Hotel Chaco: Albuquerque’s Tribute to Chaco Canyon

As Albuquerque’s only four-star hotel, stunning Hotel Chaco lives up to its accolades. Newly opened in 2016 and a Preferred Hotel, it’s part of the Heritage Hotels & Resorts collection—one of 11 family owned, New Mexico properties taking hospitality to the next level in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Taos and Las Cruces. Each hotel offers a cultural experience through its architecture, design, original artwork, entertainment and dining.

Chaco Culture National Historical Park

Chaco Culture National Historical Park, located some 50 miles northwest of Albuquerque, was once home to the thriving Anasazi community. Several thousand citizens built their rock homes on the mesa’s edge between 900 and 1150 A.D. Chacoans quarried sandstone blocks and hauled timber from great distances, assembling the largest buildings in North America until the 19th Century. Their civilization was eventually abandoned, and the people assimilated in pueblos throughout the state.

Today, the rugged road into the site requires a four-wheel drive vehicle. Tour operators also take visitors into the area, one of 23 UNESCO World Heritage sites in the US. A day trip from Albuquerque is about a three-hour drive. Hotel Chaco offers a self-guided tour including boxed lunches, waters and guide books. Heritage Inspirations, a Heritage Hotels tour company, offers guided day trips from the hotel to Chaco Canyon that includes explanatory videos, activities and a gourmet lunch.

Native American Art at Hotel Chaco

Upon my arrival at Hotel Chaco, it quickly became evident that Chaco Canyon’s story shines throughout the property. Sandstone used for the exterior was sourced from the Colorado/New Mexico border—until now, it’s never been used in a commercial project. Incorporated into the architecture, the building is aligned to the sun’s movement. An attendant opened the carved front door for us, his shirt emblazoned with an ancient black and white Anasazi symbol. Inside, natural colors of the canyon—soothing tans, caramels, beiges—contrast with greys and blacks and accents of silver and white.

Guests step into the hotel through a narrow passageway with water and fire elements on the walls and check-in takes place under a giant, glass oculus in the rotunda. The oculus represents three sacred eagles and was designed by Tammy Garcia from the Santa Clara Pueblo. The lobby’s wooden beams are placed in traditional Hogan-style, and the granite pebble floor represents a riverbed. Some miss “The Guardian,” a Native American statue perched on a wooden platform, who watches over all who enter. The curved lobby leads to a covered rear courtyard. Beyond that, four basalt stone columns form a fountain surrounded by native grasses and cottonwood trees. Stone pavers in a circular pattern represent how the rain falls to earth. A little further is the nearly 25-meter pool with shade trees and loungers lining one side.

Native American art throughout the hotel showcases more than 23 artists from 10 Southwestern pueblos and tribes and includes pottery, paintings, masks and more. Sculptor Joe Cajero, from the Jemez Pueblo, designed the lobby’s imposing bronze sculpture, “Oneness.” Hanging over a seating area, a glass blown antler “cloud” combines the sacred symbols of antlers and clouds, created by Ira Lujan from the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblos in Taos. Artists will also be featured in an on-site gallery offering a coffee and chocolate bar.

Accommodations at Hotel Chaco

With 25 room types, including 12 suites, guests have plenty of options. The 118 rooms boast primarily king beds. Most include balconies and aren’t a standard box configuration. To the east and south guests view the city while north-facing rooms showcase the distant Sandia Mountains. To the west, dormant volcanoes dot the mesa. Corner rooms offer dual balconies and floor-to-ceiling windows. A $30 resort fee includes free valet, in-room snacks and water and weekend yoga classes. The hotel spa is slated to open soon.

Rooms feature contemporary décor and the latest amenities: Keurig coffee station, pottery mugs, in-room safes, robes and slippers, to-die-for chocolates and cookies at turn-down. The neutral, wood grain wallcovering compliments the natural wood flooring and stone vanity in the bathroom. Hand-woven Navajo rugs from the historic Toadlena Trading Post hang above each bed as a focal point. Each rug was created specifically for the hotel by weavers using the same process as their ancestors more than 100 years earlier.

Spectacular Views and Amenities

Spectacular, 360-degree city and mountain views are highlights of the rooftop Level 5 Restaurant from inside and outside, a wrap-around terrace is loaded with comfy couches. Especially stunning at night, the twinkling city lights are a gorgeous back drop for the terrace’s fire pits. A partnership with Gruet Winery features their sparkling wine served from a super-cool, illuminated rooftop pod.

The restaurant, with Chef Gil Aragon at the helm, offers a full list of wines, beer and cocktails, plus a tantalizing and ever changing menu.  Appetizers, such as avocado hummus with house made flat bread and tasty, braised short ribs are just some of the options.

Eventually, a chef’s garden will be blooming in the back courtyard to supply fresh produce for many of the menu selections. On the first floor, Equinox Café & Bar serves equally interesting lighter plates, plus coffees, wine and cocktails

Hotel Chaco’s partner property, Hotel Albuquerque, is a short stroll from the hotel along with the restaurants, galleries and boutiques of Old Town. Slated to open in 2018 across the street in a repurposed warehouse, Sawmill Market, will house a 25,000 square-foot food court featuring local cuisine and culinary traditions, a growers’ market, restaurants, entertainment, art galleries and shops.

For anyone not in the know, Albuquerque offers year-round outdoor adventure. In winter you can ski in the morning on nearby Sandia Mountain and return to the city for afternoon golf. In summer, hiking, mountain biking and hot air ballooning round out the activities roster.