What are the recomended places to stay in the area? We haven't made any bookings and are open for suggestions. We go there in October.

You mean, Sedona AZ (not Sidona), correct? If so, we stayed here. I recommend highly, it is pricy though, but considered one of the best if not the best in Sedona.

Sedona, of course, thank you for correction. WOW! This is a nice place! How many nights do we need to cover all canyons in the area? One or two?

All canyons/areas? Boy, that is rather ambitious. Do you have a month or 2 or 3? We spent 5 or 6 days in the Sedona/Scottsdale-area, I cannot remember exactly. I doubt we even put a dent in it. But, that being said, we saw a lot & did a lot (none stop) all day, every day (morning to night).

Don’t try to cover it all, it is not possible or realistic. Do your research, talk to people when you get there, have a plan in hand & enjoy. Sedona, in particular, is one of the most impressive sites I’ve ever visited (the natural beauty). And, we travel a bit, actually a lot I should say. And, Sedona is breath taking.

Oh yeah, bring a camera & get ready to take many, many pics.

love_cab_chard, I am glad I have found the fellow traveller with a travel bug inside. My father just got back from 10 days tour of the canyons and he covered the territory we intend to cover. My wife been there as well, so I feel confident we'll cover lots of grounds in 8 days.

He is sending me his pics and itinerary and comments of the places we can skip. His favorites, besides Sedona was the Bryce canyon in Utah and few more they were only reach on foot off the main road. He is over 80 and if he could do it, so shall we, even though I have to admit, he is in better shape.

Camera is my Amex, I never leave home without it.

This is where we're staying. Very expensive, but one of the world's great resorts.

Thanks, Board-O, but this is for Sedona area only, we can't reach Bryce Canyon from there on a daily trip and need places to stay up North. "Missus" will have a ball booking this trip, it's her birthday present. $500-600 a night, you guys DO live big! Salut!

Marriott builds world class resorts, we booked this one for November.

The best summer price I saw at Desert Ridge was $679 per night.

We recently stayed at theEnchantment Resort. It is considered one of the best in Sedona. The restaurant was quite good (nice winelist too), the spa is fantastic, the setting is unbelievable. Service was good, but not "Four Seasons" caliber. Personally, I thought the room needed some updating. While clean and in good repair, we were paying >$900 a night for a one bedroom, living room with murphy bed, and small kitchenette. At those prices, everything should either be brand new or really old.

At Bryce, we really liked staying at the Bryce Canyon Lodge which is inside the park and just a short walk to the canyon edge. I believe they have an assortment of different accommodations.

You can't stay inside Zion National Park but theCliff Rose Lodge was clean, well-appointed, motel style with a nice pool and outdoor area right outside the Zion gate.

If you're going to the Grand Canyon, go to the North Rim since you will be heading up to Bryce, etc. anyway. North Rim is much nicer and less touristy than the South Rim although the South would be more convenient from Sedona. The Lodge on the North Rim is great!

Have fun.

Am I the only one who travels through the Southwest with a sleeping bag and a two man tent?

Thank you, Randy, passing it all to the "ma'am". We arrive in Vegas and drive from there, my wife is in charge of itinerary, so I don't know which end of Grand Canyon we'll visit if we visit it at all.
Probably most of our stays will be one nighters, it's up to her, so it doesn't have to be fancy-shmancy.

A thought on the Grand Canyon - we stayed in Williams and took the train up to the Canyon. Plusses are a relatively inexpensive hotel, GREAT train ride and not having to deal with traffic inside the park. Negatives are a whole day consumed for a grand total of a bout 3 hrs inside the park itself and no wheels when you get there so you're pretty much stranded in one area. If you have several days, it is definitely a great experience and has some great story value.