Because, when you stay at the El Rancho, you will be sleeping in a room where a movie star slept. Like the Humphrey Bogard room. Or the Spencer Tracy one. Or may be the May West room – your pick.
And after a generous hotcakes & eggs breakfast, take a walk along the red brick walls, covered with autographs of every movie star that ever stayed here, and a few photographs of the staff of times past smiling at you. You will smile back.
When you leave, driving along the legendary Route 66 you’ll be taking with you a piece of history of the American West. Never in my wildest dreams…
”Joe Massaglia constructed the El Rancho Hotel in 1936 along U.S. Route 66 for Mr. R.E. “Griff” Griffith, brother of the famous movie director D.W. Griffith. El Rancho Hotel is a large, rambling, Rustic style building that still feeds the fantasy of the Old West in Gallup, New Mexico. Griff came to Gallup in the early 1930s and fell in love with the area, returning a few years later to build the hotel. From the very start, El Rancho was the center of the movie industry in Gallup. Both Griff and his brother encouraged moviemakers to use El Rancho as a base for crews and stars on location because of its proximity to striking western landscapes and the hotel’s rustic elegance. When it opened in 1936, the El Rancho boasted superior service and accommodations for roughing it in comfort. Its employees were trained by the famous Fred Harvey Company hotel and restaurant chain.” [source]
El Rancho Hotel, Gallup, NM
April 29th, 2019
The Humble Fabulist 