Desert Motels in the Rocky Mountains

Mellow Moon Lodge

Del Norte, CO

A 1940s roadside stop in the high desert of the San Luis Valley, reborn with a cowboy core meets cosmic point of view and its own scratch bake house out front. Individually designed rooms, a curated mercantile in place of a front desk, and the Great Sand Dunes an hour up the road.

Mesa Verde Motel

Mancos, CO

Renovated in 2021 by two best friends and their husbands, with hand-painted art in every room and an on-site coffee shop and cocktail bar. They kept the actual room keys.

Spoke and Vine Motel

Palisade, CO

A 1955 property fully reinvented in 2019 with a private entrance per room and bikes to borrow. Walking distance to tasting rooms, orchards, and the river.

Hagerman Valley Inn

Hagerman, ID

A small inn at the canyon edge in Hagerman, positioned for the artesian springs, fossil beds, and basalt walls of this lesser-traveled Snake River valley. The national monument, the scenic byway, and the adjacent Snake River Grill are all within easy reach.

Sugarloaf Mountain Motel

Virginia City, NV

A property on C Street in Virginia City with three rooms from the original 1878 miner's boarding house, where the original brick, rockwork, and iron-framed windows are still intact. The most historically authentic lodging on C Street, per guest accounts, with an on-site market and current owners known for genuinely personal hospitality.

Virginia City Inn

Virginia City, NV

A property on historic C Street in Virginia City, with individually themed rooms connecting each stay to a chapter of Comstock Lode history and an on-site museum giving context for the town around it. Piper's Opera House, the Virginia and Truckee Railroad, and the Fourth Ward School Museum are all within walking distance.