Hotel Cloudcroft Opens After Seven Years of Renovations: First-Look Photos

After years behind closed doors, Hotel Cloudcroft hopes to open up this Labor Day. Take a tour with this photo essay

Trevor Geist grants a behind-the-scenes look into his family’s passion project, Hotel Cloudcroft, which is opening after seven years of work.

Hotel Cloudcroft is slated to open on Burro Avenue this Labor Day weekend.

It’s a labor of love for the Geist family: Trevor and his parents, Lance and Robin. Since they bought the boardwalk building in 2019, they’ve “completely gutted it,” restored, and built out the boutique hotel.

“Covid really…I mean, it did to everybody what it did to us too, you know. And so we didn’t get to work on it a whole lot,” Trevor said of the time it’s taken from purchasing the property to getting ready to open.

The 17-room lodging channels Gilded Age elegance with Tiffany-style lighting, crystal pendants, gas-lamp-flicker fixtures, and dark wood and steel, all sourced from roughly 150 antique stores across New Mexico, West Texas, southern Colorado, and Arizona.

“We wanted the place to be a place for people to stay where they have all of the modern amenities, they have everything that you would expect out of a new modern hotel, but within it being essentially an homage to the Gilded Age of when Cloudcroft would have originally started at the turn of the century,” Trevor said.

The curved wooden check-in desk once served a bank in Lincoln, NM; the hallway railing is genuine railroad iron; a scrap-steel train sculpture, welded by Lance himself, honors the railroad and lumber industries that built Cloudcroft.

Rooms flanked by the Bear Track and the Western are lacking exterior walls and get a clever fix through light-box “windows” that mimic daylight. Every space is finished with clean, modern drywall, new plumbing, and efficient ceiling mini-splits, so the vintage character is curated rather than worn.

Trevor elaborates on the family project:

“This was a passion project. This wasn’t something we were trying to hit it and turn it around and get it right over.”

“We wanted it exactly the way that we wanted, and we weren’t going to let time frame or anything else get in the way of this place being exactly what our vision was and exactly what we wanted at the end of the day.”

“We’re hoping that we can do things that can elevate this town.”

“It’s going to be a living building. It really will be. It will continually be a living building.” “Everything you see was done for a reason. Everything is purposefully done.”

Most rooms have a single king or queen bed, with the exception of two family suites, which connect a double/twin bunk bed room with its own bathroom to a king-size room.

The showstoppers are the upstairs Honeymoon and Anniversary Suites, each with a king bed, fireplace, soaking tub, and a private balcony overlooking Burro, prime real estate for morning coffee or catching the town’s parades.

See for yourself.

Hotel Cloudcroft sits smack dab in the middle of Burro Avenue. After much anticipation, the freshly remodeled hotel is opening soon. Scenes from inside Hotel Cloudcroft

Clawfoot tub in the Anniversary Suite; The hotel lobby; Curated antique fixtures; one of two Family suites

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The Reader is proud to sponsor the upcoming Cloudcroft Mountain Smash Pickleball Tournament and fundraiser:

Cloudcroft Reader is proud to be sponsored in part by great companies like:

• Cloudcroft Art Society
  Located in Old Red Brick Schoolhouse: Holiday and Saturday art shows

• Noisy Water Winery
  Family-owned winery crafting thoughtfully made wines from New Mexico grapes, inspired by mountain living.

• Be in the Mountains Yoga & Massage
  A cozy space for yoga and massage therapy at the Village Plaza

• The Stove and Spa Store
  We offer a variety of services to ensure your hearth and spa dreams are met!

• The Lodge at Cloudcroft
  Landmark Choice Among New Mexico Resorts

• Cloudcroft Art Workshops
  Enhance your artistry while enjoying the beauty and coolness of the mountains!

• Sacramento Camp & Conference Center
  Come to the Mountain — Let God Refresh Your Soul

• Laughing Leaf Dispensary
  Discover a world of wellness at Laughing Leaf

• Instant Karma
  Adventure Within: Transformative Yoga, Ayurvedic Wisdom, Nourishing Organics, Fair Trade Boutique

• Off the Beaten Path
  Eclectic gifts & original artwork

• Future Real Estate
  Raise your expectations.

• Ski Cloudcroft
  The Southernmost ski area in New Mexico.

• Cloudcroft Therapeutic Massage
  Maximizing Movement, Quality of Life Improvement

• High Altitude
  Your favorite little outdoor outfitter on Burro Avenue

• Blushing Yucca Esthetics
  ✨ Book your glow-up today✨

• The Elk Shed
  Purveyors of Southwest + Mountain Provisions, Goods & Finery

• The PAC
  Pickleball Addicts of Cloudcroft—Pickleball in the Clouds

• Peñasco Valley Telephone Cooperative
  For all the ways you love to connect

• Bre Hope Media
  Professional photo and video services

• Discover Cloudcroft
  The local go-to guide

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Dear Friends,

We are on a pledge drive to add 50 Cloudcroft Stars to the roster of supporters of the Cloudcroft Reader.

For the price of a sandwich a month, you can be a Cloudcroft Star and help keep fair, first-hand reporting free and widely available for the Cloudcroft community.

Until Labor Day, all pledges are matched dollar-for-dollar. If you support our work, now is a great time to show it.