HotelChatter

Room Reaction:
A mixture of indifference, slight disappointment and “well, it could be worse”. On the plus side, the room was huge, and had a traditional kiva fireplace, complete with wood and lighters. Awesome.

On the minus, it just felt bland – nothing particularly wrong with it, a comfy bed, big TV, fugly lap, free WiFi, two litre bottles of water for us to enjoy – but totally unexciting.

And where the bedroom was big, the bathroom was pretty cramped. The bath was small – we gave up on an uncomfortable soak while warming up from the outside – and the next morning, the shower pressure was almost too poor to wash our hair.

The air con didn’t seem to work to any normal temperature gauge, leaping between very high and very low – but we got it stabilised to a comfy level, despite the counter saying otherwise. No biggie.

Meanwhile, we called three times – twice that night, once in the morning – to ask whether our parcel had arrived. Each time, we were told they’d check and call straight back. They never called. As it happened, turned out there’d been a cock up and the parcel was never sent. But no one from the hotel bothered to tell us it wasn’t there. How difficult is it to break that news to a guest?

Amenity Madness:
Own brand shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and body lotion. From the spa, and using lavender and lemongrass. Smelt amazing. Big plus point. The rock soap we didn’t use, but the normal soap was just fine.

Public Areas:
All very olde worldy, Santa Fe-esque, with lots of equally Santa Fe-esque art hung about the place. If you like that, you’ll love it – there are lots of nooks to hunker down in. If, as with us, it’s not your style, you may find it either boring or twee. Free hot apple cider in the lobby was a nice touch.

Internet Connect:
Free WiFi, worked just great.

What We Liked:
The free WiFi, the fireplace in the room, the comfy bed, and the toiletries. The gardens were pretty, too, if covered in snow. Staff were, apart from the parcel thing, nice.

What We Didn’t Like:
The room left us a little cold, and the bathroom was subpar. And the parcel saga annoyed us. We didn’t like Santa Fe either, though, so that may have helped put a dampener on things.

Bottom Line:
Meh. We wouldn’t book this again, because we’re sure there’s something more exciting in Santa Fe, but if someone booked it for us, we wouldn’t be devastated. But for $188 (more at full price), we’re pretty sure we could do better.