La Fonda Santa Fe Hotel Review

La Fonda on the Plaza is a hotel that I’m really fond-a. Okay, I just couldn’t resist throwing in that corny line. But the sentiment holds true. The famed La Fonda Hotel in Santa Fe was an absolute dream come true, with perfect location, a lovely room, and New Mexico charm. I had the opportunity to get a special media rate to experience La Fonda, and I could not have been more thrilled with my choice of hotels in Santa Fe. Keep reading for the full scoop in this La Fonda Santa Fe hotel review, and how they made my birthday special.

Location

La Fonda’s location is absolutely perfect. It is the only hotel on the Santa Fe Plaza. The plaza is the central area where everything radiates from in the city, and it includes the park, artist walk, shops, restaurants and more. La Fonda is right on the plaza, offering convenience no other hotel in Santa Fe offers, and we were able to walk pretty much everywhere we wanted to go in the city without having to use our rental car. Santa Fe is not a small city, but being in the center of the action made it even easier to get around on foot.

In addition to being the located on the center of the action, it actually is part of the action. La Fonda has a number of restaurants in and attached to the building, along with shops inside of its corridors and also accessible from the outside of the building. Not to mention the live music that is performed in the lobby bar on weekends. It really is at the center of the action.

The Charm

La Fonda is quintessential adobe. The architecture screams southwestern United States, and has Native American influences. The hotel is a part of Santa Fe history, with the building being built in 1922 and having a history well before that point. It is actually a part of the Historic Hotels of America and for good reason.

The hotel is absolutely breathtaking. There are original elements like the hand-carved wooden beams and stained glass skylights. Tile art and southwestern inspired paintings line the hall, along with the art of Pueblo artists. La Fonda somehow manages to be rustic and whimsical at the same time.

The Room

The room was exquisite. It had such charm and we were extremely pleased with the room.

First off, the beds were super comfy. The headboards were absolutely exquisite and La Fonda incorporated the blend of southwestern and Native American culture into the rooms.

The bathroom made good use of space with a full tub/shower combo, a shelving system for toiletries and makeup, and a sliding door to minimize space. Everything was super clean and you could tell they took great care in maintaining the property despite its age. Another nice touch was the wrapper around the phone to let you know it had been cleaned. Nice touch.

There was even enough room for two double beds, a desk, and a oversized chair to relax in. Given that it was a historic hotel, we were pleasantly surprised by the room size, as sometimes historic hotels have smaller rooms because they are, well, historic. But we had plenty of room and the room décor was quite cozy and kept with the theme of the hotel.

The Food

We were only in Santa Fe for a couple of days and had quite a lot of foodie recommendations, but we made sure to have breakfast at La Fonda.

The restaurant is absolutely stunning! The ceilings open up to a balcony and are super high. The fireplace adds the perfect southwestern touch, and the chairs are wooden and rustic.

Now since we were in Santa Fe, of course I had to get a meal with 1) cheese; and 2) New Mexico green chiles. My breakfast at La Fonda was actually perfect, as I got the “Christmas” breakfast burrito with red and green chile (and of course mimosas). It was absolutely decadent and I ate all of it. I actually wished we didn’t have breakfast plans the next morning so that we could come back.

The Customer Service

Lastly, the customer service at La Fonda was grade A, top notch. They knew it was my birthday and made sure to give extra care! The staff recognized you after you checked in and always made sure everything was going well with your stay.