Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado Santa Fe

My daughter's wedding was flawless. Thank you. The service was always in the background and the property was beautiful. The staff was very helpful and the food was excellent. Thank you for upgrading my daughter's room. We will always select a four seasons property first when we travel.

Two unexpected difficulties - We were placed at opposite ends of the hotel from our teenage son (some might prefer this) by reservations. This was quickly rectified by the charming and very professional Laurence Georget, Director. Get a good GPS because the resort is not easy to find, especially at dead of night. Otherwise you can expect the usual Four Seasons high standard in service, good taste, and food.

Overpriced in comparison to the same category competition. The food in the restaurant was over priced and not up to the standards of a 5* experience. The kids menu is inadequate. Since the hotel is fairy remote it is quite a drive to dine elsewhere and off site.

We stayed 2 nights at the Four Seasons Santa Fe with two other couples and were truly disappointed (we actually left a day early). If we had a dollar for every "we're so sorry" we got from the staff, this would have paid off our stay... The property is about 20 Minutes from downtown Santa Fe and consists mainly of attached 2 floors casitas. Our room was a short one minute walk from the front office where you have the restaurant and bar area. The room on the first floor was welcoming with a fireplace next to the bed and a small outdoor patio. The bathroom was pleasant with a large shower. The front desk and valet staff (including shuttle staff) was quite pleasant. Unfortunately the rest of the property is not what one would expect from a Four Seasons. While the region is absolutely beautiful, the grounds of the property itself are very average and will not put you into awe. Nice but nothing more. As for the rooms, do not expect a view or privacy. Our casita (over $600/night) looked at the back of another casita (see pic) while the other casitas to our right were overlooking the parking lot. Choose a second floor with probably a better view and you won't have (like we did...) to cope with the noisy neighbors above you. The path to the other rooms was less than 3 feet away from our patio, so forget privacy. Also we had to make sure we closed the shades in the bathroom if we did not want the other casita (upstairs floor) to look into our bathroom. Service is not up to par with a Four Seasons. We were told we would have umbrellas in the room. There were none. We asked twice since it was raining, but never got them (eventually we got tired of waiting and walked under the rain to the front desk and got them from the valet guys). Our bathroom had one small soap for the 2 of us (Motel 6 anyone...), also the amenities are on the light side (no lotion, no mouthwash). In the fitness center, you have to call someone to change the music (after 2 calls and 20 Minutes later someone eventually came and turned off the music, we laughed with the other people there and just gave up). The worse part was the restaurant. While breakfast was good, we can't say the same about our diner and lunches. Service is the worse. The staff while all smile, does not care so don't expect to get your food quickly (took more than two and a half hour for diner, while most other tables were also waiting for their food; one guest from another table actually got really upset) and they do the bare minimum (they had no problem looking at us standing up to pour the wine. They left empty plates for more than half an hour in front of us while just standing in the corner. They looked at me taking pictures of the large brocoli piece on the floor by our breakfast table -see pic- but all kept walking around it...). The diner food was disappointing (we sent back the foie gras, the soft shell crab was greasy, the lamb was overcooked and we're still searching for the apricots in the apricot salad) but so was the lunch with so much fat in the sliders it was scary (see the pic!!!). In all fairness, they did take these off our bill (but we want food not a discount). Also during lunch time there were too many flies in the bar and restaurant area. One employee stood out, Marcos at the bar who was attentive and prompt. Thank you Marcos for briefly bringing the Four Seasons back in this property... The wine cellar is a cool glass structure in the back of the restaurant, and someone had the "brilliant idea" to put a long fireplace in front of it. Hot wine is quite nice on the slopes of Switzerland, but not sure about Santa Fe... while the bottles on the length of the fireplace were empty (thank God...) all the ones bordering the fireplace were full (vinegar anyone?...). We got eventually tired of all of this and the constant "we're so sorry" and elected to leave early. For this brand and the price, our expectations were clearly not met. We mentioned all of this when we left (still waiting for some management to come back to us) while our friends just elected not to bother and just left. Disappointing. We actually elected to stay at the Peninsula in Paris next month rather than the Four Seasons, we did not want to take the risk..

Snuck away for a night for our anniversary and we loved this property! It was quiet and intimate getaway. We loved the wood-burning fireplace in the room and on the patio. Perfect for the crisp mornings and an afternoon rainshower. We will definitely come back!