Shaffer Hotel

Shaffer Hotel Review

One of the nation's few remaining structures built in the Pueblo Deco style, the Shaffer was restored and reopened as a hotel in 2005 after many years of neglect. The 1923 building, in the heart of historic—if modest—Downtown Mountainair, offers a wide range of accommodations. The simple "cowboy rooms" share a community bathroom but have rates starting at just $28—all others have private baths, some with original claw-foot tubs. All are done with 1920s and '30s deco antiques and tile bathrooms; they're not fancy, but they are comfortable. Try for a side room facing the park—you'll still hear the freight trains rumbling by much of the night, but it's worse in the back. The lobby's a tin-ceiling period gem (original owner Pop Shaffer himself did all the woodwork), and from it you can step right into Pop Shaffer's Café ($). The homemade pie (pecan, mmm), breakfast burritos, and bizcochito cookiesare all highly commendable, as is the hand-painted true-to-era Native American-inspired decor.