Plaza
For nearly 400 years, travelers to “The City Different” have ended their journey at the Santa Fe Plaza. When the city was first laid out in 1607, the inn, or “la fonda” in Spanish, was built on the Southeast corner of the Plaza. Today, a historic palace of accommodation stands on this same corner. Built in 1922, La Fonda is a monument to the city’s colorful and profound past. Immense adobe walls, some as thick as six feet, support massive wood beams that enfold an ambiance in which you can actually feel the history of the city. The only hotel located directly on the Plaza, La Fonda is an extremely popular destination and pre-booking is just about the only way to obtain a room.
At La Fonda, be prepared to pay premium rates. The same is true with all hotels within walking distance of the Plaza. Each is in high demand and they do not compete with the others by engaging in pricing wars. The benefit to travelers is that each hotel attempts to out do the other by offering the finest, most peaceful Santa Fe experience.
Directly behind La Fonda sits Hotel Loretto, which is one of the most recognized modern architectural landmarks of the Southwest. Modeled after the complex dwellings of the Pueblo Villages, Loretto offers modern rooms with the obligatory treatment of intense Santa Fe style. The hotel’s great room is a cacophony of wood, leather, natural tiles and arcing adobe walls that culminate in a massive kiva hearth. During the Christmas season, the dozens of walls and rooflines glow with farolitas, which are small, candle-lit paper sacks.
Nestled behind the impressive St. Francis Cathedral is La Posada de Santa Fe. Formerly a grand mansion erected by a German immigrant in the 1870s, the building is now an intimate spa and resort in the 1930s. You can still see the rich, mahogany and cherry wood interior of the original mansion.
For the utmost in luxurious accommodations, try the Eldorado, a four-star, four-diamond palace two blocks west of the Plaza. If you are after deluxe accommodations complete with a kiva fireplace and on-call butler service, this incredible hotel is the place to stay.
A few blocks north of the Plaza is Fort Marcy Hotel Suites where you can enjoy all-suite luxury at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. These mountains cradle the Santa Fe Plaza and create a backdrop that is transformed each day from a velvety green to crimson as the sun slips toward the western horizon and sets the adobe walls of the ancient city aglow.
Greater Santa Fe
If you want to visit Santa Fe, but your budget won’t allow for the lavish accommodations of the immediate downtown area, there are dozens of hotels available just a short drive from the Plaza. A favorite among winter sports buffs, who travel to Santa Fe each year for excellent skiing, is the Best Western Lamplighter Inn, with its indoor pool and hot tub. Another popular lodge for repeat visitors to Santa Fe is El Rey Inn. This older, but recently renovated, hotel combines the quiet ambiance of the downtown properties with the affordability of its off-the-Plaza location.
Santa Fe has a number of options if you are traveling on business. La Quinta Santa Fe is a new property. It offers several two-room suites complete with data ports, and an off-lobby business center that includes computer, fax, copier and work desk. Just north of downtown is the Radisson Santa Fe, with its expansive outdoor patio, complete with pool, hot tub and sidewalk cabana, where you can sit and unwind after a busy day in this special city.
To the north
The rolling pinon and juniper-studded hills to the north of Santa Fe create a setting for one of the area’s most impressive historical getaways. Built in 1871 as a retreat for Santa Fe’s first resident Catholic Bishop, Bishop’s Lodge is a nationally recognized full-service spa resort. Guests here enjoy a wide range of activities that range from hiking and fishing to tennis, horseback riding and swimming.
But if you want the complete spa treatment after a long day of walking the Plaza, skiing the slopes or hiking in the mountains, 10,000 Waves is where you want to be. Clinging to a rocky hill at the base of the soaring Sangre de Cristo Mountains, this Japanese bathhouse is the next best thing to being in Japan. Four lavish suites, known as “The Houses of the Moon” are available, and guests enjoy hot tubs, aquatic massage and every other type of Japanese body pampering you can think of.
The last ten years has seen a boom in the bed-and-breakfast market in Santa Fe and entrepreneurs scrambled to fill this niche. The ensuing competition has resulted in some incredible offerings in this specialized market. Located on the grounds of the old Union Army post of Fort Marcy, is the Adobe Abode. Formerly officer’s quarters, the main house was purchased in 1988 and renovated into the fine bed and breakfast it is today. Six rooms, each with a different theme, all maintain a subtle attachment to Santa Fe style.
An early morning walk to the Plaza from The Dancing Ground of the Sun Bed and Breakfast is a magical experience. The shadow of the mountains gradually creeps across the valley floor and the rising sun paints the adobe walls of the ancient city with its golden rays. But it is just as magical to return to these luxurious, individual casitas in the evening for a long soak in the hot tub, or just to sit on your private Santa Fe patio, sip your favorite beverage and watch the world slowly go by. This is the true pace of Santa Fe.
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