Santa Fe Travel

La Fonda Hotel

One of the unique attractions of Santa Fe New Mexico is it's historic and popular hotels. Western Trips visited several and we want to highlight just a few of these.

The first of what we can say were hotels for the traveling public were the famous Harvey Houses. These were the hotels and eateries operated by the Fred Harvey Company in partnership with the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad.

La Fonda Hotel

In the case of Santa Fe this was and is the La Fonda Hotel located on the Santa Fe plaza. The La Fonda Hotel's site was actually a hotel prior to Fred Harvey's arrival in Santa Fe. The site where the La Fonda stands is considered the oldest hotel site in North America. Spanish records indicate that today's La Fonda Hotel site was used as an inn not long after the city of Santa Fe was founded. During the 1800's La Fonda became the preferred destination of trappers, soldiers, gold seekers, gamblers and politicians. All through the nineteenth century the names changed, the ownership changed hands but there was always some sort of hotel or inn on the property.The land where the hotel resides is literally at the end of the old Santa Fe Trail.

Pueblo architecture of La Fonda Hotel

The present La Fonda Hotel had it's start in 1922. In 1925 the new building was purchased by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway and then leased to Fred Harvey. Fred Harvey ran his "Indian detours" automobile sightseeing tours from the La Fonda. These were quite popular tours of the surrounding landscape and Native American pueblos for people arriving at the hotel via the AT & SF Railroad. Harvey's company made La Fonda into one of the famous Harvey Houses and it remained a Harvey House until 1968 when it was purchased by local businessman, Sam Ballen. One of the prime attributes of the La Fonda Hotel, aside from it's rich history, is it's location across the southeast corner of the plaza.

Inn and Spa at Loretto

The Inn and Spa at Loretto has long been a popular hotel about two blocks southeast of the Santa Fe plaza. The Inn and Spa at Loretto is one of the older hotels in Santa Fe. The hotel is built in the pueblo architecture style with unique shops lining it's ground floor hallways.

Inn and Spa at Loretto

The Inn and Spa at Loretto is also located next door to the historic Loretto Chapel. The site where the hotel is today was at one time the location of the Loretto Academy, a Catholic girl's school. The academy functioned from 1853 to 1968. At the time of it's closing the female students were transferred to St. Michaels High School which was made a coed institution.

Being located only about two blocks southeast of the Santa Fe plaza, the Inn and Spa at Loretto is a very easy walk to the plaza, Canyon Road, St. Francis Cathedral and the many fine restaurants and art galleries of Santa Fe.

Links to additional Western Trips Santa Fe travel articles you'll enjoy include a Visit to the Loretto Chapel and a Trip to the Old Mining Town of Cerillos just a few miles south of Santa Fe.

La Posada Resort and Hotel

The La Posada on Palace Avenue is another hotel and resort you'll surely want to visit. While the La Posada is a short walk east of the plaza, the hotel is peaceful and quiet and yet a very easy walk to the Plaza and all the great restaurants of Santa Fe.

The La Posada is situated on six acres and had it's beginning back in 1882 as the Victorian designed Staab House. Staab made quite a lot of money as a supply contractor for the U.S. Army and built the three story mansion for his wife Julia. The Staab family experienced a tragedy when their youngest child died suddenly. Mrs. Staab reportedly went into a deep depression and most say that she never recovered. Julia Staab passed away at the mansion in 1896 at the age of fifty-two.

Today there have been several reports of Julia Staab's spirit being experienced by both hotel guests and employees. The belief is that Mrs. Staab enjoyed her home so much that she decided to never leave it. Some of the ghostly sighting have been reported by a security guard and a hotel operator. There have been reports of a fireplace turning itself on and off and glasses flying off the shelf at the hotel bar.

Santa Fe travel is always a lot of fun and there are many fine hotels and inns all throughout the city. The ones we've highlighted in this article are only a few of the several unique hotels and resorts to choose from. Santa Fe's resorts offer the ultimate escape from everyday life. Santa Fe resorts are as unique as the "City Different" itself.

(Photos from author's collection)