If you want to stay close to the north rim of the Grand Canyon You really only have three good choices, and they all book up early.

The Grand Canyon Lodge is run by the National Park Service and is by far the preferred choice. It is On the Rim. There are lovely rooms in the lodge itself, or you can stay in a cabin. Because of very limited availability, these may be all taken before the season even opens. Make reservations for up to a year in advance if you really need a specific date. The link is below.

Grand Canyon North Rim Lodging

Grand Canyon north rim lodging outside the park include the Jacob Lake Inn and the Kaibab Lodge. Jacob Lake Inn is about 45 miles from the rim in the town of Jacob Lake and the Kaibab Lodge is even closer at 18 miles. Both of these facilities offer rustic cabins and motel-type rooms. They also fill up quickly.

Kaibab Lodge
Jacob Lake Inn

If you're looking for more modern Grand Canyon north rim lodging (and didn't manage to get a room at the Grand Canyon Lodge) you may want to stay further away from the north rim. Kanab Utah is just over 67 miles away from the rim, and Page Arizona is about 110 miles away.

[UPDATE: the Kaibab Inn has built some modern motel-type rooms. I'll let you know how they stack up after October, 2007. I've booked a room in the Eastview lower level there. There are motel rooms at the Jacob Lake Inn as well and I'll check them out while I'm there.]

Kanab is a good central hub for visiting the north rim of the Grand Canyon, Escalante, Zion and Bryce Canyon. Page is a smallish town located at the Lake Powell dam. You could easily spend a couple of days kicking around the Lake Powell area.

If you want to check out Grand Canyon north rim lodging distances for yourself, try mapquest. Use the ending address of:

T W Svc-Grand Canyon Lodge: 928-638-2611
End Of Highway 67, North Rim, AZ 86052, US

It should pop up as an option if you try to get driving directions to Grand Canyon north rim.