Albuquerque hotels defend restrictions on local guests amid safety concerns

Albuquerque’s hotel market is drawing a hard line between security and access. At the Holiday Inn Express at 12th and Indian School, Calvin said he tried to book a staycation room and learned the property would not rent to Albuquerque residents, a policy now surfacing across more than one metro hotel.

At least one property has put the rule in writing. The Best Western Plus Rio Grande Inn says it will not rent to anyone who lives within the Albuquerque Metro area and a 35-mile radius beyond Albuquerque, and says it verifies addresses with identification documents so the policy is applied uniformly. The hotel’s own description of Albuquerque as a city spread across 190 square miles with a metro population of more than 800,000 shows how many residents can be affected when a hotel decides to lock out locals.

Hotel operators say the restrictions are about safety, not stigma. Duvall Caldwell, who owns hotels across the metro and leads the Greater Albuquerque Hotel and Lodging Association, said refundable deposits and tighter booking rules have become more common in recent years because some properties have faced destructive behavior, room damage and drug-related incidents. Staff at another Holiday Inn on Menaul said they were trying to avoid unsavory activity such as drug use and prostitution. The argument from operators is that a few bad stays can threaten employees, other guests and the property itself.

The issue lands in a city already trying to rein in troubled lodging. In May 2025, Albuquerque adopted the Distressed Lodging Property Ordinance, enacted as O-2025-016, Council Bill O-25-75, and sponsored by Council President Brook Bassan at the request of the Keller administration. City documents say the law gives officials stronger tools against hotels and motels with repeated nuisance activity, skipped hospitality-tax payments for three straight months, or at least three city ordinance violations in a year. The city has also identified recurring problems at the Tewa Lodge, Loma Verde Motel and Bow and Arrow Lodge, part of a broader crackdown on criminal activity and code violations.

That broader enforcement push helps explain why some hotel owners say they are screening harder. But for families looking for emergency housing, domestic-violence escape, or a temporary room after displacement, a local address can become an automatic stop sign in their own city. The same policy meant to reduce risk can also shut out Bernalillo County residents who need a bed closest to home.