El Pueblo Lodge — Hotel in Taos

Stayed there over the last weekend in July 2015.

The property: The property is dominated by a parking lot. Overall, the property is large. The pool is in the middle of the parking lot. There are lots of trees and the architecture and manicuring are pleasant--particularly the area behind the office and breakfast area, which is a quaint garden with horseshoes, bbq pits, a couple of picnic tables, and a large L-shaped garden patio and 10 or so tables for meal seating. A sea of soft grass. It's beautiful. Unfortunately, though, the rooms have no real view to speak of.

The staff: From when we entered until the time we left every staff member and worker that we interacted with was wonderful and helpful. Props to the staff. The breakfast was great with some wonderful touches. The breakfast staff were hardworking and kept that area is stocked, clean, and inviting. I didn't like that the only meat option was sausage patties. That was disappointing. But again, breakfast was wonderful.

The room: The room was smaller and older than expected. The architecture and beds were nice, but the carpet was seriously wanting. There were stains all over it. The rough, rustic wooden furniture felt a little dirty and dingy (primarily from age). The bathroom was clean and overall the room was clean. To be clear, however, some investments needs to be made if this hotel wants to maintain their price point. The entrance into the bathroom was insanely tiny with a mini-fridge and all sorts of nonsense crammed in the corner entrance. It was weird. The tiles and touches in the bathroom were nice--top-end toiletries. Unfortunately, the light switch tile was cracked off, which is a little dangerous. I felt cramped and disappointed with the room overall, but the bathroom was nice. I liked the small window in it. The bedroom furniture was a real hodgepodge in need of updates. The cooling system worked well--once we realized that despite the controls on the unit not working, that the system could be controlled from a wall control on the other side of the room, we were in much better shape. But we didn't realize this until morning and were stuffy the entire night.

The area: It's in an accessible part of town. The building is somewhat handicap friendly. It was flat with maximum one step up anywhere. The surrounding trees were large and shady. There was a nice gathering of various elderly couples and groups at breakfast.

To conclude: For the price we paid, it's over-rated. It was our most expensive hotel on our trip in the area and we paid like $150 for the night. For $30 more, I wish we would have stayed in one of the top-notch luxury Taos hotels. In comparison, we paid around $110 in nearby much nicer and more desirable areas for nicer...

El Pueblo was an unexpended pleasure, a comfortable throwback in time, as the place was built in 1952, now featuring very large rooms, some with fireplaces, all have clean wood floors, so there's no fear of carpets so dirty they ruin your socks. The shower/toilet is on the smaller side with no window, but there is a nice big room for makeup and shaving, an iron & ironing board are provided, along with a hair dryer. The beds are comfortable. I would highly suggest scoring a ground floor room, especially if stairs are a bit of a problem, in front of each room is a table and lounge chairs for kicking back as night slips in. There's a nice breakfast in the morning, along with afternoon treats. Your critters are welcome. Workout equipment is in its own building and the grounds are large enough for a nice stroll. The plaza is just down the street, certainly walkable, if not, there's a spacious parking lot. Right down the street, is a super Mexican restaurant, and 2.5 miles out of town is 5Star Burgers, which always pleases.||If it's your desire to go to the gorge bridge, the 5th highest in the US, and a view you won't forget, please know that you can no longer walk the bridge for that view, that said, on the other side is a small park with trails along canyon, which we just discovered, causing a mile wide smile to edge across my face. Everyone wants to see the Earthship homes, it's a couple miles passed the bridge, and is a complete ripoff, even getting into the visitor center will cost you money, so best to view from the road.||If you're coming from the south, take the low-road in, then take the highroad out, it's a half hour longer, but well worth the time, the view is stunning, reminding me of why I moved to New Mexico.||My issues: If you want a fireplace, please know that the wood provided is cheap pine that will burn out in minutes, creating no coals, so if you've got some nice oak or hardwood at home, bring yourself a couple of logs, you'll be pleased that you did. The bathroom soap and hair products are of the scented hippie type (I'm no longer a hippie), where if you're at all sent sensitive, don't even open a bottle to take a whiff, they left me with a splitting headache ......

This was such a pleasant place to stay! I didn't want to come home. It is an older motel but the newer sections were built to blend with the older rooms. They welcome pets and children too. Their breakfast, which is included is one of the best that I've ever had! In the afternoon they make cookies and they make plenty so you're not limited to just one!. Their summing pool is not huge but not overwhelmingly large so you're able to keep your children in sight. Five rooms have adorable Kivas and two are pet rooms so your fur babies can also relax by a warm fire. We spent three nights so I went to get clean towels at the office. Sylvia who was at the office was beyond helpful. She insisted on carrying all the towels back to our room and that was a huge help for me. My friend Liz and I plan on going to Taos again this summer. Liz is looking forward to checking out this unique town that is only three hours from Pueblo. Michael's restaurant and bakery is maybe a five minute walk and Bent Street maybe a six minute walk. This is where the smaller shops are that are fun to check out. I'm looking forward to checking out Chocolate and Cashmere they sell hand made candy and knit using Cashmere as their choice of fiber. Two of my very favorite things! In the morning a kind Gentleman comes to your room to see if you need more wood he will also clean the Kiva so ash will not build up! That was a first for me and I've been to other motels with fireplaces. Our room had instant hot water and it was always hot. It's well lit at night and parking is plentiful. They have games as well as two very large grills to barbecue that are under cover that are also well lit most of the evening. While it's not a resort it had a small resort feel. Liz and I can't wait to return and we know her fur babies enjoyed this great place as well. They spent most of their mini vacation enjoying sitting in the large window greeting other guests fur babies! Hope you try them and enjoy it as well as we did. Thank you for your time to read this! Happy trails,...