Les

I'm looking for a nice hotel in Santa Fe within walking distance to as many of the main attractions as possible. I'm not very familiar with the city, so I don't know the best location for this.
Any help or recommendations would be appreciated.

sludick

In that case, look for lodging close to the Plaza, and avoid properties listed as Cerrillos Road area. Properties such as La Fonda, Inn on the Alameda, Eldorado - they are well-located. Of course, they are also upscale and will be more pricey than the budget properties out on Cerrillos. What is your budget?

Les

sludick, thanks for the reply.
My budget is flexible ( but leans toward the high end). I like a fairly nice hotel with amenities (on site parking and hopefully a restaurant where I can get a good breakfast).
After reading the post from surfergirl, I looked at La Fonda. That's within my budget, but I think it's not necessary to spend that much to get a 4 or 5 star hotel. Jury's still out on that.

starrs

We loved staying at La Fonda, but that was many years ago.

TDudette

In 2018, I stayed at Old Santa Fe Inn. My trip report is below fyi. Scroll down to post #16:

Santa Fe Getaway 2018

I thought this was a great place for folks with cars. Not fancy but breakfast was good. Please report back!

Les

Thank you for your suggestion, TDudette.

After researching the inn, it doesn't look like the right place for us. Because my wife has difficulty walking, it's important for us to be as close as possible to the attractions, which means (I think), directly in the Plaza area. Because my wife needs a walker to get around, using public transportation is difficult for her. Also, we don't use Lyft or Uber (mainly because we don't have or want smart phones, which appears to be a requirement for these services).
We will have a car for visiting the opera and our nephew (who wil be singing the leading role), but other than that, and for transportation from and to Albuquerque airport, I'd prefer to leave it parked at the hotel.
As for the actual inn, I think I'd prefer something a bit more upscale and less like a motel.

ChgoGal

HI, Les. Excited for your trip to the Santa Fe Opera. I'm sure your nephew can advise, but I just wanted to mention, as for any performance when you're sitting for a time, you and your wife should bring layers to remove/add. I wore a dress to the opera house, but wore "undergarments" that helped me stay warm at night. Which opera are you attending?

Les

ChgoGal, thanks for the info. I have a hard time imagining cold weather in Santa Fe in August (although I did freeze my a.. off at Wrigley Field in May some years ago), but we will be prepared.
The opera we'll be attending is The Marriage of Figaro.

RoamsAround

If looking for upscale check out Rosewood's Inn of the Anasazi - less than 100 yards from the center of the Plaza.

TDudette

Thanks for the feedback, Les. Good luck finding what you need and congrats to your nephew!

Les

RoamsAround, thanks for the suggestion.
I checked out Rosewood's - I know I said that I'd be willing to go upscale, but OUCH!!! Even if this 4 day visit was replacing one of my international trips (which I hope to resume once the Covid issue overseas settles down), I wouldn't pay $1500.00 per night for lodging for 2 people.
I know your heart's in the right place, but I can't say the same for my wallet.

MoBro

We liked La Fonda a lot.
It's a beautiful property, and the restaurant breakfast is fantastic.
We took a free tour of the hotel, and it was very interesting. Lots of art and history.
La Fonda was not terribly expensive, when we stayed there about three years ago. I think I booked through hotels.com for the best rate, and got a few price decreases in weeks before our visit. La Fonda does sell out quickly, though.

TheTravelingLocals

I've frequently staid at the Hilton Santa Fe Historic Plaza. It's about two blocks to the actual plaza, but it's located in the historic city center. it's very close to some great New Mexican restaurants and walking distance to the Georgia O'Keafe museum. Check with your wife as it is a couple blocks walk, and a bit is slightly up hill. I think they offered a free shuttle to the plaza as well, but it was pre-covid the last time I was there.

Link to hotel: https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/sfe...istoric-plaza/

Les

MoBro, thank you for replying.

After receiving your post, I decided to have another look at La Fonda.

The rates were reasonable, but when I phoned the hotel to ask some specific questions, I got a terrible run-around between the reservations desk (never answered - just wanted me to leave a message), the front desk (couldn't answer my questions), and the manager (again, never answered). In any case, this is not the way to attract customers.
Finally got a front desk employee who relunctantly said he would answer my questions. It turns out that the showers in the King rooms do not have doors or curtains on them (i.e., similar to a wheelchair roll-in shower, which I absolutely don't want). My experience with these types of shower is that they invariably wash the entire bathroom floor while you shower.
All in all, this just doesn't sound like the hotel for us.

Les

TheTravelingLocals,
Thanks for your suggestion. I'll check this out.

ChgoGal

WONDERFUL! So envious, and what a talent to have in the family. I'm glad you have a car service as I recall the walk from the lot to the gate can be a longish one. And, if you don't go to opera often, they are long performances. Most are at 3 hrs, possibly longer. I go to a lot of theater in Chicago, and I always heave a sigh at running times over 90 minutes. Good to sleep-in that day, have a bit of coffee later than perhaps you're used to, as the performance can tire a body out. Pace yourself, stretch, try to get a good night's sleep beforehand. If you can bring a thermos with some lightly caffeinated tea, that's nice, too. And binoculars/opera glasses always are nice to get a close look at the costumes and crazy makeup from time to time.

Good luck with the hotel. I stayed a ways out from the plaza, so can't reco anyplace. However, your wife may be tempted by the gorgeous turquoise and amber jewelry as holiday gifts or for herself. I bought a necklace there that I still adore, and I've never seen anything quite like it anywhere else. I spent under $100 for it, but some pieces are really expensive. And the Mexican-style hot chocolates are an experience, too. It's a beautiful landscape. Hope you have a nice time there.

Les

ChgoGal, Thank you for the information.
When I said that I'd have a car for the Opera, I meant that I'll have a rental car, not a car service to take me there. Based on what you've told me about the walking distance, I'll probably have to drop my wife off in front and then go park the car, unless there's handicap parking available closer to the entrance (we have a handicap placard for the car).
Concerning the turquoise jewelry, I'll be sure to pack a blindfold for my wife.

For all the others here that have helped, I finally decided to book a room at the Drury Plaza hotel. I appreciate all the suggestions, but this seemed to be the best choice for us.

tom_mn

An odd comment but I know you will pass this restaurant many times: The only bad meal we have had out of MANY in Santa Fe is just down the street from Drury Plaza, it's called Palacio Cafe.

MoBro

I’m sorry to hear La Fonda’s customer service was so bad. Any hotel should do better than that! You might want to try this centrally-located Santa Fe restaurant we liked a lot: Cafe Pasqual’s
https://pasquals.com

Michael

We stayed at the Guadalupe Inn, https://www.guadalupeinn.com/, about 20 minutes from downtown, which I consider walking distance.

https://flic.kr/p/pDRRu6