El Vado Motel in Albuquerque to begin taking overnight guests Monday

After almost a 13-year hiatus, the historic and redeveloped El Vado Motel in Albuquerque will begin accepting overnight guests Monday.

KOB-TV reported the latest development with the Route 66 landmark.

For now, prospective overnight guests can use this link at Booking.com get a room. A perusal of the site shows El Vado has rooms priced at $137 to $179.

The motel can be reached by phone at (505) 717-1267. The motel’s website is here, but it’s not set up for online reservations. The motel stated Saturday night on its Facebook page that bookings on its website and Expedia would go live “in the next few days.”

The extensively renovated El Vado Motel includes a new pool.

A grand opening, scheduled weeks ago, is set from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, July 20.

The motel also houses several small businesses, restaurants and a beer tap room — several of which have been open for months as El Vado’s owners worked on finishing the guest rooms.

One of the overnight guest rooms at El Vado Motel.

The station talked to the motel’s general manager, Carrie Confair:

Construction took about a year and a half to complete, but Confair is confident guests will love the renovations.

“The majority of the rooms are standard king rooms, they’re your standard one king bedroom,” Confair said. “What’s not standard about them is the vigas are original, all the furniture is custom made, and there’s local art on all the walls.”

Visitors can also enjoy a beer on the patio.

“It’s fenced in so you can get a beer at the taproom and come and sit at my counter and drink your beer,” Greg Ritt, Owner of Bosque Burger said.

Here’s the video report from KOB:

El Vado was part of an $18 million redevelopment project, with $3 million in aid from the city.

Irish immigrant Daniel Murphy opened El Vado Auto Court Motel in 1937. It was cited as one of the best examples of pre-World War II motels in New Mexico. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.

El Vado closed in late 2005 after new owner Richard Gonzales said he wanted to bulldoze it for luxury townhouses. The city seized the property years later after a fight to save the motel.

(Image of El Vado Motel sign via the city of Albuquerque; other images of El Vado Motel from its Facebook page)

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