The Inn of The Five Graces — Hotel in Santa Fe

The Inn of the Five Graces is a haven of tranquility! I have been fortunate to stay at some very nice properties around the world and The Inn of the Five Graces is in the top 3! Please note, this property is not for everyone as the price point to stay is on the higher end. When traveling, I evaluate my experiences on the value provided, i.e. - how was the experience in regards to what I paid.||In this case, the value received from The Inn of the Five Graces was exceptional. The property is nestled within the downtown "core" of Santa Fe. It's directly behind the State Capitol building and a very short walk from the Plaza meaning you get all the conveniences of being in the heart of historic Santa Fe while being in your own sanctuary.||There are numerous things to like/love about The Inn of the Five Graces including and not limited to:||The exceptional customer service! From the moment you arrive at the property, you are treated with respect, professionalism and courtesy. The valet staff unload your luggage and take it to your room, the front desk staff greets you with champagne and everyone who works at the property are kind and courteous. These days it can be challenging to get good customer service, The Inn of the Five Graces provides amazing customer service from all aspects of the staff. In speaking with the people who work there, they all had very positive things to say about their experience. It appears they are treated with respect and paid a livable wage.||The decor of the property including the rooms are incredible! The owners, Ira and Sylvia Seret, have adorned the property with their impeccable taste of items from countries along the Silk Road. Every inch of The Inn of the Five Graces is tastefully decorated. From the table tops in the courtyard, to the wall sconces to the headboards in the bedrooms to the tile in the bathrooms to the ceilings in the rooms, everything makes sense and creates a warm, relaxing, tranquil environment. ||Pro Tip - while staying at The Inn of the Five Graces be sure to visit the Seret & Sons store which is just a few blocks away as it contains amazing fabrics, coats, furniture and other items sourced from countries found along the Silk Road. Venture into the back rooms/open areas to see aged doors and more!||Once really nice aspect of staying at The Inn of the Five Graces is the "personal" touch. Housekeeping service is provided 2x/day; in room coffee is plentiful and every night the staff puts a "sweet treat" under a small glass dome in the room. Breakfast is included with the room cost and well worth it. You can get a simple breakfast (toast, fruit bowl, granola) or something a bit more hardy (Huevos Rancheros, Eggs Benedict, etc.). All the food is custom made and delivered promptly along with a smile from the server! If you want, they will bring your breakfast to your room.||Pro Tip - The Inn of the Five Graces offers complimentary valet service to and from locations within a 3 mile radius of the property. This is really great! Instead of having to drive to dinner, the valet staff will drive you over (using super comfortable Volvo SUVs) and then come pick you up. Everything is Santa Fe is close so a 3 mile radius likely covers most places you'd go for dinner or to visit. If you want to walk off dinner, the valet is happy to drop you off and then you can walk back to the property (it's safe to walk in Santa Fe at night).||The Inn of the Five Graces has a wonderful spa as well. Pro Tip - book in advance as space is limited. Even if you do not get a treatment at the Spa it is definitely worth checking out as the decor is amazing. Like the rest of the property, the Spa features incredible design all contributing to a super tranquil environment. Having said that, treat yourself to a treatment at the Spa as the massage therapists are top notch and getting a treatment will add to the overall tranquil "vibe". Note, when booking a treatment the default is a 20% gratuity; you can adjust the gratuity (add more or less) at time of check out.||The Inn of the Five Graces has it's own restaurant (The Pink Adobe, please see separate review), the Dragon Room (bar & restaurant) as well as a Speakeasy. Note, the Pink Adobe and Dragon Room are open to the public, i.e. - people not staying at the property, whereas the Speakeasy is for property guests only (need a room key to enter). Treat yourself to a beverage at the Speakeasy as it's cozy, comfortable and yes, tranquil!||One other thing to share, The Inn of the Five Graces has a no cash tipping policy. At the end of your stay, they leave a card in your room where you can add gratuity by service sector (valet, housekeeping, breakfast staff, etc.)||So much to love about The Inn of the Five Graces! Again, if you can afford it, it's...

I have held off from my writing my review of Inn of the Five Graces for a few weeks since we returned home in order to fully process our time there, and in my opinion, give a fair and honest review.

As in all places, there are pros and cons, however, we felt that there were more cons and there were pros in this situation.

My husband and I booked this vacation so that we could have a relaxing time away before beginning IVF. We wanted rest (which is not uncommon on a vacation). Over the course of our stay we were in two rooms; the first being Magnolia, and the second being a suite (Cottonwood). While the Magnolia room itself is beautiful (the bathroom is a thing of beauty), there is a delivery truck that makes a ton of noise every morning outside of the room at 5:00 am. I proceeded to ask the night manager if this was a daily occurrence (it felt very similar to the film, My Cousin Vinny), and he said it was. When I spoke with the day crew up at the front, they offered to change our room, however, the room they wanted to change us to was not as nice and the bathroom was just around 1/4 of the size. So, we opted to pass and just understood that we would have to go to bed early in order to get enough sleep. When we ended up switching to Cottonwood, we couldn't tell where the noise was coming from, but, we slept around a grand total of an hour due to how noisy the rooms either next to us were, and or noise coming from the street. All in all, our sleep experience here was a 1/5.

The staff were incredibly nice and helpful. I want to give specific shoutouts to Randy and Nadine, as well as the staff who served breakfast. However, Vera, who works the front desk, made a face every time we came in, and seemed almost irritated. You do not have to like every guest that stays there, but, nothing we asked was outlandish. It seemed a bit unwarranted. Staff 4/5

The food: The complimentary breakfast is very nice, however, we felt that the price you pay in order to stay here, the portions should be larger. As example, pancakes: only getting two pancakes, it is not a ton of food. 3/5

The Spa: One of the reasons we came here was for R&R, and it says on their website, (in addition to the paperwork they send you), to book and to plan your massages prior to your arrival. We did. The staff could not get this right. They had to change our day twice for our massage, and then on top of this, they forgot to cancel one of the original massages and were curious why we didn't go. It was a bit of a mess. Took about 1.5 days of us being there to properly organize this. The massages themselves were great, Martha is a great masseuse. The spa itself is very nice and tranquil. We wish the pool would have been open, but, it was broken. 3/5

You pay a ton of money to stay here and honestly, we felt overall that the amount we paid was not reflected at all in the stay we were given. We had high expectations and for the reasons listed above, it fell flat. If you are more into aesthetics than you are sleeping, then, this may be a great choice for you. However, if you care about rest, and all of the other points I have mentioned, I would consider...

We REALLY wanted to love this place. We originally booked a four night stay in a premium one bedroom suite as the highlight of our cross country trip. This is not an inexpensive hotel—this room category averages about $1200+ a night. For that price point and considering all the rave reviews this hotel gets, we expected great things. Let’s start with the good: The location is great—you can walk to most attractions. Second, the staff is very helpful and gracious. They have a private car that will take you and pick you up from wherever you want to go within a certain radius. This is a great feature—especially if you have mobility issues and/or you don’t want to worry about parking. Last, the furniture is beautiful…lots of rich, beautiful colors and textures which are a treat to the eye. So where does this place fall short? Let’s be real: No one wants to pay over $1,000 a night and hear footsteps and toilets flushing in the floor above them. On top of that, you can hear trucks collect trash in the early morning. Next, while the furniture is pretty to look at, it’s not very comfortable and could probably use new cushions. Much charm is lost when you just don’t feel comfortable when you’re relaxing. Within a few hours we realized this hotel did not meet our expectations and called the front desk to see if we could shorten our stay without penalty. After we explained how we felt, they offered us the opportunity to switch rooms, but we declined as we had already unpacked. They understood and were kind enough to allow us to shorten our stay by two nights without penalty. (Of note: We had tickets for the Georgia O’Keefe museum the following day which is why we didn’t leave after we checked in.) Don’t get me wrong—it’s a nice hotel…it’s just not worth what they are charging in my opinion. At the high end, this room should cost $700 (though my husband thinks $500 would be more appropriate). Also something to keep in mind—if you have mobility issues, you may want to think twice about staying here. There are uneven surfaces, stairs here and there…and just as another example, my husband’s walker barely fit through the front door of our room. I would recommend you talk to the front desk about any mobility issues you have prior to booking to see if this hotel will work for you. I want to be clear though—the low rating is not due to the mobility issues we noted…it is because the price point is too high for the amount of noise you hear while in your room as well as the comfort of the furniture. For over $1,000 a night, a hotel room should be whisper quiet and the furniture should be so plush and comfortable that you never want to...