pinniped

Any recent stays here?

Google Maps shows this a 0.2 mile 4 minute walk to the Santa Fe Plaza. Am I missing something? Is it not an easy walk from the hotel to other things to do downtown? Is it hilly?

Doing a one-nighter next week. Never been to Santa Fe. Just booked an award night - not expecting a ton - main question I have is what the Diamond breakfast options are.

Will be in Santa Fe for an afternoon and evening. Any good suggestion on where to go / what to do?

I was surprised that the hotel already sent me a book about Santa Fe. Nice touch...although the book is mostly advertisements for art galleries. It would be pretty helpful for someone there to buy art.

Eujeanie

We stayed at the Hilton for 2 nights. It was plenty. Gonna sound like heresy, but I was disappointed in Santa Fe - everyone "loves" it, I hated the monotony of all the buildings being exactly the same.

We went to the Georgia O'Keefe Museum (recommend), walked around the Plaza, to the St.Francis of Assissi church. I don't recall it being particularly hilly. I think the Hilton capitalizes on the "Plaza" name much as many New York "times Square" hotels do. But it's not far to the center, but it feels further because of the heat.

It was enough. Glad to get out of town.

Went to Taos (to one of the Native American villages). Also went to Los Alamos - enjoyed the drive there and the history of the bomb more than I thought I would. Also went to some strange place where the homes were these sort of biodomes. And the Rio Grande was a joke, such a tiny stream, not "Grande" at all.

Went to Albuquerque on a separate trip and there was more there to see and do.

But I guess you gotta do Santa Fe once.

pinniped

I know people who rave about Santa Fe - like it's one of their favorite places in America. I honestly have no expectations, just that I've heard that there are a lot of artists there and I assume some good restaurants.

beachfan

many comments on the hotel- hard product, service, etc?

Eujeanie

The physical appearance of the hotel was in keeping with its location - dark wood, tile floors, wrought iron - again, not my taste.

I didn't recall the service being good or bad, we basically check-in and keep to ourselves. This was pre-Covid so there was a nice spread for breakfast, have no idea what they are doing now.

pinniped

Thank you to everyone in this thread who tried to warn me.

This is indeed a bad hotel.

Did a one night stay there. Won't be back.

- Digital Key never did work, even though they sent like three emails and alerts about it. Front desk clerk just shrugged and made me a real key - they seemed to know there were issues but didn't care.
- Air conditioning worked...barely. The fan was a very low speed...thankfully the room cooled overnight since overnight lows are about 60 right now. Dialing 0 from the room to ask for help was never answered. We just lived with it.
- Hotel said the only "upgrade" that Diamonds get is poolview. As others have noted, it's just a standard room with the view of a swimming pool in a courtyard. It is *not* an upgrade. I actually asked about Diamond upgrades and was flat out told no - on a one-night Monday night stay when the hotel was fairly empty and selling rooms in every category including Casitas.
- The Executive Lounge is closed, even though there *is* an executive lounge on the third floor. The hotel was built with one - it's still there - they just closed it.
- Front desk said we'd have a $15 credit to the restaurant/bar. I asked if it should be $30, the clerk got exasperated and "it's $15 per person and I only see you". (There were two of us.) As of 2 days later they still haven't applied the credit and I have an email in to their accounting department.
- Two elevators didn't work. Two others did work, but the front desk didn't seem to care about the two that didn't. The only other humans we saw in the lobby were other guests complaining about the elevators.

The pool area was clean, albeit a bit spartan. It's a large pool with a proper deep end, which is rare at hotels these days. The hot tub was functioning properly.

Room was clean and would have been adequate if the A/C had worked.

We left the hotel prior to breakfast so don't know what that offering is like or what the $15 would cover if you chose to use it then.

Location is fine - definitely in the midst of downtown - although most of the downtown galleries were closed. I don't know Santa Fe but I'm assuming August is offseason for them. We didn't see many tourists milling about...

If I had spent only 30k on this room, I might not have been so disappointed. It's might fit better as the older, low-end of the Doubletree brand. But at 60k, I definitely will not be back. Cash rates were stupid - like $300+ with taxes. Considering the reviews I've read about other hotels in the area (including the Marriott - not good), we will likely opt for Albuquerque next time we do this roadtrip.

Eujeanie

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.

pinniped

We were only there for one afternoon/evening. Didn't get there in time for the museum. Did go out to Canyon Road and visit a few galleries there, but I'd say half were closed and the rest were closing mid-afternoon.

It was just our stopping point on a Phoenix to KC roadtrip. On the way out we stayed in Albuquerque and enjoyed walking around the Old Town. Just felt livelier overall... But maybe Santa Fe is more alive when it isn't so hot? Maybe during ski season?

lalala

There are a bunch of other places to go outside of Santa Fe including the road to Chimayo, driving up towards Las Vegas and Pecos are definitely worth it. Sometimes we drive up through Los Alamos towards Valles Caldera - that is a stunning drive, especially this time of year.

I use Santa Fe as as base to do other things. We've also found three or four places that are solid for food away 10 min from the Plaza or driving distance from the plaza that work. I also have a two night stay coming up (Diamond) that I booked on points because someone booked during the Wine and Food Festival. Our standby hotel (Drury) prices are ridiculous this weekend. I am not a fan of staying out on cerillos road unless I absolutely need to.

I'll keep on looking to see if there is something better that isn't going to break the bank.

storewanderer

Used to be some great restaurants in Santa Fe; albeit poor value for the money. Maybe COVID ruined all of that.

I never necessarily saw Downtown Santa Fe as "lively." That wasn't the mood there. There is a mood there, but "lively" wasn't it. I was always there on weeknights usually in the fall. Always enjoyed a meal and walking around for a while after. Albuquerque definitely has more to offer in the "lively" department and better food at a better price.

Check

It's good to hear that Santa Fe isn't for everyone, please tell all your friends how awful it is (scorching hot climate, bad food, a cultural wasteland, stucco and adobe overdose, too many Texans, etc.).

Review of the hotel from late August, my first stay there since maybe late 2019 or early 2020 pre-COVID:

• The hotel restaurant where you can spend your $15 credit for breakfast was below average in the past but is a notch worse (smoked salmon for your bagel must have been too expensive). There are a wealth of excellent breakfast options within walking distance but one morning we were pressed for time and gave it a shot. You also can't spend your $15 at the kiosk by the front desk on snacks, which seems like a self-defeating decision on the part of the hotel's management given the relative cost to deliver a $6 can of Pringles vs. the cost to provide breakfast.
• It's unfortunate that they got rid of the lounge - the physical space is still there and the door is intermittently open but there's nothing in there but chairs and bottled water. There's free coffee in the lobby in the morning which takes some of the sting out of the loss of the lounge coffee machine.
• I paid 50k/night, which was a screaming deal for the weekend in question (Indian Market) because I booked 11 months out.
• I think it's been over ten years since their last remodel so some of the furnishings are getting a little tired
• I like their pool area - not enough properties have outdoor hot tubs
• Our last trip to Santa Fe we stayed at the Buffalo Thunder casino/resort north of town and this trip was a reminder how much nicer it is to be in the downtown area so you can leave the car parked and walk virtually anywhere you'd want to go

pinniped

This was THE one redeeming feature of this hotel for me.

A decent-sized pool with a proper deep end. A hot tub that worked.

I must give them credit where it's due, because the rest of this place is pretty forgettable.

Eujeanie

Check, I loved your first sentence, but I don't recall anyone mentioning Texans?

But you're right, everything else you said was why I didn't care for it.

My recollection of the pool was a cement hole in the ground surrounded by cement - I'm pretty sure it had no water in it, I think it was under repair, but it was pretty unattractive. Wish I could remember what time of year we were there.

Like Pinniped said, forgettable. But I'm glad I came and saw for myself.

pinniped

Maybe a New Mexico thing? Sort of how Arizonans love to complain about all of the California people moving into Phoenix/Tempe/Scottsdale....

Eujeanie

We Oregonians hate the Californians, too, except I used to be one of them . Can't tell you how many times I was told "you're #1" when I first got here and was driving around with CA plates.

I just meant I didn't recall anyone mentioning Texans on this thread.

Outside of San Antonio I haven't seen much of Texas I liked, either.