You’ll Never Forget Your Stay At The Oldest Hotel In New Mexico
As local travel experts, we know what travelers are looking for when it comes to finding the perfect accommodations for their next trip. To compile our lists, we scour the internet to find properties with excellent ratings and reviews, desirable amenities, nearby attractions, and that something special that makes a destination worthy of traveling for.
What makes an establishment the oldest hotel in the state? Is it the hotel that’s currently housed in the oldest building or one on a site where there has been some form of hotel for centuries? While those certainly qualify a hotel as historical, it isn’t enough. We expected the Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas or the Palace Hotel in Silver City to earn this title. However, the oldest building in New Mexico that has always functioned as a hotel is actually Hotel La Fonda de Taos.
Originally named the Columbian Hotel and Bar, it was the brainchild of a man named Aloysius Liebert. Since then, it has passed through several local families: the Poolers and their kin, the Karavas family, and the Sahd family.
A married couple purchased the Hotel La Fonda from its first owner. Their names were Robert and Maclovia Pooler. In 1909, they ejected a rowdy patron from the hotel bar; the man returned to the bar and shot Robert Pooler, killing him.
Thankfully, the West is less wild today. However, with such a long past, it’s not surprising that Hotel La Fonda de Taos is part of the tapestry of local history.
It became a popular hangout for the Taos Society of Artists, a commercial artistic co-op of which Ernest Blumenschein was a founding member. They liked to breakfast at La Fonda and play cards here. Their influence is why there remains an art gallery in the lobby to this day.
Other celebs have stayed at the La Fonda as well, including the likes of Rock Hudson, Julia Roberts, Prince Peter of Greece, Judy Garland, Georgia O'Keefe, Tennessee Williams, Robert DeNiro, Dennis Hopper… The list goes on.
Although the hotel is a landmark on Taos Plaza, it only acquired its current appearance and name in 1937. That’s when the Karavas brothers expanded the La Fonda, adding a second and third story, and changing its name.
