Historic Hotels & Inns in Santa Fe

The neighborhoods

Where to stay, by area

The Plaza & downtown

Governor Pedro de Peralta formally established Santa Fe as the capital of Spanish New Mexico in 1610, the founding date we use, and the Palace of the Governors on the Plaza’s north side dates to that year; Native artisans still sell under its portal. Downtown sits inside the Santa Fe Historic District, on the National Register since 1973, and is all walkable, with city garages a block or two off the Plaza.

Inns here: La Fonda on the Plaza, on the Plaza’s southeast corner; Hotel St. Francis, a block southwest on Don Gaspar Avenue; the Hilton Santa Fe Historic Plaza, two blocks west on Sandoval Street; La Posada de Santa Fe, three blocks east on East Palace Avenue; and the Drury Plaza, in John Gaw Meem’s former St. Vincent Hospital on Paseo de Peralta.

Canyon Road & the East Side

Canyon Road began as a farming lane and became an artists’ quarter from the 1880s; Tourism Santa Fe counts more than 100 galleries along it, starting at Paseo de Peralta. It is a long uphill walk between adobe walls, and on Christmas Eve it hosts the Canyon Road Farolito Walk. Below it, the Barrio de Analco around East De Vargas Street is a National Historic Landmark district. None of the inns we list is in this area, but Canyon Road is a walk from the Plaza hotels.

The Railyard & Guadalupe

The Railyard was the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway’s gateway to the city; after decades of neglect it is now a district of contemporary galleries, restaurants and the Santa Fe Farmers Market. The Rail Runner train to Albuquerque stops at the Santa Fe Depot, steps from the city’s underground Railyard garage. On Guadalupe Street, the Santuario de Guadalupe, established in the 1770s, is billed as the oldest standing shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe in the U.S.

Inn here: Piñon Court by La Fonda, which began as a 1930s motor court, at the district’s edge on Montezuma Avenue.

South Capitol & Acequia Madre

South of the Plaza and the State Capitol, the Don Gaspar Historic District (National Register, 1983) is a quiet, mostly residential grid of about 455 buildings, from one-story adobes on Old Santa Fe Trail and Galisteo Street, both mapped by 1766, to brick bungalows and Pueblo Revival houses. East of it, the Camino del Monte Sol Historic District, around Acequia Madre and Camino del Monte Sol, is listed for its art and literary history and its John Gaw Meem houses. Both are walkable to the Plaza, and the Rail Runner stops at South Capitol.

Inns here: Inn of the Turquoise Bear, in poet Witter Bynner’s 1923 house on Buena Vista Street, and El Farolito on Galisteo Street, which the city rates as contributing to its Don Gaspar Area historic district.

Before you book

Planning your stay

Getting around

The Plaza, Canyon Road, the Railyard and the Don Gaspar neighborhood are all walkable from one another. The New Mexico Rail Runner Express runs from the Santa Fe Depot in the Railyard, with stops at South Capitol and Zia Road, to Albuquerque, where ABQ RIDE buses link the Downtown Albuquerque station to the Albuquerque International Sunport, free with an advance train ticket. The Sunport is New Mexico’s largest commercial airport, with nonstop service to more than 30 destinations; the city of Santa Fe owns Santa Fe Regional Airport, at 121 Aviation Drive.

Parking

Downtown hotels mostly charge for parking: about $30 a night at La Fonda’s garage and for the Drury’s valet, a $30 amenity fee at Hotel St. Francis that includes parking, a $25 nightly fee at Piñon Court that also covers breakfast, and valet folded into La Posada’s resort fee. The city’s three garages near the Plaza (Sandoval, 382 spaces; Convention Center, 489; Railyard, 382) charge $1 for the first hour, $2 an hour after that and $12 a day at most, and take cards only. Street meters cost $2 an hour for the first two hours and $3 after that, Monday to Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Inn of the Turquoise Bear has free on-site parking.

When to go

Santa Fe Indian Market fills the Plaza every August with about 1,000 juried Native artists (August 14 to 16 in 2026), and the burning of Zozobra, a 50-foot marionette, draws more than 60,000 people each year (Friday, September 4, in 2026); book months ahead for both. In fall the aspens on the Sangre de Cristo Mountains turn gold. Winter averages highs in the high 40s, with the Canyon Road Farolito Walk on Christmas Eve, Pueblo dances and New Year’s Eve on the Plaza. Spring weather swings between wintry and summery, and Tourism Santa Fe says lodging deals are common then.

Accessibility

Santa Fe sits at about 7,000 feet, so drink plenty of water and pace yourself the first day. Many historic inns are low adobe buildings without elevators, and Inn of the Turquoise Bear has more than 20 steps from its parking area to the main inn, so ask about ground-floor rooms when you book.

Before you book

Budget for nightly parking, amenity or resort fees on top of the rate downtown. Hotel St. Francis requires guests to be 21 to reserve (active military excepted). La Fonda is renovating guest rooms 30 at a time from October 2026, so ask for a finished room, and the Drury Plaza lists daytime renovation work on weekdays until about February 2027. Dogs are welcome for a fee at La Fonda ($50 a night, two at most), Piñon Court ($30 a night) and Inn of the Turquoise Bear ($30 a night, in four rooms). Indian Market and Zozobra weekends book up early.