A View With a Room

Armanda Ortega, a member of the Navajo clan Kiy`anníí (Towering House), owns and operates this low-slung stucco hotel, which adjoins the recently reconstructed visitor center and trading post on the Utah side of the 90,000-acre Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. From nearly every room-as well as the airy, high-ceilinged restaurant-you're treated to striking panoramic views of Monument Valley's legendary formations, including the Mittens, a pair of 1,000-foot red rock towers that frame the landscape as you gaze northeast. Step outside and you have direct access to the three-mile Wildcat hiking trail as well as a 17-mile self-guided driving loop along a bumpy dirt track; a four-wheel-drive vehicle is best, although not required, for this adventure. (With no rentals available near Monument Valley, you'll have to bring your own.)