OK, I'm down to two affordable possibilities for Sante Fe:

Inn of the Governors -- we've stayed here before and liked it but we were in the main building. I understand they've now got some rooms with exterior entrances. Has anyone ever stayed in one of these? Do they face onto the parking lot or the street or onto a nice courtyard? Do you think they'd be quiet at night?

Hotel Santa Fe & Spa / La Hacienda -- Lots of options here. La Hacienda is the 'deluxe' wing, slightly more expensive. I assume the rooms are nicer and they come with breakfast and a butler (a butler!). The Hotel offers a junior suite for a little less money and it would be nice to have the living room area since we're traveling with friends and might want a place to have a glass of wine and chat but no breakfast. That's less important to me than it might be to the others. My main question is about the location. It's about 6 blocks from the plaza but I've read on these threads that that's only about a 10 minute walk (they also have a shuttle). Ten minutes walk is fine with me but is it through a decently interesting neighbourhood? Also, one of the reviews on TA says that the neighbourhood around the hotel (the railyard) is interesting. Here's an excerpt from the review:
"We love this hotel’s Railyard location: great galleries, including one housing a fabulous collection of pre-Columbian figures, are just a block away, as are some cool eateries. The light rail is three blocks away. This neighborhood is definitely more happening than the plaza, which though it is a must-see feels constrained by its history (and scores of trite tourist traps, which you won’t find cluttering the Railyard district). A 1-block walk takes you to Vinaigrette, one of the town’s’ best restaurants, and two blocks past that is Whole Foods, where you can stock up on goodies to shove into your room’s mini-fridge."
Is this true? It sounds suspiciously like it's written by the hotel.

What do you think?
Thanks
gtg

Hotel Santa Fe. It has a nice, true SW feel to it. The walk to plaza is ok and the area around it is ok too.

Inn of Governors, you have been there, done that. There isn't any courtyard per se, so I don't think the rooms with exterior entrance is anything other than facing parking lot. I would think you could call and ask them.

Re: Inn of the Governors: you can request an outside facing room. As Deb said, they face the parking lot or on the west side they face a side street. On weekend nights, it could be noisy with the young, driving traffic. The only cute courtyard is used for dining.

Re: Hotel Santa Fe. For us, it isn't close enough to the plaza so we haven't stayed there. Yes, it is walkable but there are other choices that are closer and as nice or nicer.

And, as far as the review, I don't buy it. I think you're right - someone at the hotel wrote that.

The Hacienda at the Hotel Santa Fe is where a lot of movie people stay as it is very private and the rooms are nice. They offer shuttle service to guest, which helps with the location issue unless you want to be in easy walking distance to the Plaza. They are very close to the new Railyard district. Have you checked out the Inn of the Alameda or Old Santa Fe Inn? The latter looks very motel-like (but so does the Inn of the Governors)the rooms are nice as is the management.

We have stayed at the Hacienda at Hotel Santa Fe twice--once had a mini suite which was very nice. (The butler told us Liam Neeson had occupied the suite when he was making a film in the area--hence it is forever referred to by us as the Liam Neeson suite!) The description of the location is pretty accurate -- 1 block to the Railyard and about a ten minute walk to the Plaza (walk down Guadalupe more interesting than down Cerrillos). We did make use of the shuttle service-which actually worked pretty well.

Well, I've just booked us at La Hacienda! We may even be able to get connecting rooms, which would be fun. We've been friends with the other couple for about 35 years but we don't get to see them very often since we live in Toronto and they live in DC, so we always have lots to talk about when we get together.

Thanks for your help, everyone.
Deb, I'm going to email you to see if we can get together for a drink. I'd love to meet you and Mr. Deb!

We're staying at the Hacienda this summer. I believe they have a special lounge for the Hacienda that acts like a "concierge level facility" so you could probably meet with your friends in there for a drink. As far as location goes, most people say it is an 10 minute walk to the Plaza and that the shuttle works very well if you don't feel like walking.

Please let us know how it is after you go. Thanks.

Hi DMG,
Sorry, I thought I responded to your post days ago but I don't see my answer here. That's happened to me more than once lately.

Anyway, yes, I'll be happy to report back. If you've been given any good suggestions about restaurants, events, shopping, etc., I'd love to hear them.

gtg

gtg, will you have a car? Cabs are sparse but the pedi-cabs are around. $1/minute or thereabouts.

Lots of restaurants and you might run a search for Santa Fe restaurants that I and others have suggested. May need to update mine as a couple of "tried and true" didn't ring true this time.

Hi BG,
I'm definitely going to do a search before we go. Plus the woman of the other couple is much more of a foodie than I am and she always knows great places.

Yes, we'll have a car and the hotel has a shuttle service in case we don't feeling like driving just to go out for dinner or something.

I'm planning to eat at Geronimo's and Santacafe. We're going to celebrate a special birthday for my wife and both seem to be very upscale. I've spoken to people who have been to both. And one night, we are going to the opera so we'll have our main meal at lunch.

My daughter and I stayed in a junior suite at the Hotel Santa Fe a couple of years ago. The hotel shuttle was very convenient because parking is not easy in the plaza area, and the driver took us wherever we wanted to go; for instance, he picked us up near the plaza and dropped us off at a restaurant in a different neighborhood.

Thanks, DMG & Nikki,
The only restaurant I remember eating at the last time we were in Santa Fe was the Coyote Grill. That was a long time ago and I don't even know if it's still there but I remember enjoying it. Also, my sister recommends the (I think) Santa Ana Cafe. Is that the place you're talking about DMG?

I don't know about the Santa Ana Cafe, but I also ate at the Santacafe in Santa Fe. Googling shows me there is a Santa Ana Cafe in Albuquerque, though.

If you are interested, here is my trip report:

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...rip-report.cfm