Hotels near San Luis Valley Regional Airport - ALS, Alamosa

Activities we liked: Colorado Gators (even though it was a little unmaintained), Great Sand Dunes NP, Sand Dunes Rec (especially The Greenhouse, which is an adult hot springs area with a bar), UFO Watchtower (we actually camped here).

Split my drive from Denver to my home in the four corners..perfect half way point ..Alamosa and the San Luis Valley is one of the most beautiful places in Colorado. Vast views with magical sand dunes and nature excursions in every direction.

This was a family trip with our high school and collage age single grandchildren to view the Sandhill Crane migration stopover at the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge. We were very pleased with both the dusk and dawn Crane viewing. Alamosa has a nice restaurant selection. We enjoyed delicious meals at The Purple Pig and Oscar’s Mexican Food. Both had a nice atmosphere along with friendly excellent service.

Although the street art was nice, we very much disliked the fact that all through traffic, including 18-wheelers, speeds through town on Main Street - not an enjoyable or pleasant place to stay or walk, and it doesn't seem particularly clean. This negatively impacts the the attractiveness of all downtown businesses, especially the sidewalk cafes. However, it's all worth it for a visit to Great Sand Dunes National Park. Don't miss it! And Emma's Cafe (Mexican), though small and out of the downtown core, is definitely worth a visit.

Alamosa very nice town. Room clean, maybe a little old fashioned. Mattress very good. Only complaint is no coffee in room. In town to ride train at Antonito. Had pizza at the Purple Pig downtown. Very good.

We came to see the Great Sand Dunes National Park. You can’t do day rentals for sand boarding equipment from Oasis so that was disappointing as we were departing too early to close out the return. Alamosa is quiet with a lot of one way streets. We ate at Emma’s Mexican restaurant. The food was okay but the server was good. We got Sonic for dessert and Starbucks the next day for breakfast and coffee. Gas was reasonably priced.