Santa Fe in October
 

I will be visiting Santa Fe for two nights in early October with my mother and 12 year old daughter. Need advice on what to pack for weather at that time of year and suggestions on hotels. We will need two bedrooms, one for a smoker. Would booking a suite be more economical or should we just book two standard rooms? I am thinking I want to be near the Plaza but we will have a car.

Paige: I live in Santa Fe, October is a great time to visit. The nights will be chilly enough to wear a light jacket and long pants. The days might be warm enough to wear shorts. This is a casual city & anything goes. <BR>What is your hotel buget? You might want to look under the New Mexico travel board for this site for some good suggestions including some I made. <BR>

Paige, <BR>I feel that your whole family would have more fun staying on the Plaza area. There are sev. good hotels right there. <BR>The El Dorado, Anizzai are a few that come to mind. October is great. Let me know if I can Help you more.jwg

My husband and I stayed at the LaPosada last November. It's a two minute walk to the Plaza. The rooms were very nice as was the restaurant.

A LIGHT JACKET and 'long pants'??? <BR> <BR>Wow! That's an understatement. Don is either a reptile or acclimates very quickly to the cold weather. <BR> <BR>It gets COLD in Santa Fe at night in October. <BR>The past 5 years the October 15th low temp has been 39, 39, 33, 50 and 37. <BR>If you live in Colorado that ain't cold, but to me that's winter coat weather. <BR> <BR>The Inn of the Anasazi is SF's best hotel. Right on the Plaza but very expensive. The Eldorado is decent but rooms are pretty generic....a lot like a typical Hilton. Right on the Plaza also. Grant Corner Inn and Inn on the Alameda are the next best close to the Plaza.

Thanks for the responses. I made several calls to hotels this weekend. Some do not have vacancy the weekend we are going due to the balloon festival. I have reserved three different choices and would like some help in choosing which is best. On the expensive end, we have a two-bedroom suite at the LaFonda with a wrap around balcony. The rate on this room is $395.00 per night, very steep for our budget. In the mid-range is the Hilton at appx. $300.00 per night for two rooms. On the low end is a LaQuinta at $140.00 per night for two rooms. I realize the LaQuinta is not within walking distance of the plaza, but how inconvienent would it really be? Wouldn't I rather take the cheaper accomondations and have more cash to spend on art or silver jewelry? How is the LaFonda? Also, an option is the condos at Fort Marcy. Are they nice? Can you walk to the plaza from there? What about restaurants on the premises of the Fort Marcy condos? Help!!!

I will be in Santa Fe in mid-Sept. for the 3rd year. Beautiful weather at that time. Take a light jacket, it can snow up high in the Sangre de Cristo mts. I stay in one of the many chain motels (Best Western this year) on Cerrillos Rd. - rates are MUCH better, clean, comfortable - and drive to Plaza - large parking lot just off Plaza. Don't miss the International Folk Art Museum in the foothills - spectacular, especially for a 12-year-old. Wonderful views. Santa Fe is a small town and it is not hard to get around. <BR>Warning: Santa Fe is addictive - you will have to go back.

IMO, there's not much a hotel can do to justify a price tag of $395 per night. You are paying for the convenience of the location, that's it. Santa Fe attracts plenty of wealthy Texans who don't blink twice at that rate, so the downtown hotels really feel free to gouge you. <BR> <BR>Stay on Cerillos Road and drive into town. It's not far, you could even take a taxi if you wanted to and leave the car behind, although we have never had a problem finding a parking space. Plenty of chain hotels like Fairfield Inn, and even a quaint, 1930's style place called the El Rey Inn (they have a web site, check them out). <BR> <BR>Definitely save money on your hotel and use it for the fabulous food (many great restaurants), lovely arts and crafts and all the museums.

Have you tried the Inn of the Governors? It has a wide range of accomodations, was much cheaper when we stayed there a couple of years ago, and is about 3 blocks off the plaza. I really liked being able to walk around town; we could come and go from the hotel and the pool (may not be much use in October).

Hi again - I'm still looking for some input. I decided to cancel the expensive suite at LaFonda and now have a reservation at Fort Marcy Hotel Suites. I can't find anything about this property in the guide books in the bookstores, but it is in the Santa Fe vistors guide I received from the convention and visitor's bureau. Does anyone know anything about this property? <BR> <BR>Don Smith who lives in Santa Fe, if you are still out there, can you tell me anything about Fort Marcy? The reservation agent said I could walk to the Plaza in 10 minutes. True?

We stayed in a 2 bedroom suite at Fort Marcy with our kids over spring break. Rooms were very large and it worked out much better for us than a hotel. It was about a 10 minute walk to downtown area, very nice. You might have stairs or hills to climb - don't know age of your mother but could be a problem. It took us a couple of days to adjust to altitude. We tried several restaurants in area but best (and most economical) meal we had was delivered pizza because we were so tired from skiing. Enjoy!

Nancy - Since you mentioned skiing... we may consider New Mexico for next year's spring break trip. Usually go to Colorado but New Mexico is about 4 hours closer by car for us. Did you ski the Santa Fe ski area? Could you drive to Taos and ski for the day? Did you go at Spring Break and if so how was the snow/weather. I know what you mean about just staying in for pizza when you've been skiing all day. Might even apply to us if we've been out sight seeing, gallery hopping, and museum browsing! Thanks for the info on Fort Marcy.

We lucked out with ski conditions. They got some good snowfall the week before we went - first decent snow of the season. Weather was perfect - in fact it was hot (didn't need all the long underwear and heavy ski jackets we bought). Fort Marcy was a good location, close to road to ski area but it was still a 20 minute drive. Since the slopes close around 4:00 or 5:00, it might be too far to drive to Taos and others. Unfortunately we also timed it the same week as Spring Break for the Sante Fe schools and slopes were VERY crowded. Renting all the equipment and getting lift tickets took almost 2 hours. Another tip if you go - secure a locker for the skis in the AM so you will have it when you leave in the evening. These went very quickly an we ended up having to lug all the equipment with us the first day and it was not fun!

We were in Santa Fe the last week in March of this year. We skied at Ski Santa Fe three days and had fresh snow two of them. Apparently it was not spring break locally as the slopes were not at all crowded. In fact, we signed up for a group lesson one day and the two of us were the group. We didn't drive to Taos to ski because it was just so quick and easy to go up to Ski Santa Fe (and we are beginners anyway). <BR>You have probably already checked the St. Francis Hotel, which is a block off the Plaza. This is where we stayed and got a double for $125 a night. We enjoyed it very much.

Paige: <BR>I'm not familar to the Ft. Marcy condos but the Ft. Marcy area is about a 10 minute walk to the plaza. Let us know what you think of it. I don't know if you are going to the balloon fiesta but if you are you are in a good location. Traffic will be horrible in Albuquerque due to the I-40 & I-25 interchange construction. If you can avoid it, do. <BR> <BR>