The Daily Lobo, which is the University of New Mexico’s independent student newspaper, has published a well-done article about the historic Aztec Motel on Central Avenue (Route 66) in Albuquerque.
The place was down in the dumps until the early 1990s, when Mohamed Natha purchased and fixed up the building. (He’s yet another Asian-American who’s helped save Route 66 properties, but I digress.) That’s also the period when a woman decorated the building in a memorable fashion, which remains to this day.
The Aztec is now owned by Matthew Terry, who purchased it last year. He wouldn’t tell the Daily Lobo his future plans for the motel. But I talked to him some months ago on the phone about another property on Route 66. Let’s just say that he told me that he’s committed to preserving certain historic properties on Route 66, and I’m confident he’ll do right with the Aztec.
Alas, unless you’re really persuasive, the Aztec is available only for long-term renters:
The motel discourages one-night lodging, he said.
“It really doesn’t function as a motel,” Terry said. “There are many issues with crime and drug use that are associated with Central Avenue. We think that nightly stays would expose us to that potential risk.”
Feh. I appreciate Terry’s concerns. But the Aztec is smack-dab in the middle of the Nob Hill District, which is one of the hippest areas of the city and is becoming more gentrified every day. I think the crime threat is way overstated, and I and other Route 66ers sure wish we had the opportunity to stay there. And I think a reservation policy would keep ne’er-do-well overnighters to a minimum.
I think he’s got it backwards — I know a ridiculous number of motel owners, and to a person, they ALL say that they’d rather have by-the-night than by-the-week renters. People who rent by the night — especially if you’re charging $40 a night or so — are usually travelers in search of a place to sleep. People who rent by the week are usually people who have lousy credit or lousy reputations (or both) that have gotten them blacklisted from reputable apartment complexes … or else they’re transients who like to move around a lot to keep the cops from figuring out what they’re up to.
I suspect if he did it the other way around — boot or seriously curb the weeklies and cater to the nightlies — he’d find that his reputation and the quality of his clientele would improve dramatically.
In any case, nobody on 66 ever tells me no about anything if I smile pretty and ask nicely, so I’m sure an exception will be made to allow us a night at the Aztec on our next trip. If not, I’ll just try out El Don or La Puerta instead.
Sad to see that this is gone now…