I remember going to Santa Fe 20 years ago and staying near the plaza for under $100. Now, It's tough to find under $250. Going there (fam4) in early August for 1 nite. It would be great to be in walking distance of the plaza area.
Anybody have any suggestions??
If we can't stay near the plaza....then where do we go?

look at www.casitas.net. We have stayed in their studios before and seen some of the other places. Clean, affordable, comfortable and in walking distance to the plaza.

Inexpensive and basic but close to Plaza- Try Garrett's Dessert Inn.

A little more expensive but close to Plaza- Try Plaza Real, Hotel St. Francis, Inn of the Governors.

A little Farther- Try Ft. Marcy Compound, good condos for family, but still within walking distance or short drive.

Farther Out, but maybe nice for a family- Marriott Residence Inn.

I discovered Skyauction.com and you can bid on the Hotel St. Francis. The bidding starts at $1 and if you win the bid, you can stay at the winning rate for 1-7 nights. They add a one time $15 service charge as well as $32 a night for tax, etc. So whatever you bid, figure on an additional $32 for each night you plan to stay. I looked up Hotel St. Francis online and went through the process of booking a room to see the rates and it ranged from $179 a night to $239 for when I wanted to stay in July. I then waited until the 20 minutes of bidding and put in a maximum automatic bid so that it would automatically raise my bid if someone else put in a bid. I think I had a max bid of around $53 but no one ever made it up to that since time ran out. I ended up getting the room for a bid of $44.00 So in total the room cost $91 a night with the 15 and 32 added to my 44. After you win, you get an email and you put in your date choices. They check for you and if you can't get those, you try alternate dates. I tried for a Sat. night and they couldn't get it then, but I then tried Monday and got it. If you can't get the dates you want you can either pay and use it later for up to close to a year, or just cancel it and not get charged anything.
Hotel St. Francis is one block off the plaza and right next to a bunch of shops and restaurants like Coyote Cafe, Atomic Grill, the Chile Shop, etc. We have always parked in a parking lot right next to it so I was familiar with its location and knew it would be perfect. Parking is free at the hotel as well.
Good Luck. Let us know if you try it.
I am using my night on Aug. 1

Not too far from the Plaza is Hotel Santa Fe, the only native-owned hotel operating in Santa Fe (at least according to their website www.hotelsantafe.com). I tried to check the rate for a night in August but the online reservation system was on the blitz. You can check out the hotel and rooms, though. It is a really tasteful hotel.

We stayed in a Santa Fe suite for half-price using the entertainment book. The Santa Fe suite is a full suite with a separate bedroom and fold-out couch. The Picaris suite has a separate "living area" but no door to the bedroom. Then they have standard rooms with 2 beds.

The entertainment book also has other hotels you can preview online at www.entertainment.com. Click the tab that says travel, then Hotels at Half-Price. Enter Santa Fe; they show La Fonda (but weekends are excluded), Hotel Santa Fe, Inn of the Governors and Fort Marcy.

Hidden treasure. The Radisson just out of town on St. Francis (the way to the opera)--just a couple of minutes by car from the Plaza. And it comes up on Priceline because it is (or was last year, anyhow) the only 3* in the downtown area of Santa Fe. It is a beautiful location with incredible views and is under $200 even at rack rate.
Vera

Wanted to add that I've also stayed at Garretts and agree that it is a very good choice. Only drawback is they charge a daily fee for parking, but sometimes you can negotiate them out of the fee.