On Sunday we rode our bikes about a mile west to Zendo Coffee, part of the newly restored
El Vado Motel.
Built in 1937, the motel was closed when we came to Albuquerque ten years ago. A developer nearly bulldozed the place, but the City took over the property and then contributed 3 million to its restoration which was recently completed.
In addition to the motel rooms, the multi-use development also features a number of small restaurants, shop spaces, meeting rooms, a taproom and a large patio with a fountain. The restoration apparently stuck pretty closely to the original Spanish Pueblo Revival style, though the white stucco and blue trim buildings combined with the intense summer sun makes the place resemble a transplanted bit of
Santorini without the views.
The outdoor seating in the big patio has some potential, but the shade umbrellas are mostly ineffective in the morning and afternoon hours when the place is most likely to be used. Unless some more substantial shade structures are installed the patio is likely to be more decorative than useful.
The motel is adjacent to the golf course and just across the street from the Botanic Garden. There is a lot of development going on in the area which is rapidly transforming the character of the place in mostly welcome ways.
Central Avenue carries a lot of traffic past the motel because of the
bridge across the Rio Grande just down the street. Whether the
currently stalled rapid transit project will contribute anything to
ameliorating the rush-hour traffic jams is still an unknown.
Meanwhile, we are looking forward to more morning coffee
opportunities, trying out the new eateries and the taproom, and hoping
for the best.
