Canyon Caverns unveiled its Cavern Suite, 220 feet below ground. I’ll let the news release explain:
Just completed, the room is 125 feet wide by 300 feet long with a 70-foot ceiling. The walls are over 65 million years old, its 220 feet below the surface, absent of any light, and the only sound is your heart beating and your breath. You are the only living thing in the caverns. The only living thing. No insects, bats, animals, bugs, fungus, nothing to bug you! This is because the air comes in from the Grand Canyon through 65 miles of limestone caves, which take out 94 percent of the moisture in the air, hence, no water, no life. The temperature in the room feels like it’s in the mid-’60s … very comfortable with a T-shirt on. You access the caverns via a 22-story elevator.
In the middle of this huge dry cavern a 16 x 28-foot platform was constructed with a 30-inch-high sidewall. Within the platform is a complete motel room with beds, sofas, dining area, mini kitchen, library, bathroom with shower (ceiling 50 feet above it), TV, phone and entertainment center.
The project was the brainstorm of Mike Kadletz, one of the Caverns’ owners. Kadletz had always wanted to spend the night down in the Caverns but, without a comfortable place to sleep, eat and use the restroom, it never happened until now. His wife Karen hated the idea, and said she could never stay there. Well, she tested it out with Mike and the 4 kids and fell in love with the Caverns suite. The entire family now believes in the suite and looks forward to spending the night down there again.
The rate for an evening may be considered expensive for the night, but only one room is available, and it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The room is also set up to have private dinners or meetings for up to 12. It is also available for very private concert performances. […]
The guided tours operate daily from 9 to 5, so guests should be ready from visitors early or check out by 9. Operating with the elevator since 1961, the Grand Canyon caverns have been one of the longest-operating tourist attractions on Route 66.
Rates are $700 a night for two people, plus $100 for each additional guest up to six people total.
In case you’re claustrophobic, the caverns offers standard motel rooms above ground.
(Hat tip to Tucson Citizen and RoadsidePeek.com. Photo courtesy of Grand Canyon Caverns.)
Wow, this is a really nice place to visit. I’ll make sure to plan a trip someday to this spectacular underground motel. Too cool! Thanks for posting!
I finally did the classic Route 66 road trip in August 2011 (after 9 straight years vacationing in the USA and having spent the night in 35 different states).
I saw this hotel room in my research to the trip and booked it. It turned out to be an experience of a lifetime. I have made a detailed description, taken a lot of pictures and video and posted it on my travel blog. You can see it here: https://www.renefrederiksen.dk/travel-stories-road-trips-usa/a-night-in-grand-canyon-caverns-suite-on-route-66/