The Hilton Santa Fe Golf Resort & Spa at Buffalo Thunder, Hilton's new resort-casino, may be off the beaten track, but getting there is well worth the effort. When you first see Buffalo Thunder, it evokes a fortress, though it's anything but intimidating. In fact, it's inviting — and striking. Hilton's first venture into the Native American casino field sits five stories high, wide and handsome, surrounded by the Jemez and Sangre de Cristo mountains of northern New Mexico. It's pueblo-like, befitting its origins in the joint vision of Pojoaque Pueblo leaders Jacob Viarrial and his successor, George Rivera.

It was Viarrial, as the governor of the Pojoaque (pronounded "Po-wak-ee"), and Rivera, his lieutenant, who at the dawn of the decade saw the potential of a resort-casino on Pojoaque tribal lands. It fell to Rivera to shepherd those plans to reality.

In early September, Rivera, who became governor following Viarrial's death in 2004, played a prominent role in a lusty celebration. Approximately 1,000 people gathered to honor Viarrial, Rivera and the many Native Americans who work there.

Designed by Thalden Boyd Emery, an architectural firm specializing in Native American casinos and resorts, the complex sits on nearly 600 acres of tribal land also occupied by an 81-room Homewood Suites. (The Pojoaque also own and operate the Homewood Suites and the nearby Cities of Gold Casino.)

One idea behind the project is to steal some thunder from Las Vegas. Another is to showcase Native American art, including the giant bronze sculptures by Rivera himself. They figure prominently in the structure's lobbies — and at the entrance, where a 12-foot-high Rivera sculpture of a dancer, his headdress ornate and complex, dominates.

Hilton manages Buffalo Thunder on a fee basis while the Pojoaque, a small tribe in northern New Mexico, own and operate it. Buffalo Thunder opened soft in August and officially in September. The 395-room structure, its beige-pink exterior evoking both Native American history and its own environment, includes a 16,000-square-foot spa, 66,000 square feet of meeting space, retail, a passel of restaurants and an upscale, high-tech casino boasting 1,200 slot machines, 22 gaming tables, a 10-table poker room and a small theater. The resort also has a golf course.

Flat-roofed and earthy, Buffalo Thunder feels cellular yet expansive. The stucco exterior is highlighted by logs that underline its rugged aesthetic and also serve as downspouts and balconies. Its sturdiness reaches inside, where the floors are wood and tile and some ceilings echo the exterior in texture.

Buffalo Thunder is 12 miles north of Santa Fe, an arts-intensive city of 75,000 that is home to a remarkable assortment of galleries, restaurants and high-end commercial establishments. The artistic ambience of Santa Fe is furthered at Buffalo Thunder, where Rivera selected all the art. “Every piece of artwork was personally hand-picked, procured and reviewed by Governor Rivera — if not produced,” says Tim Booth, Buffalo Thunder's general manager.

STORMY TIMES

On Sept. 3, the day the resort officially opened, the weather was volatile. In late morning, it was strikingly sunny, the air pure and heady (the resort is 7,000 feet above sea level). But an hour-and-a-half into the ceremonies, the clouds gathered to make way for rain.

That day's weather seemed to presage the chillier economy that dogs Buffalo Thunder — and, it seems, all other lodging.

In an interview in late December, Booth balanced optimism with realism. “We've got so much to be thankful for,” he says. “We've opened in very, very tumultuous times.” While the resort posted “very good numbers in August and September, it kind of hit the wall in October,” he added. Like lodging in the rest of New Mexico, Buffalo Thunder was expected to post occupancy of 40-45 percent in December, he said.

The casino is “the engine that is driving this entire project,” Booth says. “It has been amazingly, amazingly busy through August and September.” Since then, however, it has hit rough patches.

“In Santa Fe, you weren't able to hold any meetings in one building if you had more than 100 participants,” he says. “Now we can hold 500.” In addition, meeting participants enjoy gaming on site, drawing “a lot of folks who are closer to home than to Las Vegas, especially if they're from Texas and Arizona.”

Despite the economic uncertainty, Booth and other Hilton officials have high hopes. Labor, for one, has not been an issue.