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Las Vegas to Zion National Park Roadtrip and Chain Hotel Options

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Good morning everyone.  Last month, my brother and I went to Zion National Park for Labor Day Weekend (September 4-7).  The trip was amazing and I definitely recommend everyone go to Zion National Park for a few days if you are ever in Southwest Utah.  A few weeks ago, Frequent Miler wrote a post about his recent trip through Zion National Park where he stayed at the Zion Lodge (log cabins) for ~$200/night.  I thought it would be a good idea to share my experience at the Holiday Inn Express Springdale / Zion National Park and show what other points hotel options were available at Zion National Park.

Getting to Zion National Park is tricky.  You can fly into St. George, Utah, but that is a very small/expensive airport.  I recommend flying into Las Vegas (easily accessible from every airport with many flights from many airlines) and then driving ~3 hours to Zion National Park (Google Map).  My brother and I landed in Vegas around 8:30pm and then made our way to the Las Vegas rental car lot and then toward Utah.  We arrived at the Holiday Inn Express hotel a little after 1am (1 hour time change from Arizona to Utah).

Las Vegas Airport to Zion National Park Google Map

Let me back up a little bit and explain that whenever I start thinking about booking a hotel stay, I always consult Seth/Wandering Aramean’s Hotel Hustle tool.  When I searched for a hotel in Zion National Park (Springdale, Utah is located inside Zion National Park), there are only 2 hotels within 20 miles available on points: IHG and Hilton.  Spoiler alert: I ended up booking 3 nights at the Holiday Inn Express Zion National Park hotel, thanks to Seth’s Hotel Hustle tool.

Springdale Hotels from Hotel Hustle

The Holiday Inn Express Springdale / Zion National Park was a very nice/new hotel.  The nightly prices can easily go over $300/night during peak travel times, but the award nights are a bargain at only 20,000 IHG Points.  Since I was traveling with my brother (he is not in the points and miles game, not yet at least), I did IHG Points and Cash for all 3 nights (10,000 IHG Points + $70).  He reimbursed me $210 for the 3 night stay.  A few weeks after my stay, I looked at my IHG account balance and noticed an extra 6,000 IHG Points, which represents a 10% rebate on 60,000 IHG Points, thanks to having a Chase IHG Credit Card.  You can stop reading this post right now, since this is the best hotel deal on points for Zion National Park.

Holiday Inn Express Springdale Zion Points Rate

IHG Reward Point Activity 10-4-2015

If IHG is not your thing, you can stay at the Hampton Inn & Suites Springdale/Zion National Park, which had plenty of award space available.  Unfortunately, the price is 50,000 points per night year round with no cash and points availability.

Hampton Inn Suites Springdale Utah Zion Reward Night

Hampton Springdale Monthly Category Pricing

Up next, the La Quinta Inn & Suites at Zion Park/Springdale had no award space available.  I checked several dates over a 2 month period and could not find a single day that showed award space.

Laquinta Springdale Utah Zion No Reward Nights Available

Last but not least, the Quality Inn at Zion Park (a Choice Hotel) had no award space available either.  I checked several dates over a 2 month period and could not find a single day that showed award space.

Quality Inn Choice Hotels Springdale Utah Zion No Reward Nights Available

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.  Have a great day everyone!

P.S. This is the only pic I took at the Holiday Inn Express Zion National Park.  They had a nice pool (pictured) and a large hot tub (not pictured) with great views of Nation National Park all around the hotel.  The rooms were nice and modern, and the breakfast had typical Holiday Inn Express food.

View from IHG Zion National Park Room


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9 thoughts on “Las Vegas to Zion National Park Roadtrip and Chain Hotel Options

    1. Grant

      I was going to make a pancake with the pancake machine, but the machine was out of batter at the time. I had my usual fruit loops and yogurts for breakfast.

      Reply
  1. ZippyPam

    Seriously? We were hiking Zion September 7 and 8! Our trip started in SLC with a Radisson award stay using the now gone second night free option, 2 nights in Park City with a Hilton Grand Vacation stay ($249 for 2 nights, 10k points and a $200 cert. to use at any US Hilton – just for listening to their sales pitch), flew SW to Vegas (too a cheap price to use points), stayed 2.nights with our hiking group, 1 week hiking Zion, Bryce Canyon and the North Rim, 1 more night at the Delano (paid stay with M Life discount which made the most sense – $118 for 750 s.f. suite).

    Wish I had known you were there. We could have had a Margarita at Bit and Spur!

    Reply
    1. Grant

      Zippy, our paths cross again. My brother had a very tight hiking schedule, but it would have been fun to meet up in Zion National Park. We did the Narrows all day Sunday and my feet were pretty sore after that. Hope you had fun in Bryce Canyon. We drove up the mountain and back down, but never did any of the hikes.

      Reply
    1. Grant

      Thanks for the link. Crazy to think it was a Best Western before being converted to a Holiday Inn Express. Did you stay at this hotel or just walk by when you were at Zion National Park?

      Reply
  2. Bill

    The Hampton was a very nice stay as a Diamond. Quite upscale for a Hampton.
    I don’t think it was that many points for us, but we book quite far in advance.

    Reply
    1. Grant

      The number of points seems high to me, but maybe you booked when it was off season or a lower Hilton category. How long ago did you stay at the Hampton in Zion National Park?

      Reply
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