ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Motel 6 near Coors and Iliff will not be welcoming guests anymore now that it’s boarded up and vacated.

Cynthia Herbst is celebrating after hearing city leaders had closed the motel 6 on Coors and Iliff Wednesday. She’s seen the rampant crime at the motels there for years. 

“I’m ashamed as an Albuquerquean for them to even be on a list for the average person to perhaps rent online unknowingly end up there. They’re a disgrace in terms of what they’re allowing to happen in their hotels,” said Herbst. 

It’s the third motel the city has shut down so far this year. City leaders closed the Loma Verde Motel near Central and Louisiana in January. According to the city, APD and AFR responded to over 150 calls at the motel just in 2024, including two homicides. Inspectors found safety violations like missing smoke detectors.

Bernalillo County DA Sam Bregman says several agencies have been working together on these properties.

“This hotel behind us, right here, was a cesspool for criminal activity,” said Bregman. 

In February, the city closed the Bow and Arrow Lodge near Central and Wyoming. There were also over 100 calls for service in 2024, including armed robberies and shootings.

The city says the Motel 6 had more calls than both those motels combined. 

“We’re very glad that we’re able to shut this down, rather than have some type of emergency such as a fire where many, many people could have, and probably would have, lost their lives,” said Alan Valera, director of the city’s Planning Department. 

Last fall, the Tewa Lodge along Central was closed. That was after a shooting with APD officers and one man was killed. It happened during a drug clean up operation.  

Herbst says closing the motels is one small step in the right direction.

“It has been, it has felt like a worthless ploy. It’s felt like I haven’t gotten anywhere. All I can do is hope that some seeds somewhere along the line, and there be some fruition to them,” said Cynthia Herbst. 

The city says this will not be the last hotel they shut down. 

APD Chief Medina says they are tackling properties one at a time to see which one needs to be addressed next.