The "Hotel Alvarado" fig is a rare and highly sought-after heirloom fig variety with a fascinating history tied to a landmark American hotel.  The variety traces its lineage to four fig trees that once grew at the elegant, historic Alvarado Hotel in downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Built in 1902 by the Santa Fe Railroad and operated as a famous Fred Harvey House, the hotel was a sprawling Southwest architectural icon.  The original stock was brought from Italy by A. Nicoli, an immigrant who worked as a cook at the hotel.  He gifted the trees to grow on the hotel grounds.  Despite the demolition of the Alvarado Hotel in 1970, cuttings from these resilient trees were preserved by local hobbyists, notably Lloyd Kreitzer.  The fruit is a striking gold or greenish-yellow skin when fully ripe.  It is exceptionally sweet, delicious, and top-tier gourmet fig.  It is a two-crop (bifere) variety, meaning it produces both an early spring breba crop on old wood and a main summer crop on new growth.