El Rancho Hotel & Motel

What is El Rancho Hotel & Motel?

A large hotel in a rustic style that the National Park Service has summed up as a kind of rusticated fantasy. The front has a big portico with a balcony in the middle, a look that recalls plantation houses of the American South. The walls mix rough-hewn wood, brick and random ashlar stone, under a wood-shake roof with chimneys of brick and stone.

The lobby is the showpiece. A huge fireplace of brick and ashlar stone anchors the room, and two stairways built from split logs rise on either side of it to the guest rooms on the second floor. Above the main entrance, a neon sign spells out the hotel's slogan about yesterday's charm and tomorrow's comforts.

History of El Rancho Hotel & Motel

The hotel dates to 1937. R.E. "Griff" Griffith, who built it, worked with his brother D.W. Griffith to encourage early film production around Gallup, and the hotel became a base for visiting movie stars. It is listed on the National Register and on the New Mexico state register of cultural properties. It also lies along the Trails of the Ancients route, a designated New Mexico Scenic Byway.

Visiting El Rancho Hotel & Motel: tips

Staying the night is the best way to spend time in the lobby; otherwise, the neon sign and the front portico make a strong photo, especially at dusk. Allow a few minutes for the outside, longer if you step in as a guest. The Redwood Lodge, a 1930s tourist court, is about 0.1 miles away, and the Drake Hotel downtown about 0.6 miles.