Smart Meetings, February, 2011
State of New Mexico
Destination: New Mexico
Head Southwest
New Mexico promises culture, history and a little spice
By Talia Salem
At 121,593 square miles, New Mexico is the fifth largest state, but 36th in population with just
over 2-million residents.
Nicknamed the Land of Enchantment, the state is primarily made up of small towns and wideopen spaces, but it also has the more urban hubs of Albuquerque and Santa Fe, as well as such
intimate locales as Taos, Las Cruces and Ruidoso. In between, the state has plenty of room for
outdoor recreation, from national forests to ski slopes. And due to its aggressive film-tax
program (which gives filmmakers a 25% refund on taxes related to production), New Mexico’s
painted landscape has made it into many flicks, including Crazy Heart and the upcoming
Cowboys and Aliens.
In addition to the enchanting terrain, one of the biggest reasons people come to New Mexico is
to experience the history and culture, says Ed Pulsifer, VP of sales and marketing for Heritage
Hotels & Resorts, which owns and operates properties all over the state.
Native American inhabitation of New Mexico can be traced back to 12,000 B.C., and today
many native people still reside in the state’s 19 pueblos. (The term pueblo is Spanish for “little
village” and was the name the Spanish gave the Native American communal adobes.) In 1540,
the Spanish arrived in the north, and began ruling the region as part of New Spain in 1598. It
later fell under Mexican control, and eventually became a U.S. territory before it became a state
in 1912. This history creates a living patchwork of Native American, Spanish and Western
influences, and the Spanish-style cathedrals, Native American art, cowboy boots and distinctive
brown adobe architecture all contribute to New Mexico’s very striking sense of place.
“New Mexico, from the food to the people, is just a different experience. You have big mountains
on one side of the state with snow, and when you go to the opposite side of the state you have
warm weather and plateaus,” says Rachel Marquez. A New Mexico native, Marquez is the
conference coordinator for the Statewide New Mexico EMS Conference, which updates
emergency medical professionals on certification and education and hosts its annual conference
in Albuquerque.
Mary Pat Kloenne, director of sales for the Santa Fe Convention & Visitors Bureau, expands on
this thought. “Even when you are in the heart of our cities, you are surrounded by centuries-old
history. Both the Spanish and Native American cultures are evident everywhere. You do not
need to travel far to visit pueblos, remnants of cave dwellings, historic churches, artifacts and
members of families that have been here for at least 15 generations,” she says.
This blend of cultures also makes for a compelling culinary scene, which can be incorporated
into team-building activities such as chili cook-offs. “The food you can’t get anywhere else. Don’t
come down here and not have some green-chile chicken enchiladas,” Marquez says. Robert
Enriquez, vice president of convention sales, services and sports for the Albuquerque
Convention & Visitors Bureau, says you may be asked “red, green or Christmas,” which refers to
whether you prefer red or green chile sauce, or both. Preference between the sauces (same
chile plant, different stages of ripeness) is always a heated topic of conversation in New
Mexico—ask any local about their favorite spot for chili, and make sure you have 30 minutes
and a notepad.
In addition to the tantalizing food scene, the arts can be found everywhere. From the handmade
arts and crafts sold on Santa Fe’s Plaza to the large bronze sculptures found in downtown
Albuquerque, there is original art at every turn. Contemporary, Western and Native-American art
is especially popular here—and for those attendees who are interested, The Collector’s Guide
gives an overview of the in-state galleries and museums. New Mexico’s art is also becoming
more accessible for groups, as many hotels and cities are rolling out hands-on team-building
activities and classes that integrate local crafts.
New Mexico also offers top meeting amenities so your attendees can get work done when they
are not exploring. Bringing your program here might lead to that unique experience your group
is looking for. And if all else fails, you can’t beat enjoying Christmas chile all-year long.
Albuquerque
“Albuquerque is an untold story,” Albuquerque CVB’s Enriquez says. “One of our claims to fame
is that we are the Hot-Air Balloon Capital of the World. The city is home to more than 300
balloon pilots, and we host the world’s largest ballooning festival each fall. With more than 300
flyable days each year, it is quite common to see gorgeous morning sunrise views of hot-air
balloons in front of the Sandia Mountains,” he says.
New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe.
As the largest city in the state, Albuquerque can accommodate the largest groups, with a central
convention center and a variety of meetings-friendly hotels. The city’s ideal group size ranges
from 650–1,000, and it has more than 16,000 hotel rooms to offer citywide. “Albuquerque has
the facilities to make a convention unique, memorable and successful. [It] has a wonderful yearround climate, a big-city feel with small-town hospitality and an incredibly high commitment to
service,” Enriquez says.
Marquez selects Albuquerque for the Statewide EMS conference year after year because it
offers a variety of food, shopping and hotels. Beguiling neighborhoods include Old Town, which
features restaurants specializing in New Mexican cuisine and souvenirs; and Nob Hill, a hot
spot for nightlife, dining and trendy boutiques.
Ranked the Seventh Best Large City for Arts by AmericanStyle magazine in 2010, Albuquerque
also boasts a host of museums and heritage attractions that offer a cultural education and
function space.
Native American pueblos are an integral part of the New Mexico experience, and you can learn
more about them at the city’s Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. The center, whose mission is to
preserve and perpetuate Pueblo culture, offers tours as well as information on the 19 pueblo
communities across the state. It also offers 24,000 sq. ft. of private event space.
On your way out of town, stop by the Sandia Peak Tramway, which takes riders on a 2.7-mile
ride up 10,378-foot Sandia Peak in Cibola National Forest. It affords passengers an 11,000square-mile panoramic view of the Rio Grande Valley.
Major Meeting Venues
Located downtown, the Albuquerque Convention Center is within walking distance of 900 hotel
rooms and offers 167,000 sq. ft. of exhibition space, of which 106,000 sq. ft. is contiguous and
column-free. The venue also has 27 flexible meeting rooms, a 31,000-square-foot ballroom and
the 2,300-seat Kiva Auditorium.
Nearby, the 395-room Hyatt Regency Albuquerque has 30,000 sq. ft. of function space and a
full-service business center. A block away, the 107-room, eco-friendly Hotel Andaluz provides a
hip, boutique option for meetings, with 7,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, and exotic Moorish decor
complete with private casbahs in the lobby. The hotel opened in 1939 as the Albuquerque Hilton
Hotel, one of Conrad Hilton’s original hotels. In October 2009 it became the Andaluz, after a
$30-million renovation that left its historic structure intact.
In Old Town, the recently renovated Hotel Albuquerque has 188 guest rooms and more than
41,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, and has converted the historic Casa Esencia hacienda into a
private event space for up to 298 guests.
The Hilton Albuquerque also hosts groups, with 26,000 sq. ft. of meeting space and 261 guest
rooms. The hotel will soon be renovating its meeting space and completely revamping its Casa
Chaco restaurant. Its adjacent, sister hotel, the 188-room Fairfield Inn Albuquerque University
Area, is available for tiered programs and spillover.
Ten minutes from downtown, the 201-room Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Albuquerque offers
30,000 sq. ft. of rocker-chic meeting facilities with Native American undertones. Formerly the
Isleta Casino & Resort, the property was rebranded a Hard Rock in June and was the site of
Marquez’ six-day Statewide New Mexico EMS Conference, which had 1,300 participants.
“You would never think for the price that you’d get even close to that kind of quality. It saved us
about $20,000 to $30,000, and we got double the stuff,” Marquez says. Because of the size and
breadth of the facility, more activities could be held on-site than at other venues—and the event
was such a success that the organization signed a new five-year contract afterward.
Sandia Resort & Casino, another Native American property in the area, has 228 guest rooms
and 50,000 sq. ft. of function space. The property also offers a full-service spa, the Sandia Golf
Club, nine dining outlets and a 140,000-square-foot casino.
Located between Albuquerque and Santa Fe at the base of the Sandia Mountains, the 350room Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa has more than 70,000 sq. ft. of indoor and outdoor
event space, a Gary Panks-designed golf course, horse stables and the Tamaya Cultural
Museum.
Santa Fe
About an hour’s drive from Albuquerque, the city of Santa Fe lures visitors with its dynamic art
scene, world-renowned cuisine, distinguished Pueblo-style architecture and old-world
cathedrals. Many people describe it as going to Europe without actually going to Europe, says
the CVB’s Kloenne. Practically everyone you encounter in Santa Fe is an artist of some sort or
another. Your shuttle driver might be a landscape painter, with driving just his day job, and your
hotel contact may moonlight as a guitar player.
“To me, Santa Fe epitomizes what New Mexico is all about. Just a walk around the Plaza area
can take you back in time. And the beauty of Santa Fe is breathtaking, no matter the season,”
Kloenne says. The very-walkable city is anchored by the Santa Fe Plaza and the main town
square, where Native American artists sell their jewelry, pottery and home accents daily. Most
downtown destinations are easily reachable by a 10-minute-or-less walk from the plaza, as are
the majority of hotels, museums, shops, restaurants and historical points of interest.
Claire McCardell Long, CPA, director of finance and administration for the D.C.-based National
Register of Health Services Providers in Psychology, brought her 13-member board meeting to
La Posada de Santa Fe over three nights in December. She chose the city becaus.e it offered
great value in the winter, and because of its culturally interesting art scene and southwestern
ambience. “There is something about the energy there. The air is clean and the food is great.
You end up with a more productive meeting in an environment like that. I know of groups that
meet there every year,” she says.
Summers promise a wide variety of traditional fiestas and art shows, including the largest folk
art and Indian markets in the world, Kloenne says. “There is also an air about Santa Fe that can
be felt. Although it is difficult to describe, I believe it is the combination of artistic talent,
spiritualism, peace and tranquility, ancient cultures and respect for all that Santa Fe was and is.”
Major Meeting Venues
In all, the city has 4,500 guest rooms, with no individual hotel larger than 220 rooms, according
to Kloenne. Located in the heart of downtown and within walking distance of 1,500 guest rooms,
the 72,000-square-foot Santa Fe Community Convention Center, which opened in the summer
of 2008, exudes Southwestern charm with metal artwork and adobe architecture. The LEED
Gold-certified building offers 40,000 sq. ft. of event space—plus a beautiful outdoor courtyard.
Not far from the convention center, the Four-Diamond Eldorado Hotel & Spa was built in the
Pueblo Revival style, and can accommodate groups of up to 180, with an ideal meeting size of
150. The property has 22,000 sq. ft. of meeting space and 219 guest rooms, including a
presidential suite with a sprawling balcony for private events and views of the mountains and
downtown. The hotel will soon begin a $4-million guest room renovation and a $1-million
renovation to its Four-Diamond restaurant, Old House. It also plans to add more meeting space
and enclose its pavilion. Across the street, the Hilton Santa Fe Historic Plaza has 158 guest
rooms and 7,000 sq. ft. of meeting space.
At the other end of the plaza, La Posada de Santa Fe started out as a circa-1882 private
residence. In the ’20s and ’30s casitas (now guest rooms 159– 149) were built to accommodate
guests of the “cinco peintures” (Santa Fe’s famous five painters) who lived on nearby Canyon
Road. Today the historic hotel has 157 guest rooms, 4,500 sq. ft. of meeting space, a fullservice spa and the Fuego restaurant. The property also doubles as an art gallery with 40 artists
and an in-house curator who works with groups on tours, classes and more.
“It was truly amazing. It is not your traditional business kind of hotel. This kind of thing is so
different from the traditional meeting, business travel environment [yet] it is a very appropriate
place to have a meeting,” NRHSP’s McCardell Long says. “They went out of their way to
accommodate us. Everything went exactly according to plan.”
Outside of the downtown core, the historic, 111-room Bishop’s Lodge Ranch Resort & Spa has
8,000 sq. ft. of meeting space and on-site amenities including a skeet and trap range, plus
guided trail rides and hikes. Fifteen minutes north of the lodge, the two-year-old Encantado, An
Auberge Resort is located on 57 acres in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and
offers 65 casitas, 4,360 sq. ft. of event space, a destination restaurant and a culturally inspired
spa.
The Hilton Santa Fe Golf Resort & Spa at Buffalo Thunder is the largest hotel in the state, with
390 guest rooms and 66,000 sq. ft. of space in its high-tech convention center. The hotel
features $35-million of original artwork, including large sculptures crafted by the Pojoaque
Pueblo’s governor, and a 22-piece pottery installation that represents all 19 tribal nations.
The 124-room Santa Claran Hotel & Casino, located on the ancestral grounds of the modernday Santa Clara Pueblo tribe, is imbued with Native-American traditions, from carpets that
depict native pottery to locally made wall sconces. The hotel has 16,000 sq. ft. of function
space, including a seventh-floor ballroom featuring two decks with sweeping views.
Unique Venues & Activities
One way to get your groups acquainted with the local hot spots is on a Santa Fe geocaching
tour with Santa Fe Mountain Adventures. The tour operator provides your attendees with a GPS
device, a passport and clues for each step on the tour. SFMA can also incorporate a program
with the Santa Fe School of Cooking to mix in the region’s famous culinary scene. The fullservice DMC offers everything from airport transfers to geocaching tours in the mountains for
groups of up to 500.
Not far from downtown Santa Fe, Museum Hill has four museums that offer tours and private
event facilities. There are also many museums within walking distance of the Santa Fe Plaza,
including the New Mexico Museum, The Palace of the Governors, the New Mexico History
Museum and the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. The O’Keeffe Museum houses a rotating body of
work from the pioneering artist, and offers art classes, tours, and indoor and outdoor function
space for groups of up to 200 guests. A block away, the museum’s research center has outdoor
event space with paintings and sculptures she created.
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Albuquerque.
Art galleries are also a huge draw; visitors can stroll along the famous Canyon Road to find
gallery after gallery, many of which will host private receptions and group functions. Ventana
Fine Art was a former schoolhouse built in 1906 and has many indoor event spaces, a courtyard
and a kitchen. In the 225 Canyon complex, sister galleries McLarry Fine Art and McLarry
Modern also host private functions amid world-class art and Southwestern architecture.
Taos
The charming town of Taos, about an-hour-and-a-half drive from Santa Fe, is also home to
many artists and more than 80 galleries. It was one of the first places Georgia O’Keeffe visited
in New Mexico before she settled there. “Taos is absolutely gorgeous,” EMS Conference’s
Marquez says.
In their free time, have your attendees stop by the Taos Visitor Center and pick up a “Historic
Taos” self-guided walking tour brochure, which includes 22 points of interest. One must-see is
the Taos Pueblo. The World Heritage Site is said to be the oldest continually inhabited
community in the U.S. and has more than 1,900 residents today.
The town has a handful of meeting venues, including the Taos Civic Plaza & Convention Center
with 7,536 sq. ft. of meeting space. Another possibility is the 84-room El Monte Sagrado, an
award-winning resort focused on wellness that features local art and 7,000 sq. ft. of meeting
space.
Las Cruces
In southern New Mexico between the Rio Grande River and the Organ Mountains, Las Cruces
is a historic, up-and-coming meetings destination. In December, the town unveiled the 55,000square-foot Las Cruces Convention Center, a venue that features just over 30,000 sq. ft. of
meeting space, a 15,000-square-foot exhibition hall and a 9,360-square-foot ballroom. “It will be
a tremendous asset to advance the economic development of Las Cruces,” says Ken
Mompellier, the executive director of the Las Cruces Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Another new addition, the 114-room Hilton Garden Inn Las Cruces, opened on October 15 with
2,865 sq. ft. of meeting space. Other area options include the 203-room Hotel Encanto de Las
Cruces. The Spanish Colonial-style property focuses on the area’s indigenous culture and offers
10,000 sq. ft. of meeting space.
Ruidoso
Near the Sierra Blanca and Sacramento mountains, Ruidoso is surrounded by the Lincoln
National Forest and offers a relaxed pace.
For meetings, the Ruidoso Convention Center has 33,000 sq. ft. of space that can
accommodate a total of 2,000 guests theater-style. Adjacent to the center and surrounded by
the Links at Sierra Blanca is the 120-room Lodge at Sierra Blanca. In nearby Mescalero, the
273-room, Four-Diamond Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort & Casino has scenic views of Lake
Mescalero, 40,000 sq. ft. of meeting space and a 38,000-square-foot casino.