6708 Tierra Drive NW, Albuquerque, NM, 800-201-2986,
Rates: Start at $149 per night March-October; $129 in the off season; suites with sitting rooms are larger and start at $189 in season and $169 off season. Off-street parking. Stay here if you’re: Looking for something with a little more character than the chains.
It’s close to: Very little compared with other options, if you want to be downtown (10-minute drive) or near the airport (15 minutes).
The rooms are: Not particularly well-cleaned by the housekeepers – we made a game of checking to see if a blob of toothpaste below the bathroom mirror when we arrived would ever be wiped away (it wasn’t) and jotted down a pretty long list of other infractions that weren’t health-threatening yet kind of icky – but otherwise an appealing mix of Southwestern and rustic furnishings in a 1790 hacienda built on El Camino Real.
They put all of the money into: Maintaining the historic property. There’s a hot tub and a small swimming pool. Breakfast, sometimes delicious, sometimes odds and ends, is included.
The bottom line: There are enough nice touches – unlimited bottled water and sodas in the mini-fridge, small TVs with cable in some of the rooms, a shared patio with a view behind the suites, cozy robes, plenty of towels and washcloths – to make this a decent option, especially if you’re looking to avoid a chain hotel. But up-and-coming Albuquerque will force this bed and breakfast to bring its A-game if it wants people to keep coming back.
