When we last heard about El Rey Inn in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a Texas company in summer 2016 had bought the historic Route 66 property from longtime owner Terrell White.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports Jay and Alison Carroll of Joshua Tree, California, were hired as design consultants to oversee renovations and other changes.
Among the changes:
- The hotel subtly changed its name from El Rey Inn to El Rey Court, which is the property’s original name.
- El Rey opened a new bar, La Reina, in the former breakfast room at the hotel. Continental breakfasts will continue to be offered, however.
- Food trucks will be at the hotel on weekends.
- The hotel will offer a pool club that locals can join — a throwback to when El Rey offered such a club during the 1970s and ’80s.
Daniel Murphy built the 12-unit El Rey Court, as it was called, in 1936 along Cerrillos Road, the original path of U.S. 66 until the highway was realigned about a year later. Murphy also built El Vado Motel on Route 66 in Albuquerque, which soon will reopen into a boutique hotel and other businesses. El Rey Inn was altered and enlarged during the 1950s through the 1990s.
White bought the hotel in 1973. He oversaw massive improvements and enlargements to the property and remains widely regarded as El Rey’s savior.
(Image of El Rey Inn in Santa Fe, New Mexico, by Road Travel America via Flickr)