Handcrafted details in the heart of canyon country
The Ponderosa Inn occupies a converted restaurant building in downtown Escalante, roughly 40 miles east of Bryce Canyon National Park on Scenic Byway 12. The conversion preserved some of the original character and the owners added distinctive handcrafted touches throughout — most notably slot canyon-inspired sinks in each room that reflect the canyon country outside the door.
The inn has 9 rooms, each with a private bathroom, air conditioning, and free Wi-Fi. The largest suite steps up to a full kitchen and a jetted spa tub — useful if you're staying multiple nights to explore Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Standard rooms are clean and comfortably sized for a small inn of this style. Guests rate the cleanliness and comfort highly across booking platforms.
Escalante is the eastern gateway to Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and the inn's central location puts you within easy reach of major trailheads. Calf Creek Falls Recreation Area — with its 5.5-mile round-trip hike to a 126-foot waterfall — is about 15 miles east. The town has a handful of restaurants and a market for stocking up before canyon hikes. Bryce Canyon NP is roughly a 50-minute drive west via Scenic Byway 12. Book directly at stayatponderosainn.com.
101 reviews
7 months ago
Generally a pretty classic hotel experience, although there's no 24-hr staff (and rooms are a little more cabin-esque in style). The Expedia-driven self-check-in process was not great (Expedia didn't do a good job of communicating details), but we got immediate and effective help by calling the Inn help line. Clean rooms, and the most comfortable pillows I've used in a hotel room in ages. Mattress was also above-average.
6 months ago
The room was phenomenal and had a great theme! It felt very homely and welcoming. Wifi was spotty but understandable given the location. A fellow traveller had some minor issues when trying to check in and did not receive their code, this could have been an issue as they did not have a US cell plan. We reached out to the owner and the issue was resolved within 10 minutes so kudos to the owner for rectifying the issue so quickly. The location is optimal for Escalante as it is walking distance to most of the options and the bathroom was very nice.
a year ago
How’s the serenity! Ponderosa Inn provides a much needed rest on the way through after a decent ride over from Durango. It is very cosy and conveniently located. Check in is very easy as was the whole booking experience. I arrived at around 9:30 pm but it is self checkin. The rooms have a cabin feel and everything about the room was comfort, quality and cleanliness.
12 months ago
Archie, the property owner is awesome! Expedia double booked us for one of the rooms at Ponderosa Inn. They did not check with or notify Archie. We arrived at 9pm and called him asking about the room because Expedia had given us the code for the room and there were people in the room we had booked. Archie helped us by giving us a room at one of his other properties, Happy Trails BnB in Tropic. He got the room ready for us in 30 mins and was waiting for us to show up, we were about 30 mins away when we called him. He was patient, kind and polite and went above and beyond to help us. Thank you, Archie! Please stay at either Ponderosa Inn or Happy Trails BnB if you are going to Bryce Canyon, Zion or are in the area.
a year ago
Very cute rooms that were nice and clean. It also had a patio and chairs so we could sit out and enjoy the nice evening. It's a good walking distance from several dining options. Great value for the price! I would definitely stay there again if we're ever back in the area!