The Chaco Lodge Hacienda

This 2-room hacienda is in a beautiful setting about a mile from the little town of Cuba NM. It is the best location for visiting Chaco Canyon National Monument. I stayed in the spacious nicely appointed Kiva room. There was coffee and a decent kitchen. There's space outdoors for a short hike right on the grounds. The room includes delicious breakfast at Chaco Grill. The town of Cuba has a terrific New Mexican restaurant, El Bruno. Owner Denny didn't even take a deposit - everything was arranged by text on a trust basis.

We stayed at the Chaco Lodge for 1 night in April on our way to Chaco Canyon, and we had a mostly very good experience, with just a couple of negatives. Denny's communication was very limited - just one 1-sentence confirmation from his phone. After reading a couple of the reviewers whose reservations had gotten mixed up, we decided to text Denny a few days before our trip to confirm. No reply. So then we called and he did answer his phone and confirm. After that, things went mostly smoothly. We stopped at the Phillips 66 and the worker there gave us the key and directions. The Kiva Suite was very comfortable, and the setting was beautiful. The heat was on in the suite, which was appreciated, since it was a chilly evening. We really enjoyed sitting on the patio looking at the pond and listening to the birds. We had dinner and breakfast at the Chaco Grill, which was very tasty and quite inexpensive, and the service was good. And we also ordered lunch to go, which was very handy for our day trip to Chaco. There were a couple of things not working in the Kiva Suite - the main light fixture in the bedroom and the coffee maker. Not life or death. And when I texted Denny just to let him know for posterity, he never responded. So not a perfect place, but it had its charm.

This review is a follow up to my review called "unconscionable". About a year after my wife had the bad experience with her reservation not being written down and being stranded there, I followed my intution and called Denny to see if we could try it again for her. I was glad I did becuase this time it worked out, and the location is just beautiful. Denny promised me on the phone that he wouldn't loose our reservation again and he kept his work this time. So.........don't rule this one completely out but make SURE to confirm your reservation with him on the phone a few days before you make the trip. Hope this helps.

We were looking for a place to stay while visiting Chaco Canyon. (Which is about 1.5 hours away) This was a nice little rustic getaway. It was peaceful and relaxing. The view from here is really great. Everything was clean inside. Beautiful patio, table and grill available outside. We stayed in the Kiva room which had a small fridge & microwave. I believe other side of the house has a full kitten and 2 bedrooms. Sitting on the patio or covered porch was so nice and relaxing. They offer a free Breakfast From the grill in town at (Phillips 66) It was actually, excellent. So good we had them make us a Burrito’s for lunch at the Canyon. Great experience, We will definitely come back. If you do not like Rustic, maybe not for you. If you want a peaceful culturally rich get away, this is your place.

Seeing mostly good reviews, I called the owner Denny at about 8pm asking if I could arrive around 11. No problem- he replied that I could show up and the room would be unlocked. So I show up at 11. The temperature is 25 degrees outside and falling rapidly towards the teens. The temperature inside is around 50 degrees. (I have a watch with a temp function). There is a 5 foot electric baseboard heater at one end of a quite long room. I can't find a thermostat anywhere in the room so I call Denny. "Oh, I guess he forgot to go in there and turn on the heat." He tells me there's a knob at the end of the heater to turn it on. I turn the knob all the way one way and wait five minutes- no sign of heat. Then another 5 minutes with the knob in the other direction. No heat. I call Denny again and he suggests I use the small OLD portable heater near the bed. It takes me 10 minutes of fiddling to get that to turn on, but it's obviously not up to the job. At this point, I call the other three hotels in Cuba, NM but it's too late and none take the call. I call Denny again and he suggests (rudely) that I find another hotel in Cuba. And that there is an extra blanket in the room. After about 30 minutes, I figure out how to get the electric baseboard on (it takes about 15 minutes until you can feel any heat coming out of it). By two AM, I've got both heaters working and the room is finally warm enough to go to sleep. ALSO, the bathroom is a long room with its own entry door right off the main door. So it's kind of separate from the main room. And guess what- it has no heat. There is no way you're gonna want to shower in there in cold weather. SO bottom line is- you do NOT want to be here in cold weather, and you do NOT want to put up with the rude owner either. I should have paid more attention to the other negative reviews.

Chaco Lodge Hacienda will not disappoint. Clean, nicely decorated, and most of all, peaceful. If you enjoy a wonderful symphony of crickets to put you to sleep and waking up to a beautiful Mountain View to sip coffee from an amazing patio, then Chaco Lodge is the place for you. Best rest I’ve had in quite some time!!||

Such an attractive place, obviously well kept-up. Clean and comfortable. So nice to sit out in the porch as the sun went down with a glass of wine! Grabbed a delicious breakfast burrito on my way out of town (included with my stay). Denny was great to deal with. Our only mistake was only staying one night!

This was such a nice retreat. The view from here is really great. I loved the solitude of this place. Everything was very nice inside. Sitting on the patio or covered porch was so nice and relaxing. The free breakfast from the grill in town was excellent. It was fun listening to and talking to the local people at the grill. Great experience, I’ll definitely come back.

We stayed in the Kiva room, a self-enclosed suite attached to the house. We did not see the bedrooms in the main house. This review would be five stars except that while we were there the WiFi wasn't working. Everything else was lovely. The room was beautiful with a huge shower, and there was a great patio and homey front porch, with pleasant views of meadows and mountains. The only sounds were birds and the wind in the ancient cottonwoods. Cuba is an absolutely unpretentious little town (to put it mildly and kindly), but that's part of the attraction. It has two great New Mexican restaurants--El Bruno and The Chaco Grill, which is affiliated with the lodge (but is a five minute drive away). It's the perfect antidote to expensive, dripping-with-charm, tourist-filled towns like Taos or Santa Fe. In Cuba it's possible to experience New Mexico at its unpretentious, authentic, laid-back best. (There's also a funky, artsy drive-thru espresso stand at the north end of town, Juicy Jitters.) This B&B would be a good base for exploration of nearby ruins (Anasazi and Gallina) that are rarely visited--Bluebird Mesa, Rattlesnake Ridge, etc.--as well as the very famous Chaco Canyon (about 75 miles away).