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Like Staying In A Museum (In A Good Way): Inside the Mabel Dodge Luhan House, Taos

Where: 240 Morada Lane [map], Taos, NM, United States, 87571

If you’re going to northern New Mexico and you have any kind of artistic or cultural sensibilities, you need to stay at the Mabel Dodge Luhan house. As the name would suggest, it’s the former home of Mabel Dodge Luhan – who was not only a writer, but a facilitator and gatherer of art in Taos. This is where pretty much anyone literary or artistic who’s traveled to New Mexico has stayed. DH Lawrence spent loads of time here, and even painted the windows of one of the bathrooms with bright murals (today, some rooms still have access to that bathroom). Georgia O’Keefe, Ansel Adams, Dennis Hopper, Carl Jung – the list of illustrious guests is long and varied. For more details, see the website.

Because it’s more of a museum rather than a swish hotel, we were expecting the worst when it came to rooms. When we had to be towed out of a snowbank, having skidded on ice on the approach, we were even more timorous. But we soldiered on. Here’s what we found.

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Killer View / New Mexico Hotels / Taos Hotels / Bed and Breakfasts / → All Tags

Checking Out A Room With Four Views In Snowy Taos

Where: 240 Morada Lane [map], Taos, NM, United States, 87571

Spotted in New Mexico today: one of the raddest hotel rooms, view-wise, that you may ever have the pleasure of staying in.

This is the Solarium room at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House in Taos, New Mexico. It's rad for a couple of reasons - firstly, because it's the only house with three stories in Taos, so you can see for miles, and second, because it's the old sun roof when it was an actual house, so it's glass-walled on all four sides. Which makes for some truly killer views of Taos and the mountains around it - particularly when it's snowing, as it is now.

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Hotel Hype / Virgin Hotels / New Mexico Hotels / Spaceport America Hotels / → All Tags

Virgin Galactic Wants a Luxury Hotel Near Spaceport America

While we're still waiting on an ETA for Virgin hotels, it looks like Virgin Galactic, the division of Virgin that's pioneering space tourism, is getting in on the hotel game in a way.

Virgin has said the area around Spaceport America outside of Las Cruces, New Mexico--where they plan on putting their sky rockets in flight--is in need of a luxury hotel. The smaller ones already present just aren't up to snuff. After all, their passengers are folks who have forked over $200,000 for the ride to space and will need some luxury accommodations before and after their journey to the final frontier.

But instead of building their own Virgin Galactic-branded hotel, Virgin is looking to partner with third parties to build the luxury digs. Dear Richard Branson, et. al., Please don't build a Ritz-Carlton or a Four Seasons near the spaceport. Please.

Not much else has been confirmed about the hotel except that it will be located halfway between Las Cruces and Truth or Consequences. But hotels in the area, who are frequented by hot springs lovers, needn't get too worried. Virgin Galactic won't be blasting off until sometime in 2013.

Hotel Bars / Rooftop Bars / Albuquerque Hotels / New Mexico Hotels / → All Tags

Get Free Lime-Pepper Chips with Your Drink at Hotel Parq Central's Lounge

Where: 806 Central Ave. SE [map], Albuquerque, NM, United States, 87102

We love sidling up to the bar with a cocktail and munching on some nibbles—especially when they are free. But forget peanuts or some other trifling snack. We're digging the complimentary spicy housemade potato chips at the new Hotel Parq Central's Apothecary Lounge in Albuquerque.

We visited the fourth-floor rooftop lounge on its first day of food service and couldn't put down the thick-cut chips. Our favorite of the addictive snacks were the lime-pepper chips. The chips are very peppery with a punch and would pair well with a margarita.

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Radisson Hotels / Indoor Water Parks / New Mexico Hotels / Kid-Friendly Hotels / → All Tags

Indoor Water Parks Are Somehow Still En Vogue as Radisson Albuquerque Opens 'Splashtastic'

Where: 2500 Carlisle Boulevard Northeast [map], Albuquerque, NM, United States, 87110

If you don't have kids or consider "fun parks" the least fun thing on the planet, you'll want to file this news under "Another place to avoid when traveling." But if you have rugrats you need to occupy, or you're a big, waterslide-lovin' kid yourself, rejoice! The Radisson Hotel Albuquerque has a new waterpark, opening on March 12, just in time for spring break.

If you're not familiar with the waterpark concept, firstly: commiserations. Waterslide collisions are the stuff childhood is made of. The Radisson's set up includes all the waterpark staples: indoor and outdoor slides, an activity pool, wading pool, hot tub, lazy river, tipping bucket, and the most unfortunately named thing we've heard of since the iPad, the FlowRider.

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Hotel Video Tours / HotelChatter Reviews / Road Trip Hotels / B&Bs / New Mexico Hotels / → All Tags

Is It A Ghost? No, Just Your Neighbor At The Ellis Store and Co.

Where: Hway 380 [map], Lincoln, NM, United States, 88388

Admit it – there’s nothing quite like sharing a hotel with a celeb. And while a live celeb may have moved on by the time you get there, there’s always a chance that, if your star is dead, there may be something of them still hanging around. A good thing in some cases (dead rockstars, we’re thinking of you). Billy the Kid? Debatable. But we ended up staying in a room where he stayed for two weeks when we stopped over in Lincoln, New Mexico, at the Ellis Store & Co.

Room Reaction:
This place has won countless awards for Inns and B&Bs and it epitomizes charming. The room (we got the Billy the Kid room for $109) was just what we expected from an American B&B: a nice big room, a nice old couple as owners, nice olde worlde decor and appalling soundproofing. The room was very atmospheric – with Pony Express-themed stuff around the place, though not on overload – and the bathroom was huge. The bed was comfy, the bathroom was spotless – though the shower was a bit weak – and we even ignored the review on TripAdvisor that said the place was haunted.

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Hotel Video Tours / Spa Hotels / Road Trip Hotels / New Mexico Hotels / → All Tags

Those Hot New Mexican Baths On Video

Where: 410 Austin [map], Truth Or Consequences, NM, United States, 87901

Remember last week we told you about those baths in New Mexico that fill with water straight from the hot spring bubbling beneath Truth or Consequences? And how we said they were possibly the best baths ever? We captured them in their full videotastic glory. Here's the one in the Jetsons themed room—yours for $125 a night. Given that it could fit a few of you in there, you could just split the cost.

Hotel Video Tours / HotelChatter Reviews / Spa Hotels / New Mexico Hotels / Road Trip Hotels / → All Tags

Mellowing With The Hippies in Riverbend, New Mexico

Where: 100 Austin Street [map], Truth or Consequences, NM, United States, 87901

Although we checked out the best baths ever at the Blackstone during our visit to Truth or Consequences this week, we actually stayed down the road, at the Riverbend Hot Springs.

You know the hippies we were talking about yesterday? This is where they congregate. The staff have long grey ponytails and wear tie dye. They leave you little envelopes for tips for the cleaners with peace signs on them. And they want bathing in their springs (they’ve harnessed them with five hot tubs) to be a communal experience.

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HotelChatter Reviews / Road Trip Hotels / Spa Hotels / New Mexico Hotels / → All Tags

Possibly The Best Baths Ever: The Blackstone New Mexico

Where: 410 Austin [map], Truth Or Consequences, NM, United States, 87901

The beauty of a roadtrip is being able to stop exactly where you want when the whim takes you – especially if it’s in a town with a funny name. That’s how we ended up in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico (we were aiming for Roswell but the name was calling us too hard to miss).

Truth or Consequences used to be a popular spa town called Hot Springs before it changed its name to that of a game show in 1950. Then in the sixties, the hippies moved in, and never left. And now it’s on the cusp of turning upscale thanks to the Virgin Galactic Spaceport America being built 30 miles down the road.

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Hotel Closings / New Mexico Hotels / Historic Hotels / → All Tags

Historic Hotel Sadly Rides Off into the Sunset

Where: 15 Main Street [map], Clayton, NM, United States

Watching a once-great hotel let herself go is as sad as any Hollywood crash-and-burn, if you ask us. And frankly, that sentiment extends beyond hotels we’ve personally watched rise and fall. So even though we've never been, we’re shedding a special tear for the shuttering of the historic Eklund Hotel, an Old West hotel in tiny Clayton, New Mexico, complete with a resident ghost named Irene and a saloon with a bullet hole-pierced tin ceiling.

Reports the AP: “The Eklund’s closing comes just five years after completion of a $2.3 million renovation of the stately, three-story sandstone block building, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.”

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Santa Fe Hotels / Hotel Deals / New Mexico Hotels / Hotel Trends / → All Tags

Inn On The Alameda Turns 23 wth a $23 Room Rate

Where: 303 EAST ALAMEDA [map], Santa Fe, NM, United States, 87501

To celebrate the oft-forgotten, but nonetheless significant 23rd birthday, the Inn On The Alameda is giving away the third consecutive night for only $23. (Birthday rates are a trend. We're calling it.)

We found a room with two queens and a patio for only $140 in January which comes out to a nice $303 (plus taxes and fees, probs) for a long getaway weekend in the dead of winter. Not bad. Especially considering these amenities:

Lavish continental breakfast
Afternoon wine and cheese reception
Free wi-fi access
Parking at no charge
Lobby Library with books and games

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Anti-View / New Mexico Hotels / Embassy Suites Hotels / → All Tags

Room With an Anti-View: Don't Look Outside the Embassy Suites Albuquerque

Where: 1000 Woodward Place [map], Albuquerque, NM, United States, 87102

You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.

According to previous guest bk1bennett, the Embassy Suites Hotel in Albuquerque is a place that knows about its anti-view :

Because of the landscaping along the road, you can't see the slums from the car. I walked on the sidewalk and was amazed by the living arrangements. The hotel very cleverly constructed its grounds to keep this out of sight.

This is the view across the street from the hotel, but a lot of guests wouldn't even see it, which we suspect is a pretty good thing. The hotel website explains its location as being "in the heart of the downtown business district", which is, well, not that far away, judging by this photograph.

But despite all that, people like it. TripAdvisor reviews have calculated it the #2 hotel in Albuquerque, out of well over a hundred choices; although several did suggest the area was not the kind you'd want to walk through alone at night. Average room rates of $182 make it relatively reasonable but many suggest you should stay inside the hotel and forget the surroundings completely.

[Photo: bk1bennett]