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Alan’s View

July 2010

On The Road: A Tale of Two Pueblos (Santa Fe and Albuquerque)

I was in the midst of preparing an Alan‘s View column on the state of the hotel industry when my family gathering in New Mexico last month drove home to me one of the conclusions I was coming to: Success requires, perhaps more than ever, a re-emphasis on hospitality (the definition of which is “the friendly reception and treatment of guests or strangers”).

A family reunion in New Mexico will no doubt have my editor‘s eyes rolling, since neither the location nor inclusion of children falls within Night+Day‘s sweet spot. But even we hardcore urbanistas need to find what works and what doesn‘t in the parts of our lives not filled by the pulse of the city.

Our family consists of three generations, with ages two to 70 attending our reunion. We landed in New Mexico because my wife loves Santa Fe and spends a week each Fall painting at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, Georgia O‘Keeffe‘s hangout. New Mexico does not show up on any “great family destination” lists that I‘m aware of, which made me anxious (I was responsible for the planning) about spending six days, split evenly between Santa Fe and Albuquerque, with the family. Well, the list-makers are wrong. The trip was a huge success, and I‘ll provide the details shortly. But importantly, the experience was a black-and-white lesson in hotel management (or lack thereof).

We spent the first three nights at Bishop‘s Lodge (bishopslodge.com), a classic resort from the early 20th century, situated in a beautiful country setting just a few short miles from downtown Santa Fe. From the moment we arrived until we departed we had the clear sense that the property must be up for sale, and that management didn‘t care what was happening. With very few exceptions, the property came up short on maintenance (lighting on paths didn‘t work, air conditioning seemed out of control), “historic” seemed shabby, service was minimal, (no one, even, to help with the luggage), and, although the young staff members were nice, they didn‘t seem capable of responding to client needs, whether it be in the dining room or at the front desk. In the old days, the magnificence of the property, 450 acres that includes stables, tennis and a pool, would be enough to compete for filling beds. Today, the customer expects, deserves, and most often can find more.

We spent the second three nights at Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort (tamaya.hyatt.com), a 30-minute drive from downtown Albuquerque with a dead-on view of the nearby Sandia Mountains. Pueblo-influenced architecture and design (it is situated on Santa Ana Pueblo land), and a full complement of activities (horseback riding, golf, tennis, three pools) filled the destination-resort bill. But this being a chain hotel, and especially coming off the Bishop‘s Lodge experience, my antennae were up for service and food issues. Whoa! They, and by “they” I mean every Tamaya staff member we encountered, didn‘t miss a beat. Where the Bishop‘s Lodge kids‘ program was understaffed, Tamaya was generously overstaffed. The valet, bell, and front desk staff were superlative in every regard. And while the café, with its gorgeous views, was adequate food-wise, the signature restaurant Corn Maiden was worth returning to. But the real kicker was a dessert party we had on our last night—a chocolate feast engineered by the Hyatt Convention Services Manager Marjorie McLay and pastry chef Darci Rochau. It demonstrated both a quality and attention to detail that makes Tamaya a lesson in how to succeed in the hotel business today.

The biggest decision in planning the six-day retreat was to change hotels midstream. The main reason for doing so is that Santa Fe is the essential cultural experience, and Albuquerque/Tamaya has the necessary resort/kids component. There was no way to reasonably combine the two into one hotel (and in hindsight this decision was the right one), not to mention that Albuquerque has its own cultural rewards.

The itinerary
Day 1  Although you can fly non-stop into Santa Fe from Los Angeles, the predominant access point is Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ). It is one hour and fifteen minutes to Santa Fe by car. We had planned a welcome cookout atop a mesa at Bishop‘s Lodge, but wind pushed the “cookout” onto our patio.

Day 2  A little after 9am, drive 20 minutes to the Tesuque Pueblo flea market (open only Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) to spend an hour or so reviewing the full range of worthwhile souvenir possibilities. Another hour north is Ghost Ranch (ghostranch.org). The Ruth Hall Museum of Paleontology on site will keep children (and adults) fascinated for 30 minutes. But the main attraction is the scenery—the stuff that O‘Keeffe made famous (or vice versa). The combination of walking and driving around will allow you to take a lot in and have you ready for lunch at famous Bode‘s , 20 minutes south (bodes.com), a hamburger joint/café/general store. Spend the afternoon soaking at Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs (ojocalientesprings.com) with its various pools containing lithium, iron, soda, and arsenic (a good thing, really). Dinner is OYO (on your own), because people will get back to the hotel at different times or kids will be tired or adults will be tired or…

Day 3 Santa Fe Museum morning. We managed to squeeze in the Palace of the Governors (palaceofthegovernors.org), New Mexico History Museum (nmhistorymusem.org), and the Georgia O‘Keeffe Museum (okeeffemuseum.org) before lunch at La Fonda (lafondasantafe.com). The afternoon was OYO, so real troopers might have checked out the New Mexico Museum of Art (nmartmuseum.org) or the streets of Santa Fe, whereas the rest of us headed back to the pool. Dinner was adults-only at Geronimo‘s (geronimosrestaurant.com), one of the best restaurants in the southwest.

Day 4  We had the first of two family “meetings” to group-think on topics such as finances, the state of the world, philanthropy, and bucket lists. Afterwards, the schedule was OYO, but the main event was transferring to the Hyatt Regency Tamaya and settling in before dinner at the hotel‘s casual Santa Ana Café.

Day 5  We drove 30 minutes and walked around part of the Petroglyph National Monument (nps.gov/petr/), and then headed into Albuquerque to visit the Pueblo Indian Cultural Center (indianpueblo.org). After a tour we had lunch in its Pueblo Harvest Café. The afternoon was OYO to allow for a visit to Old Town (Rattlesnake Museum, anyone?). But the dry heat of June had “pool” written on everyone‘s brain. Dinner at Prairie Star, only five minutes from the hotel, got mixed reviews from our group.

Day 6  After the second family meeting it was OYO, to take advantage of the Tamaya facilities: pool, stables, hiking trails, golf, tennis, and spa. The hotel‘s Corn Maiden met the challenge of a farewell dinner, and the above-mentioned chocolate dessert party (with family videos) provided the perfect ending.

I don‘t know what your family is like, but the fact that after six days of being together we were not only speaking to each other, but actually hugging, made me think we‘d had a pretty terrific family gathering. And I got another good lesson in hospitality.