BRB: Gone Glamping in New Mexico

Content Produced in Partnership with Glamping Hub

If you like to travel like I do, you like to find unique aspects of a destination from the attractions to the accommodations. There is a time and a place for hotels, but for the most part, I try to avoid chain brands and stick with properties that offer an authentic feel for a region’s vibe. If you’re unfamiliar with Glamping Hub, it curates the most unique accommodations on the planet from teepees and safari tents to tree houses, caves, campervans, and even igloos. For my New Mexico adventure, I wanted a property that would embody the Southwest spirit. I found it at the adorable adobo casita, Rancho Gallina.

Glamping or “glam camping” doesn’t have to mean roughing it or even sleeping outdoors. It can be as simple as a place to get off the grid in style, which is what Rancho Gallina offers. A retreat just 20 minutes outside the city of Santa Fe along the picturesque Turquoise Trail, it’s a place where skies get impossibly dark and a blanket of stars envelops you.

The resident cat and dogs are there to greet you and make you feel immediately at home. There are five casitas each with their own charming décor from kiva fireplaces to rustic tiling and wrought iron beds. A shared ranch house is used as the common area. The courtyard and the sprawling property have plenty of places for lounging along with hammocks, fire pits, and a hand-built cedar hot tub, which I would have loved to use, but New Mexico truly caught me off guard with how cold it gets. If you really want to glamp though, there is a traditional canvas tent with an outhouse and field kitchen set up in the backyard. But bundle up, I spent most of the night huddled under the heavy blankets.

You’ll be lulled to sleep by the bubbling fountain and the wind chime whistling in the breeze and awoken to the playful neighing of the horses at the ranch next door. It’s a syncopated melody of nature that’s a far cry from cars honking and the blaring city sprawl. An eco-retreat that’s 100% solar powered, there is Wi-Fi throughout the property, but no TVs. A variety of books and board games are available to keep you company.

Family run and operated, the staff lives in the barn house on-site so you can summon them if you need, but you still have the utmost in privacy. The husband is a trained chef so expect gourmet breakfasts in the morning with locally sourced produce from the farm right down the street. And if you’re wondering where the name Gallina came from, the translation means, “chicken” for the 11 birds that deliver farm fresh eggs right to your kitchenette.

Have you ever been glamping? What’d you think?

Want to continue on? Make a road trip out of it. Ruidoso is an incredible hidden gem and Albuquerque’s also nearby.