Artist rendition of La Fonda.

We chose the historic La Fonda Hotel for our girls’ trip west and it was a hit. Some rooms have fireplaces and you should get one if available.  Staff brings up wood and starts it for you, with plenty of reserve wood so you can keep the fast-burning pinon wood-fed fire going.  They also bring up hot chocolate and New Mexico’s official state cookie (for real, first state to have an official cookie).  Evolved from recipes of the first Spanish colonists, the Biscochito is a crispy butter cookie with sugar, cinnamon, and anise. Wonderful.

Staff was great and saved us when we had to deal with missed flights, late arrivals, and missing luggage. They also enthusiastically accommodated our request for an area to play cards and set us up in a perfect spot.

Now that’s a light fixture. From a ballroom at La Fonda Hotel.

The hotel is right off the main Plaza and very central, for easy walking to shops and restaurants. Be sure to take the free tour of the hotel, if you are in residence when scheduled on Thursday mornings.  The property is chock-full of interesting art and history.  It’s also haunted . . . . but we had to find out that info in less official ways.

Restaurant La Plazuela at La Fonda. A site of at least one ghost story.

There are no longer any cabs in Santa Fe, Uber and Lyft chased them out. There is a free van-based transportation system that can get you around town, but we never tried it.  We just walked or took Uber.

Take note that the Santa Fe airport is extremely small.  No TSA-Pre, you will have to take off coats and take out computers, Kindles, iPads, liquids, even snacks.  It was a mess getting through security.  There are no jetways so you will be walking on open ramps, not steps, to get on and off planes.  Delayed or canceled flights have little opportunity for substitute options.  If your bags don’t make it, well you might be out of luck til the next day. Some of our group had to rush off to Albuquerque to get another flight when theirs was canceled.  Best bet is probably to fly into Albuquerque to begin with and take the one-hour ride to Santa Fe.  Happy Trails.