Just booked free flights on United. We arrive on a Friday early afternoon and depart on Tuesday morning. I haven't been to Santa Fe in probably 15 years or so. Peter has never been. Already we have a friend saying "you must spend a couple of those nights in Taos, and another saying, "no, just do a day trip to Taos" -- and those two friends are a couple who can't even agree with each other! We haven't picked a hotel yet, I'm looking at La Palomas, but thinking we'd rather stay in just one place rather than adding in Taos.
Any advice? Must sees? Must dos? I'm looking at weather and see we may really freeze at night the first weekend in May, but the days should be nice.

A day trip to Taos would be fine, given your limited time in the area.

I'm sure DebitNM and BeachGirl247 will have plenty of ideas to contribute when they see this. In the meantime, what are your interests?

One thing we enjoyed, which is sort of off the beaten path, is seeing bronze poured at Shidoni Foundry. http://www.shidoni.com/html/home.asp They usually pour on Saturdays, and it might be a nice stop on the way up to Taos.

Lee Ann

Check out BeachGirl's extensive list of restaurants.

Don't worry too much - you're months away from the trip and Santa Fe is a small town. Doing all you want won't be too hard. Santa Fe travel resources are numerous.

And I'm in the no more than a day trip to Taos camp.

I'd definitely just stay in one hotel ... and do a day trip to Taos.

Fast answer on the Taos thing - day trip.

Will be happy to chime in re: hotels, etc.

Looks like it's unanimous. And if Taos even says day trip only, well, how could we argue with that?

Friends love the St. Francis (?), but sounds scary as some rooms are tiny, some not so neat, etc. etc. Don't want to spend a fortune and La Palomas looks great, but I'm open to ideas. And of course looking for restaurant ideas, but no rush on that.
I swore the next time I went to Santa Fe it would be during the opera, but I guess I missed again.

What are you looking for in terms of a room?

Fireplace? Southwest feel? Size wise? Price per night before tax etc? Amenities?

You know the drill ;o) give us something to go on.

[Maybe we can finally have that GTG!]

B&B? Inn? Hotel? Casita?

So really only 3 days? What do you have planned so far? I would probably do Bandelier (sp?) instead or before Taos, and hike Tent rocks before both of those.

You could easily spend a day or two in town vising the churches, the capital and the Georgia O'keefe museum. Perhaps it was a matter of expectations but we may have enjoyed the art and architecture of the capital building more than the O'keefe museum.

And if you are going to shop, that's another day (at least).

And, yes, don't plan on missing any meals!

Not sure what your price point and preferences are, but we liked the feel and location of the La Fonda hotel on the plaza.

We're staying at the St. Francis soon, so I can let you know. I found several really nice studio casitas for the same price, it was a tough decision.

I'll be reading this thread for restaurant ideas...

What do we want from our hotel? Southwest feel would be nice. Great walking location. Preferably about $150 or so (based on what I've seen), Not tiny, dark, family or convention oriented if possible. Breakfast, Internet,and parking included or reasonable would be nice.

We love galleries, some museums. But a day of "shopping". No way.

Neo: Not trying to sell it, but the La Fonda may meet your requirements. It has a great feel and has some age/history to it (which is both good and bad). It is right on the square and I think parking is included or at least adjacent.

By shopping I meant the many art galleries/studios, so it may be one in the same. The road escapes me, but there is a road of studio after studio. (not really my thing, but for some people it is.)

Breakfast is not included at the St. Francis, and I tried and failed to talk them out of their parking fee. I did not ask about Internet.

We stayed at the Inn on the Alameda a loong time ago, and it was nice, with a large hot breakfast buffet. Recent reviews on TA suggest it hasn't changed for the worse.

" The road escapes me, but there is a road of studio after studio." That would be Canyon Road.

I am not sure if this will meet your needs, but Inn of the Governors has some nice rooms with fireplaces, free parking and is an easy walk to the Plaza. They also serve breakfast and have sherry in the afternoon, free wi-fi, $15 credit for restaurant for dinner or whatever....

http://www.innofthegovernors.com/

I also really like Hotel Santa Fe. It is the only hotel in town that is owned and operated by Native Americans. They have a free car service that will take you to Plaza [you can walk, but it is a bit of a walk, not impossible] It is also near the Railyard area. Even if you don't stay there, go to the Lounge area on Friday nights, have a Prickly Pear Margarita and listen to the wonderful flutist, Ronald Roybal. No minimum, no cover.

http://hotelsantafe.com/

http://www.ronaldroybal.com/

I have stayed at the Inn on the Alameda twice and will be there again next month. Highly recommend.

http://innonthealameda.com/

Checking a random weekend in May, Inn on Alameda is above Patrick's budge. It is a lovely place.

There are a lot of neat Georgia O'Keeffe things in the area - we toured her home in Abiqui, did the Ghost Ranch, and went to the GOK Museum. We enjoyed dinner at The Shed. Also really liked the burgers at Bobcat Bite - tiny and very old school but yummy green chile cheeseburgers. We stayed at the Inn of the Anasazi, but I remember it being pricey.

I like the El Rey Inn ... in your price range.

El Rey might be a bit too funky for Patrick. It is a further walk to Plaza too.