This Route 66 landmark in Gallup evokes a time when Hollywood romanticized the nation’s Western frontier. It’s the place to get your cowboys and Indians fix.
Story and photos by Randy Mink, Senior Editor
Anyone smitten with nostalgic feelings for Hollywood’s Golden Age, Wild West lore or the heyday of Route 66 will be in heaven at Hotel El Rancho in Gallup, New Mexico. A fan of old-time cowboy movies, I couldn’t get enough of all the yesteryear trappings during my stay at this National Historic Landmark.
From 1940 to the mid-1960s, the El Rancho frequently served as a base camp for crews filming movies, primarily Westerns, against the backdrop of the vicinity’s striking red-rock scenery. Built in 1937 by the brother of famous Hollywood director D. W. Griffith, it offered rustic elegance for the day’s biggest box office stars. The guest list included John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Humphrey Bogart, Kirk Douglas, Gregory Peck, Burt Lancaster, Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy and Ronald Reagan, to name a few.
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This year the El Rancho’s vintage neon signs are greeting a record number of Route 66 road trippers as they celebrate the highway’s centennial by cruising down remaining segments of the fabled ribbon of asphalt that ran from Lake Michigan to the Pacific Ocean. The rambling three-story hotel, a favorite with Route 66 buffs, was the highlight of my two days in Gallup.
While some motorists will stay overnight, others will stop by just to check out the hotel’s magnificent lobby, eat in its restaurant or pose with the signs.
Hotel El Rancho’s photogenic lobby
The El Rancho’s Public Areas
The dimly lit lobby, reminiscent of those in classic national park lodges built in the early 20th century, is an atmospheric gathering place with an oversized fireplace, hand-hewn ceiling beams and curving twin stairways made of split logs. Mounted deer heads, a wagon wheel chandelier, hanging art-glass lamps, display cases with American Indian artifacts, and colorful Navajo-design rugs and throw pillows accent the grand space. Music from past eras, from Nat King Cole ballads and Elvis Presley hits to the Beach Boys, Beatles, Four Seasons and other sounds of the ’60s, enhances the retro vibe.
The red-carpeted staircases lead to a balcony that encircles the lobby below. This mezzanine, my favorite part of the hotel, abounds with Hollywood memorabilia. Plastering the brick walls are black-and-white stills from movies filmed in the area and portraits of individual stars, some of them autographed. Indian pottery lamps provide light for the armchairs and writing desks.
The 1948 movie Fort Apache was filmed in the Gallup area.
Fans of old Westerns appreciate the movie posters adorning the hotel’s Silver Screen dining room. Two 1948 movies depicted are Fort Apache (filmed around Gallup and starring John Wayne, Henry Fonda and Shirley Temple) and Santa Fe Trail (Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Raymond Massey and Ronald Reagan). Continue in the celebrity vein by ordering a John Wayne, Ronald Reagan or Roy Rogers Burger. The Southwestern and Mexican specialties are named after Latin stars of yesteryear like Rita Moreno, Ricardo Montalban and Desi Arnaz.
Next to the restaurant is the 49er Lounge, decorated with stained-glass Western scenes. Specialty cocktails are named for entertainers, including Bogart, Wayne, Betty Grable and Mae West.
Armand Ortega’s The Last Trading Post, the hotel gift shop, has Route 66 souvenirs, Native American handicrafts and plenty of cowboy kitsch. John Wayne-themed merchandise includes a wall clock, fleece throw blanket and playing cards. A lobby exhibit enshrines Duke’s memory.
Ortega, a well-known American Indian trader, bought the El Rancho in 1987, saving it from the wrecking ball and restoring its original luster. Shane Ortega, his grandson, is the current owner.
Gallup, New Mexico is a must stop on Old Route 66.
Gallup, a town of 20,000, abounds with stores selling high-quality Indian arts and crafts, especially those of Navajo and Zuni Pueblo artisans. Called trading posts, the shops deal in turquoise-and-silver jewelry, pottery, textiles and other wares marketed by tribes in the Southwest. Gallup has been called the Indian Jewelry Capital of the World. And be sure to save time for admiring the town’s museum-quality street murals and retro signs.
Guest Rooms at Hotel El Rancho
Murals with Native American motifs and Navajo-style carpeting liven up the guest room corridors. Sporting Western design elements like cowboy-print bed runners, each room bears the name of a dead movie star, whether they stayed at the hotel or not. Perhaps you’ll get the Lucille Ball or Doris Day room. Other units are named for people like Stewart, Bogart, Lancaster, Jimmy Cagney, Rosalind Russell, Jack Benny, Peter Graves and singing cowboy Gene Autry.
The El Rancho’s guest rooms are small. My room, number 311, was named after Mona Freeman (an actress I never heard of) and had a laminated poster of Copper Canyon, a 1950 movie in which she co-starred. As for the tiny, black-and-white-tiled bathroom, I could barely turn around. The sink was only a foot from the toilet, but the plumbing was modern and everything worked. The pine-log bed tables held a mid-century dial telephone and retro clock radio.
For more elbow room, consider the Marx Brothers, Ronald Reagan Presidential, John Wayne or Roy Rogers Suite. The latter two have a kitchen.
Guests are given instructions for operating the elevator, an antique equipped with a do-it-yourself metal gate.
Next to the original building is the motel annex, an option advertised by a flashing red rooftop sign that constantly switches back and forth between “Hotel El Rancho” and “Motel El Rancho” as the “M” replaces the “H” and vice versa. Inscribed above the hotel’s portico is its motto, “Charm of Yesterday – Convenience of Tomorrow.” Electronic billboards framed by twinkling white lights stand guard by the road, Route 66.
A discount is applied for groups reserving five or more rooms.
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