New Mexico’s first Aloft Hotel under construction near Sunport

After four decades in the hospitality business, Albuquerque developer Samir Patel has learned it’s all about the people.

“It’s a people business. You (can) have the technology, the facilities and a building, but that doesn’t matter if you don’t have a good team,” Patel said. “The people that work there make all the difference.”

A team of about 25 people will make the difference at Patel’s newest project — an Aloft Hotel under construction near the Albuquerque International Sunport. It will be New Mexico’s first Aloft Hotel, which Patel described as a “tech-forward” brand of Marriott.

The project broke ground at 1515 Aircraft SE, a vacant plot neighboring an airport parking lot off Sunport and University SE, in December. Prime Hospitality Consulting is building the hotel, which Patel expects to open summer 2027.

The 58,000-square-foot hotel will stand four stories tall and include 109 rooms, featuring either a king bed or a pair of queen beds with nightly rates between $149 and $199, Patel said.

Some of the hotel’s planned amenities include an Aloft full bar concept called WXYZ Bar, a pool table, an outdoor swimming pool and patio, and a free, around-the-clock airport shuttle service.

The hotel’s lobby will feature interactive lighting and a blend of modern, festive and industrial design work, Patel said. Soundproofing infrastructure will also be incorporated into the hotel’s design to limit sound coming from nearby jets at the Sunport.

All in all, the hotel will cost between $22 million and $24 million to develop, Patel said.

The hotel will primarily cater to airport travelers — a key market for the Aloft brand, Patel said. The brand is a draw particularly for travelers within the business and government sectors because of its quick Wi-Fi speeds and a mobile key check-in program that allows guests to bypass the front desk, he added.

“It’s all very seamless,” Patel said. “Everything is driven to satisfy, especially the business and government travelers — they’ll appreciate our really high-tech approach to things.”

The brand’s modern offerings are why Patel wanted to bring the brand into the Sunport market, which he said is home to several aging and outdated Marriott hotels.

“They’ve been there a very long time, and I felt that there was a need for a new, fresh Marriott product,” said Patel, calling Aloft “one of the better brands in the Marriott family.”

Patel spent the past three years going through the necessary approvals to bring the brand to New Mexico. Aloft currently has 166 locations across the United States, with the closest to Albuquerque being locations in El Paso, Lubbock, Denver and Tucson, according to its website.

“I like the way it works, I like the look and feel. I think it’ll work well for airport travelers, and it’ll be very convenient for them to stay in my hotel,” Patel said. “It’s going to be the newest and nicest Marriott in the Sunport area.”

Kylie Garcia covers retail and real estate for the Journal. You can reach her at kgarcia@abqjournal.com.