Where else did you go besides Santa Fe? Did you get to the Georgia O'Keefe Museum? (I never knew about her New York connection, just pictures of cow skulls, so I enjoyed the edification).
I honestly don't think I would have liked Santa Fe any more had we stayed at one of the primo non-chain hotels, I just thought the whole place was one-note and boring.
And ouch on wasting 60K points. But I have to say I think ALL the Hilton points requirements have gone way up recently across the board. It used to be with so many promos, credit card bonuses, they were still bargains but not anymore.