Santa Fe is having a moment. Recently, Travel + Leisure readers named the city the best destination in the United States, and it’s easy to see why. With more than 300 days of sunshine a year and four distinct, yet pleasantly moderate seasons, Santa Fe has something different to offer all year round. The four-century-old city has always been on my bucket list, and this fall, I finally had a chance to visit.
I lodged about ten minutes north of the Plaza at the Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado Santa Fe, with expansive views of two mountain ranges: the Jemez Mountains and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. From this vantage point, it’s easy to see why the Santa Fe landscape inspired legendary artists like Georgia O’Keeffe, especially when the sunset melts above the peaks.
Guests stay in a collection of adobe casita-style rooms and suites tucked into the hillside, which gives the property a feeling of privacy. If you want to pop into town, a complimentary shuttle service is available to transport you to and from the property.
The accommodations
The guest rooms feature Southwestern art
(Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encanto Santa Fe)
With only 65 keys, this is one of the intimate properties in the Four Seasons portfolio. Every guest room is a casita or suite with space to spread out. Each has a private terrace or balcony facing desert scenery or the mountains. Inside the recently renovated accommodations, deep soaking tubs, Le Labo bath products, heated floors, desert hues, and Southwestern art provide luxurious touches and a sense of place.
My casita had indoor and outdoor wood-burning fireplaces, with on-call fire-starter service to get them going. It was one of the many services and amenities that truly distinguish Four Seasons from other brands, including complimentary cartons of water, twice-daily housekeeping service, 24-hour multilingual concierge service, and plush robes hanging in the closet.
The art
The art is curated by Mike McKosky of InArt Santa Fe
(Tamara Gane)
Art is woven into the fabric of everyday life in Santa Fe, so it’s fitting that the property feels like a sculpture garden or open-air art gallery. The resort filled its public spaces with what it calls the nation’s first dedicated Art Concierge program, created in partnership with local gallery owner Mike McKosky of InArt Santa Fe.
The resort’s pathways are lined with sculptures, the gardens are punctuated by art, and canvases adorn the walls. Guests can partake in self-guided tours, join art walks, or arrange private gallery tours in town. Santa Fe is one of the country’s densest art destinations, with more than 250 galleries and a cultural scene spanning Canyon Road, the Railyard, and countless studios and museums scattered across town.
Culinary offerings
Even the avocado toast is a work of art
(Tamara Gane)
Both the bar and Terra, the resort’s main dining room, look straight out to the mountains, and on warm evenings most diners migrate to the terrace to take in the sunset. The menu blends Spanish, Mexican, and Native influences that define New Mexico’s food culture and celebrates local ingredients such as chiles, blue corn, and local meats.
The Bar keeps things more relaxed with tacos, wings, queso, and cocktails built around tequila and bourbon, and happy hour regularly draws guests out to the fire pits under the open sky. Additionally, cocktails and light bites are seasonally served poolside at The Shack.
The spa
The spa focuses on body, mind, and spirit
(Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encanto Santa Fe)
If the Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado feels like a high desert retreat, the 10,000-square-foot spa is an oasis cocooned within. The 15 treatment rooms gather around small courtyards, and each feels like it’s in a world of its own.
Treatments here are rooted in the region’s bounty, harnessing the properties of ingredients like adobe, sage, and cacao into many of the services. The focus here isn’t only on the body. The spirit is healed through rituals such as sound therapy, chakra balancing, and smudging ceremonies.
Hair, nail, and salon services are also available.
Highlighted activities and amenities
Daily guided hikes through the Adventure Center
(Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encanto Santa Fe)
The Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado Santa Fe connects to miles of hiking trails. During my stay, I took advantage of the scenery on complimentary daily guided hikes with the on-site Adventure Center.
The Adventure Center can also organize off-road adventures, mountain biking and hiking trips, hot air balloon rides, rafting, city tours, and more.
The pool has views of the mountains
(Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encanto Santa Fe)
I also spent time soaking in the views on a lounger next to the year-round heated pool. Other amenities include a state-of-the-art fitness center, a movement studio offering yoga and Pilates classes, and outdoor fire pits for conversation and ambiance throughout the property.
And of course, the complimentary shuttle service makes it easy to explore the galleries on Canyon Road and downtown Santa Fe.
Something for every season
The resort has something to offer year-round
(Even the advocado toast is a work of art)
What makes the resort especially worthwhile is how it shines in every season. Summer afternoons are dry and warm, perfect for hiking and pool time, while mornings stay cool enough for long walks in the foothills. Fall and spring open up the trails and day trips to places like Abiquiú and Ghost Ranch. Winter brings skiing, snowshoeing, and holiday lights in town, followed by evenings wrapped in blankets by a kiva fireplace.
Four Seasons Rancho Encantado is one of those places that you could visit in any month of the year and still feel like you’ve timed it exactly right.