5 Best Hotels in Northeast Arizona, Arizona

This nicely maintained motel with a handsome timber-frame facade and panoramic views of the surrounding red rocks is in Bluff, 25 miles northeast of Mexican Hat; it's an excellent base for exploring Goosenecks State Park, the northern end of Monument Valley, and even Canyonlands National Park, to the north. Rooms are spacious with log-frame beds and large bathrooms, and there are also seven upscale cabins with wood-paneled walls, high ceilings, and private porches. The on-site restaurant, Duke's, serves breakfast, dinner, and nonalcoholic beverages daily.

Nestled beneath a massive red rock monolith, this two-level property affords spectacular views of Monument Valley from each room's private balcony. Before the View Hotel opened nearby with even more impressive views, this was the only lodging in the region offering truly knockout scenery. It has more history than its competitor, but it's not as plush, although rooms do have DVD players, free Wi-Fi, and flat-screen TVs; there are also several family suites, each with two bedrooms and full kitchens. The on-site Stagecoach restaurant serves American and Southwestern fare amid Western movie memorabilia. Goulding's also conducts custom guided tours and provides Navajo guides into the backcountry.

This warm and inviting hotel is the best accommodation in Kayenta, although it's much like any other hotel in the chain except for its unusually good restaurant and Navajo-inspired design. The contemporary, comfortable rooms and lobby are tastefully decorated with Southwest textures, and the restaurant is staffed by Native Americans wearing traditional Navajo garb. There's a free continental breakfast bar, a patio with a beehive fireplace, an attractive enclosed pool and sundeck, and a notably impressive gift shop with top-quality Native American art and unique gifts. Staff can help arrange guided tours of Monument Valley.

Operated by the Hopi tribe and situated across from the Tuuvi Travel Center, this striking, contemporary hotel contains light-filled, boldly colored rooms with flat-screen TVs, work desks, and coffeemakers. Rooms on the third floor and a large common lounge have impressive views of the San Francisco Peaks in the distance. Suites have granite counters and more legroom. Off the lobby are an attractively landscaped saltwater pool, hot tub, and garden. A basic Continental breakfast is served in the high-ceilinged lobby, which also contains a gallery of high-quality Hopi art and crafts.

The Navajo tribe operates this sleek pink-stucco hotel, the only lodging inside Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park and one of the most spectacularly situated hotels in the Southwest, with astounding vistas that lend the hotel its name. Nearly all the rooms face east toward the iconic Mittens and Totem Pole formations, and all have private balconies, flat-screen TVs, tile floors, and brightly hued Navajo bedspreads. You can read or relax in a cavernous lobby with tall windows, leather chairs, and hand-carved furnishings, or work out in a small gym looking toward Mitchell Butte. Continental breakfast in the adjacent restaurant is complimentary mid-January through March, and available for a reasonable fee the rest of the year.