# El Rancho Hotel & Motel

El Rancho Hotel, Gallup, New Mexico, is a historic hotel built by R.E. “Griff” Griffith, the brother of film director D.W. Griffith. The pair encouraged early film production in the surrounding area. It is located on old U.S. Route 66 and became the temporary home for many Hollywood movie stars.The rambling, three-story hotel building has a large portico with a central balcony reminiscent of the Southern Plantation style. The National Park Service describes it as having a “rusticated fantasy appearance.” Materials include brick, random ashlar stone, and roughewn wood with a wood shake roof and brick and stone chimneys. The lobby features a spectacular walk-in fireplace made of brick and random ashlar stone surrounded by twin stairways made of split logs that lead to the second floor guest rooms. The slogan “Charm of Yesterday, Convenience of Tomorrow” is rendered in neon above the main entrance.
It is on the Trails of the Ancients Byway, one of the designated New Mexico Scenic Byways.

## History

It opened in 1937 as a base for movie productions. Employees were trained by the Fred Harvey Company.
With the opening of Interstate 40, the property fell into decline. Armand Ortega bought the hotel at a bankruptcy auction and restored the property. The Ortega family has a long history dealing in Native American jewelry and artwork in Santa Fe, New Mexico and has operated concessions for the National Park Service at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, White Sands National Park, Death Valley National Park, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, Muir Woods National Monument, and others.

## Famous guests

Source:
* Alan Ladd
* Barbara Peyton
* Betty Grable
* Betty Hutton
* Bob Hutton
* Broderick Crawford
* Bruce Cabot
* Burt Lancaster
* Carl Kempton
* Claude Akins
* Dale Robertson
* Dana Andrews
* Dean Jagger
* Dennis Morgan
* Doris Day
* Dorothy Malone
* Elizabeth Scott
* Errol Flynn
* Forrest Tucker
* Fred Mac Murray
* Gene Autry
* Gregory Peck
* Howard Newsom
* Humphrey Bogart
* Ida Lupino
* Irene Manning
* Jack Benny
* Jack Carson
* Jack Oakie
* Jackie Cooper
* James Cagney
* Jan Sterling
* Jane Fonda
* Jane Wyman
* Jean Harlow
* Jean Parker
* Jeanne Kelly
* Jimmy Stewart
* Joan Crawford
* Joel McCrea
* John Forsyth
* John Hodiak
* John Wayne
* Jose Ferrer
* Joseph Cotton
* Katharine Hepburn
* Kirk Douglas
* Lee Marvin
* Lee Remick
* Lorraine Day
* Lucille Ball
* Mae West
* Maria Montez
* Marilyn Maxwell
* Marx Brothers
* Mona Freeman
* Pat Wymore
* Paulette Goddard
* Peter Graves
* Richard Boone
* Rita Hayworth
* Robert Mitchum
* Robert Taylor
* Ronald Reagan
* Rosalind Russell
* Ruth Hussey
* Sidney Greenstreet
* Spencer Tracy
* Susan Hayward
* Susan Pleshette
* Tom Mix
* Troy Donahue
* Tyrone Power
* Virginia Mayo
* W.C. Fields
* Wallace Berry
* William Bendix
* William Bennett
* William Holden
* Xander Escamilla
* Zachary Scott
* Zak Bagans

## Headquarters for films

* The Bad Man 1940
* Sundown 1941
* The Desert Song 1942
* Song of the Nile 1944
* Four Faces West & Colorado Territory 1947-1948
* Streets of Laredo 1948
* Rocky Mountain 1950
* Ace in the Hole (1951 film) 1951 (AKA The Big Carnival)
* New Mexico 1950
* Fort Defiance 1950
* Raton Pass 1951
* Fort Massacre 1957
* A Distant Trumpet 1963
* The Hallelujah Trail 1964
* Bottom of the World 2017