The Historic Taos Inn

Loved being able to park the car and walk everywhere. Lobby and bar were very charming. We enjoyed the live music in the evening. Excellent Paloma! |Fireplace with wood in the room was great We enjoyed relaxing with fire. Rooms were comfortable and well equipped. |Staff was very pleasant.

Our room was so cozy with southwestern charm and a fireplace ready to go. The rooms open in a courtyard so they are quiet and well apart from bar and restaurant activity, which we also enjoyed. Comfortable bed, great heater and just such great decor!

I think if I could give them 10 stars, I would! They happened to be having an employee party last evening. The restaurant and bar were closed. They brought in food for them and had live music. When I asked about getting a drink and dinner they said to join them for the free food! So awesome! One of the managers even found a glass of wine for me. All on the house! The inn is kind of sprawling and so dang cute. Divided into several courtyards that are just perfect. Thank you Taos Inn and your staff! I shall return.

A one night getaway. Chose the Taos Inn mainly because location and food on the location. A quick walk to the plaza too. The Adobe Bar had amazing enchiladas and cold beer. Also live music! He was excellent! |The room was super sweet and comfortable. We will be back with friends next time. New Mexico 100%!|PS, Vincent at the desk answered questions and was as efficient as anyone ever could be. Great stay.

The Taos Inn delivers an exceptional experience that truly reflects the spirit and hospitality of Taos. From check-in through check-out, the staff was consistently courteous, professional, and efficient. Dining at both the Adobe Bar & Grill and Doc Martin’s Restaurant was a highlight, with excellent food and a diverse selection of quality adult beverages. Based on this experience, the Taos Inn will be my preferred place to stay on all future visits to Taos.

Gave 4 stars as probably best hotel in Taos. Loved the wood in the room to build a fire. Location is perfect, everything is walkable. Hotel service was a let down. For example went to dinner and was about 15 minutes before anyone checked on us for drinks. Pro tip you do not want a room near the bar due to music from bar. All in all would go back, but treat as a select service hotel as compared to a full service.

We travel to Santa Fe once a year . Our favorite place to stay is The Taos Inn. Our room was beautiful with a fireplace. We love the Adobe Bar and the music every night. We love Doc Martin’s restaurant!

Beautiful, charming hotel with great location to restaurants & shopping. Loved our room with wood burning fireplace. Great service & great atmosphere with live music in the lobby. Highly recommend & would definitely stay here again.

I loved it all. I can't imagine staying anywhere else in Taos. Sure, It could use some updates but that's why it's charming. It's frozen in time. If you want modern go to a cookie cutter hotel without a soul. But this place is real, and the location is fantastic. I had an incredibly memorable experience that include the room and the staff, and will always go back.

Finding a hotel in Taos is not easy: There are a bunch of places that look like hippie forest retreats that aren't walking distance to town. There's that fancy-pants California boutique hotel that should've opened a year ago that probably won't be open a year from now. Hotel La Fonda gives off a "Fawlty Towers goes adobe" vibe. So what you're left with is... the Taos Inn. Excuse me -- "The Historic Taos Inn." The website is slick and stylish, so one wouldn't be blamed for expecting a slick and stylish historic boutique hotel, right? Well, Taos Inn is old. There are no electronic key cards here; big brass keys are the order of the day here. One is also hard-pressed to figure out how to use any sort of heating or cooling in the rooms, which have portable space heaters and box fans stashed in the closets for guests' use. On a softness-to-firmness scale, Taos Inn's beds would rate somewhere between "mortuary slab" and "bedrock." The gas fireplace in a friend's room, lit by a switch on the wall, proved to be purely decorative on a frigid autumn night. At least there's historic charm, right? Well, maybe, but I wouldn't know. On our visit, the hotel was festooned in cheesy in Halloween decorations, all decked out like an overly enthusiastic middle school teacher's classroom. Someone really went overboard at Spirit Halloween, and the place just looks tacky -- that is, even more tacky than normal with its walls covered in mediocre art for sale. Fake spongy "cobwebs" were strewn everywhere, and the central light well beneath the small cupola had a scene involving a baby covered in spiders. Cute. Taos Inn also seems to think it's still 1993 and that some scruffy dude with a guitar singing sad songs is a hip and cool thing. (Note to Taos Inn: It's not.) Guests are subjected to live music in the lobby every night, whether they want it or not. The lobby is a small space, and Taoseños are the types to sit quietly and listen rather than talk through a performance, so there is absolutely no reason to amplify it all. There is no excuse for the noise. The Taos Inn is quaint, but it's not at the level of style at which a historic hotel in a destination like Taos should be. Worse, it's an extremely uncomfortable hotel at which to spend a night.

I love this place. I love the small decorated rooms, I love the restaurant and bar, where it is located, I love the daily entertainment and service. If I visit Taos again, you can be sure you will know where to find me.

Our car broke down at 9:00pm and Taos Inn was able to get us in without an issue. Check in/out was easy, Brandi at the front desk was lovely and the room was great.

After many years of visiting the Taos Inn, and having memorable experiences, we were very disappointed with their new food and beverage strategy this past week. They made significant changes to the food and beverage menu. With everything we tried being of low quality and very high prices. The nachos were dull. They removed the guacamole and sour cream from the recipe and we had to pay a lot of $ for order as extras. We also ordered salsa and this was of course extra and it tasted like someone opened a can of chopped tomatoes and dumped it in the tiny serving bowl. Margaritas went up in price and very acidic. Hopefully, management will get feedback and adjust accordingly.

Michael is always great. The new bar menu has me upset. We can't order our favorite beet salad and half nachos. We probably won't eat here anymore.

My friend stayed here 3 nights. He commented that the room was very quiet. Bed ok. The chair in the room is a thrift store reject. When you sit on it, you drop way down. Not comfortable, hard to get up out of. On the second day they only left 1 washcloth. They didn't take the one that was crumpled up in the tub. For the price that is paid, I expect things to be done correctly. It's a great location for walking in town. Tea and coffee is available in the lobby in the morning. When we checked in, the man should have told us that. Should have Earl Grey tea.

It truly pains me to have to give a less than glowing review, because I have loved this location for years. This is at least my fifth or sixth stay, but unfortunately, it seems to be going downhill. The biggest issue is simply one of customer service. The man who checked me in at the front desk seemed unconcerned and uncooperative. And then, both in the bar early in the afternoon, and then on the patio eating dinner in the evening, both servers virtually ignored me for long periods of time. My dinner took over 30 minutes to come out, and when I complained about waiting for it, it was brought to me immediately but it was clear that it had heat lamps for quite some time. The property is absolutely lovely, and I recognize that a historic property like this is a balancing act, between authenticity and modern conveniences. However, the property is messy, lots of debris around, and the rooms are still equipped as if it were the 1950s. A wall heater that does not work, cooling system with just three settings. The chain lock on the door is installed backwards so it would not perform properly. This should be a 4 1/2 or five star property, but needs some significant management improvement. One more note - the street in front of the end was torn up, so I had to do a four block detour to get to it. In addition, because of the work, many of the local business is we're not open or available. I know this isn't the responsibility of this property, but I would've preferred to have some prior notice. It wouldn't have prevented me coming, but it would've been nice to have had some prior notice. Personally, I am more likely to visit a property when it tells me of potential issues, then to return to that property when they haven't given prior warning.

The bathroom in Unit 202 is very dated and sadly dirty with moldy tiles and horrible caulk work. No hot water made the morning wake up especially cringe worthy. Front desk staff said that the lack of hot water was because "it was so cold outside" (only 33 degrees - hardly what I would call "cold"), and that I "needed to run the water for 20 minutes to get hot water." I can report that the mattress and pillows were comfortable and bedding clean, otherwise I would have rated my room a 1*.

If you are looking for rustic, this is your place. I will say the room was very nice. Even had a log fireplace if you wanted to make a fire. But the bathroom was tiny and needs a complete remodel. The grout and caulk were yucky. The shower head did not spray correctly. And I hate open showers. Either have a door or a shower curtain. What I think was a heated fan did not work so the bathroom was freezing all the time. The room was spacious though. Nice big comfy bed. Also, I got there very early in the day and they were able to get me into a room. They did everything by text message so that was a bit weird but I never needed anything so all good. Good location to shops and restaurants.

The new owners are doing worse than the old owners. And the old owners were already doing an extremely terrible job. From the poor lighting in the lobby area, which cannot be dimmed from what I am told, to the intolerably bad, automated phone system that takes 10 minutes of frustration to reach a human inside the hotel, this place is on track to win the worst hotel in New Mexico award. There are a few great people that work here, but they don't stand a chance against the horrible system that is managing and running this property. If you're lucky enough to find someone who will agree to serve you in the restaurant or bar or patio, don't expect to get the right drink or dish off the menu anytime soon. This place is a failure.

I've stayed here a couple of time. Great location, very clean room and massive history. I will return.

I'm a bit disappointed in the room we received for the night. We're paying $220 for a night in a "standard full" which we assumed would be a room similar to the first 3 photos I had submitted. The room looks nice, updated bathroom. I would pay $220 a night for something like this. Instead we received room 117, which is a complete different room compared to the ones presented. (Photos included), plus very noisy due to being located exactly next door to the restaurant within the Inn. Feels almost like a scam that I'm presented a room and would receive anything similar to it. If you're wanting to say here just know it can be a gamble between a really nice room that deserves the $220 cost, or an outdated room that I cannot overstate the noise. Save your money if you can and buy something cheaper. It is actually quite disgusting this room isn't refundable. Nothing on the website tells you that you may get a super shitty room. This Inn should be labeled as a scam if it isn't already. No fridge, microwave, hot water machine. Nothing. And I'm paying $220?

The place has potential, but the food server only checked on us once during the nearly 1 hour stay at our table in the bar area. The chips and salsa were mediocre at best with the chips, being stale, and the salsa being nearly ice cold. The decor was great, atmosphere was excellent. Being I'm from Vegas, I know the target audience and budgets could be in concern... But a lot of potential can be found on this Dec 23 from the Taos Ski Valley in which revenue can be drawn from there. I am a frequent flyer of this area and I love supporting the local scene!

Checked in for three day stay; checked out after 15 minutes. The place is just old now and in need of a serious overhaul. Our two room unit had old and incredibly stained carpeting. But the kicker was seeing a mouse run along wall and into a hole in corner of room. We were out the door within a minute. I have to say the front desk woman was extremely apologetic and kind to us. Hopefully, owners will rip up ratty carpeting and seriously address mouse issue, since inn also has restaurant and unlikely the one mouse is living alone.! Not happy to post this but this place needs to step back, perhaps close parts of it for a time and do rehab.

Oh this place is filled with great memories from the days of ski bumming in the 1980's. The decor and architecture is still amazing. But you reader are not here for that trip down memory lane. Let's talk about the Adobe Bar! If you are ready for a nice long wait to be waited upon, and receive copious quantities of water refills, before seeing the margarita you ordered, this is the place for you. Seriously, 15 minutes before taking our order and 16 minutes before being service 2 margaritas. But.... Take it all in. The Taos experience, land of poor customer service unless you are familia. Oh Taos, you have not changed. Same old same old. Inexperienced flustered waitress, probably a bartender that is slowing her service. Yea, all that restaurant hospitality personal interrelationship drama that affects customer service is revealed right here are the adobe bar. Here is my advice, relax. Enjoy the wonderful surroundings and live music. Yes, you dear reader. Give your waitress a little patience. Pause for more than a moment. Maybe enjoy a little conversation with your dining/drinking partner. You will get your margarita, eventually. Oh and it was one hell of a margarita too!! Best of luck to the new owners of Taos Inn! Thank dog the oyster bar is retired.

Great hotel- fireplace in the room was a major plus! Excellent evening entertainment! Drinks and food were a bit overpriced, but of high quality. It's right across from the center of the town and super convenient. Lots of parking. Would be nice if there were continental breakfast options available at the hotel, but there are options nearby. Would definitely stay here again.

Do NOT stay at this hotel. We had the displeasure of staying one night, planned on two, but it was so bad we left early and drove a long way home. It is very run down. Beds are small and uncomfortable. Rooms are loud. Staff is unbelievably rude. I mean OFF the chains rude. Stay anywhere else, a tent outside would be better, but do not stay at the Taos Inn.

Old times Taos. My parents honeymooned here and I stayed here often before moving back to Taos. Located smack-dab in the middle of it all.

This place is charming and awesome. Nestled right in downtown Taos it'a close to everything. The inside is rustic and feels like a warm inviting cabin. The hotel is set up much like a bed and breakfast where each room has its own entrance off of a courtyard. It's so quaint and rustic. The rooms themselves are large! They're spacious and include a gas fireplace, desk, closet space, and shower. The Adobe Bar and Doc Martins restaurant are inside the hotel and there are several great places to eat and shop within walking distance. This place is great. I felt so warm and cozy and at home in my room. I had space to spread out and didn't feel cramped like a typical hotel. Will definitely be back!

Everything you want from a rustic inn in beautiful Taos. Friendly and knowledgeable staff, comfortable rooms and centrally located. I highly recommend the Taos Inn!

This is an outstanding place in every way--beautiful, charming rooms; delicious, interesting food; and great entertainment in the evenings. We have been at the Taos Inn many times and always loved it. I have read some of the reviews and wonder why the people express themselves so poorly--almost to the point of illiteracy. Is English their second language, do you suppose?

We enjoyed our stay. While historic, many of the fixtures have been modernized, which is good. The room was small for us, and the chairs were low and not very comfortable. If you have knee problems you may find it hard to get out of the low chairs. Parking is behind the hotel down an alley. Try to scope it out before you go. As the front of the hotel is right on the street, you'll want to park behind and follow signs to the desk. It was a pleasant stay.

Stay of 10/22/22...Musty room, frayed and ratty carpet, spider webs and spiders, pink slime on shower nozzle and wore out furniture. I am at a loss at the good reviews?? This may have been a good place once upon a time long ago, but that time has passed. A major nasty disappointment.

The room is advertised on their website at "Queen suite" starting at $109/night... The price when you go in is $178/night for a small full size bed. I asked them about their advertisement, and they couldn't explain their discrepancy. The place is nice but not so nice (in summer) for the price of a small room on the main drag in town.

Stayed there within the past week. Julie at the front desk was great! Having been in her position for only two weeks, she was bombarded with all kinds of guests who had needs when a broken water pipe shut off the water for half a day. She was grace under fire.

Yes! Incredible food. The nachos are the best in town, the margaritas too expensive and not so good. But the food is delicious.

3.5 STARS. Great downtown, near squre, location. Nice rooms, nice beds, but small tv. Lots of great nearby shopping and food. Our negatives are very low toilets, need hard surface parking lot so your suitecase rolls. Front desk staff not overly freindly.

Gone are the days the customer is stuck with just whatever... Upon check in, the front desk should ask if you are okay in a room across from the bar/dining area. I came for a relaxing couple of days. This is NOT relaxing. I can already hear people's conversation. I am hopeful they will make it right and will update my review. Not off to a great start! Moved me to a second room and low and behold someone else's suitcase was there! Moved me to another room and this is the shower. The reviews were a bit deceiving. I would not have stayed here with a gross shower. Thank god I am not still by the bar! Can still hear the performer from the other aide of the court yard. I am stuck here for two nights. I will absolutely NOT recommend this hotel to anyone!

Stayed here in June 2022 for several days. Staff were friendly and attentive to our needs. The room was dated and small but this is a "historic " Inn The prices were fair and the bar down stairs was busy on the weekends. It was a good stay overall

Great place to stay or sit in the lobby and drink and watch the entertainment. Food and drinks are good and the waitstaff is very friendly and accommodating. I love the old room in the main building, squeaky floors and all.

This place is very nice! We got in late and have never stepped in the lobby, but had a wonderful correspondent via text that he answered all of our questions. The room is super comfy. I wish we had at least a fridge or one available. The absolute only thing to complain about is that they give you one bundle of wood for a fire. If we paid for each day separately, we'd have 3 bundles of wood, but we paid for 3 days together so we only get one bundle of wood... don't get it. The inn is lovely! You should stay here

Wonderful hotel. Room was super clean, bed and pillows comfy and cozy. Safe parking in the back. Dinner and beverages at the bar were delicious and convienent. Fireplace and wing back chairs were enjoyed. I loved the set up with the courtyard. Mini fridges would be a nice addition. Will definitely return!

I live in Taos so I don't stay at the inn, but 3 friends and I went there for music and food a week ago. One of us ordered the burger and fries and it cost $20.00 for the wimpiest looking burger (more like a slider but slightly larger) and a scattering of fries. Ridiculous. You can go to the Sagebrush Inn and get an 8 ounce burger with a load of fries for about $13.00. The rest of us got the loaded nachos with beef. There may have been a tablespoon of beef if that. All 4 of us decided to never go back to the Taos Inn. I give them 1 star.

We enjoyed a lovely week at the Historic Taos Inn. The location cannot be beat. The bar and restaurant are very good, too. Mack and Crystal at the front desk were helpful, friendly, and full of good humor. This is a historic building and we loved it, but it is not your modern, sleek hotel. You'll need to be accepting of some things like old carpet and small bathrooms. It is worth it to stay in this solid, Adobe hotel. Highly recommend!

Good margaritas.Shares space with hotel and restaurants. Who closes at 9!?!?! Anyway. Kinda lame. But Taos isn't Santa Fe. Oh well

The only thing good I have to say is that the location was great, the mattress was comfortable, and the shower water was warm. When we first arrived, we could not find the parking lot, so my husband parked in a pay lot while I went to check in. I got to the front door, which is the same door as the Adobe Bar, but it was locked until 5 p.m. I couldn't find instructions telling me where to go to check in, so I proceeded down the street. That's when I saw a teeny sign pointing to the parking lot. Just then my husband caught up to me and I showed him the sign. He walked back down the street to move the car while I walked to the back of the building to try to find out where to check in. Another hotel patron told me that I had to go through the back door and showed me where it was. The check in and parking instructions should have been clearly explained in the itinerary that was emailed to us. Then when we checked in, we were informed that there was an additional $50 damage deposit. Up to this point we had not been told about this fee. We paid the fee, because at this point in our trip it was too late to book somewhere else. Then the woman at the front desk told us that they had upgraded us. If this was an upgrade, I can't even imagine what our original room was like. Our room was awful. Knowing that this is an historic inn I expected the room to be small and quaint. What I did not expect was for the room to be shoddy, in disrepair, and uncomfortable. It was nothing like any of the rooms depicted on the inn's website. The website photos showed rooms that were bright, well-lit and had nice furniture. Our room had one cheap desk lamp and a free-standing lamp neither of which gave off much light. We tried to open the blinds to let in some daylight, but they were old and broken. Luckily, I packed a flashlight which I used for just about everything. We proceeded to unpack our clothes, but there were zero drawers in which to store them. There was a closet but it's difficult to hang underwear and socks. Also, the closet was small which would not have been a problem if there had not been a full-size ironing board and iron stored in it. Who irons while on vacation? Instead of storing ironing equipment in the closet why not let whoever wants it ask for it? The floor was uncomfortable. Every time I took a step it felt as if my foot was going to go through the floor. I'm glad I backed slippers because there was no way I was walking in my stocking feet on those filthy floors. The bathroom was clean and well-lit but there were no counters or shelves on which to put our bathroom items down. There was enough room for our toothbrushes and toothpaste but that was it. The water was warm and there was plenty of it. My husband didn't notice that the bottom of the deep trub was below floor level and caught himself just in time. He almost fell getting into the shower. I'm glad he took his shower first and warned me because I would have fallen. The bed was the ugliest I have ever seen, but the mattress was comfortable. The location was great. We were able to easily walk to the shopping district and felt very safe. We had planned to have dinner at the Adobe Bar after shopping but decided to look at the menu first. I realize Taos is a tourist town and expected restaurant prices to be high, but these prices were just too much especially for plain food. No way! We drove down the street and found a very nice reasonably priced tap room just down the street. The food and beer were good. We relaxed and had fun. When we returned a couple of hours later, we went back to our room to relax but by then the band had started up at the Adobe Bar. The music was so loud that we could neither watch TV nor read comfortably. We should have been warned so that we could have requested a room away from the bar or stayed away until after 9:00 p.m. when the music ended. The swamp cooler was loud, so we turned it off before going to sleep. Luckily nights in Taos are cool so we were comfortable. At about 6 a.m. someone decided to stand outside our window to have a loud conversation on his cell phone. I guess he didn't want to wake his wife up but didn't consider the other hotel patrons. We will never stay at The Historic Taos Inn again, but I don't think anyone cares. Someone like us will come along and look at the website, see the photos, believe the descriptions and book a room not knowing that this hotel in in disrepair. We will return to Taos, but we'll stay at a hotel away from the shopping district and just drive there. It's an easy drive and there is plenty of parking, paid if you don't want to walk or free if you don't mind walking two or three blocks.

Pros: Lovely facilities. Sweet location. The groundskeeper/gardener is wonderful Not Pros: For the two nights we were there, the bar/lobby scene (with music) tended to be more annoying (from an audio perspective) than it needed to be. The host of the Monday open mic was nice, but not much on mixing (tubby guitars through 15" mains), and the solo guitarist the next night was so loud that, even in the furthest recesses of the bar (the musician was in the lobby), it felt like we were inside a boom box. Folks at other tables (hiding in the far end of the bar) were complaining of the same thing. Servers those evenings also exhibited what we learner later was a stereotypical Taos affect, to wit: 'you won't be here tomorrow or next week, and I will, so good service is optional.' Pros Again: Visitors who spend more money can get a more remote (and-presumably-quieter) room... Lovely small courtyards, etc. Folks at the front desk were lovely, too.

This place is a broken down excuse for a hotel. For $175 a night, we had a tiny room with old furniture, a leaky tub with a gross stain and a swamp cooler that sounded like a Boeing 747 was landing in our room. Avoid at all costs. To top it off, you can hear every word from the lobby as if someone was in your room but don't worry, that's only when you turn off the ceiling swamp cooler. I won't say this place is exactly a dump, but for $175, it's certainly a rip off.

Difficult time for hotels. However, these folks did a marvelous job last week. Clean rooms, masks totally required. Food outdoors and in room was magnificent. Lovely experience. I'd possibly avoid room on courtyard on weekend, next time, as guests gathered there for drinks and loud talking til 1:30am. However, the hotel can't control that piece. I'll be back for another stay in future.

We stopped in for lunch on a Saturday and it was not busy or crowded at all. Upon entering, staff were engaged in personal conversation and side work. After two "look aways" from servers and a 10 minute wait, our party of 4 headed for the door but then asked a front desk person to help us. She retrieved the hostess from the kitchen. After some initial confusion at the Host stand, we were curtly informed that only Brunch was available in the restaurant but that we could order other lunch items in the bar. So off we went as we wanted to try the famous Chile Rellenos. The platter came with two blue corn-beer battered Anaheim chiles, green chile, rice, pinto beans, pumpkin seeds & chèvre cream. The only complaint is that we didn't take longer to eat these. But we did savor every bite of the chiles which were wrapped in a blanket of pure Southwest comfort with all of those ingredients. Not sure I've ever tasted layers of flavor quite like this. Absolutely delicious! A Kiva fireplace and a mug of Mexican chocolate - would have been a perfect finish but alas, it was to be only in our minds as we had to hit the bricks. A shout out to the awesome Katie Rose who took such good care of us during our lunch and made up for the earlier shortcomings. She is a gem. Would have given this place 4 stars were it not for the yucky first impression.

It definently checks all the boxes for historic. Centrally located, it also has a bar and restaurant on site but is walking distance to historic Taos so you would not even need your car. The monday morning staff could use some pointers on basic nice (a reply to a good morning would be polite) but over all they were pleasant. If I return I would definently not stay in the main lodge second floor. The floors are sloped which makes the bed and bathroom like a fun house. The AC system kicks on like a jet engine every 30 minutes or so. Does not seem to regulate. Temps (in September) in the room went from too hot to Arctic.

Well who has the best coffee in town at 7am? This place. Surprising I know but they care about their beans. And it's free.... Arrived late and found my queen room clean, bed comfortable. Doc Martins has a fine dining menu and the food didn't disappoint. Margaritas at the bar were reasonably priced and they didn't skimp on the tequila. A plus with me. They are located in a perfect spot- close to shops and the Kit Carson park where I watched the sunrise this morning. With an exceptionally good cup of coffee. 4 stars.

We love this place. It's right in town, has plenty of parking, and Margs that are unrivaled. We usually stay in one of the back buildings...rooms with fireplaces are kind of cool and plenty roomy. Doc Martins has great food, and there is another great place, Grahams's Grill, right across the street. One is but a short block away from the unimpressive square. Rubber tomahawks and bad art galore. The staff is friendly and helpful and the prices are right.

This used to be my favorite place to hang out on the patio and have a great margarita. Went this week, and found the staff attitude and the drinks to be suffering mightily. I get that Covid had an effect on everything, and I understand that. And I understand how hard it is to be on a restaurant staff right now. But being rude and confrontational is a choice just like being professional and pleasant can be a choice. So probably won't be returning just for how we were treated this week.

I am spending my first night in Taos at this historic inn. I'm in my pajamas - in my room with a glass of wine - listening to some excellent music by local performing artist Rudy Boy Jaramillo. The man is absolutely great. What more could a music lover want? If I had gotten a more private space in the back I would have missed all this.

We've been going to the Inn for years to enjoy the margaritas, live music and those fantastic chile rellenos, but never had the opportunity to stay there. So we were excited to have that chance over new year's weekend. We enjoyed the accommodations as we know it is an old, historic hotel and expect a certain charm that comes with such facilities. The food was excellent and restaurant staff was fantastic. Unfortunately that can't be said for some of the other folks working there. We had a large group of people and understand it can be difficult to deal with a crowd. But there was a waitress who gave our group a hard time CONSTANTLY. Even the bartenders told us to ignore her but it was hard to do so because it never let up. Inside the bar, in the lobby, wherever, she took upon herself to badger us. She never offered a solution other than to leave. There was also a young man who was less than hospitable about me looking into an unlocked firewood bin ($8 a bundle by the way, hardly enough for about a 15 minute fire). I knew you charge for it and told him I would take the wood and go up front to pay for it, but he wouldn't accept that and decided instead to be a jerk. So, I'll still return for the good stuff but couldn't recommend staying there to anyone.

The inn has charm, and the groundskeeper should be the one running it. However, the room we had (can't speak for the others) was freezing (outside it was in the low 40's that night), and when I called to let them know the thermostat wasn't working, I was informed that they hadn't turned the heat on yet!!! They had a space heater they would let us use! There's only one chair and no small table in the room. The parking lot is too small so if you come in at night, you have to squeeze in where you can. If you like your morning coffee, you have to hike to the lobby. This place needs refreshing! Great location, but we'll find something else next visit.

For our Xmas Holiday, we decided to check out the legendary Historic Taos Inn to see what all the fuss is about! The drive to Taos is a beautiful drive surrounded by majestic mountains, the "Ring of Enchantment."Just absolutely stunning views. Since 1936, situated in the middle of a small mountain town, The Historic Taos Inn, aka "the living room of Taos," is it's lobby bar, Doc Martins, the locals hangout. It has long been frequented by celebrities like Greta Garbo, D. H. Lawrence, and Pawnee Bill, more recently by Jessica Lange & Robert Redford among others. It's an adobo style hotel with charming western flair that's within walking distance to the legendary Taos square. We couldn't have been happier with the location or our southwestern style chic room. It was very large, with a king size bed, a kiev fireplace, shutters on all the windows you could close for privacy & the bathroom was truly unique, with a two person shower & a bathroom heater which came in handy during our snowy xmas stay. We were there a week & it was quite a eventful memorable stay! The morning we slept in, the front desk called & wanted to know if we wanted maid service. We asked for them to come & to bring us a ash bucket so we could clean the fireplace. I still had my PJ's on when there was a knock on the door. They explained that they all leave around noon for the day so if you want maid service they had to do it right then. It was a whole possy of them, they quickly took over the room & one guy went over to the fireplace and started shoveling hot ash not realizing that we had a fire earlier that morning, till it was too late. Within a couple mins there was smoke all over the room, everyone was choking, the fire alarm went off, they opened all the doors & windows to air out our room while I was standing there in my cowboy & Indian pajamas, as a crowd of hotel guests outside loomed. The local pueblo maids were not happy with their local brethren that smoked us all out, they were snarling at him, saying something funny in their native language while he apologized profusely to them as well as to us, poor guy. We thought it was hilarious. We just stood there laughing at the "live" entertainment. There is also "live" entertainment in the lobby most nights & that night we decided to hang out at the lobby bar, Doc Martins & par-take in the local festive mix as well as the legendary margarita mix :)' The local free entertainment was hippy cool, the atmosphere was apri ski chic, the hand made margaritas were superbly stellar "legendary" like everyone says ;) The food was unexpectedly gourmet, the rattlesnake sausage & the lentil salad was killer! We had the most entertaining memorable Christmas Eve night mingling with the local artist & international skiers as well as other American tourists. I had the most intellectual conversation with one very talented local artist, he was a unique breath of fresh air. We quickly made acquaintances & I now have a fine piece of his work. There were lots of hugs at the end of the night, as we all closed the place down together. Around midnight stumbling back to our room realizing it was Xmas, we decided to open our gifts along with some champagne, cheese, crackers, pâté, etc., It was lightly snowing & so romantic by the kiev fireplace. Hubby was dancing round channeling Don Quixote till sugar plums danced round in our heads & we fell fast asleep in our super comfy bed :)) Around 4am we woke to scratching noises on the back window. There was something BIG trying to come in!!! Hubby was like go back to sleep, its just Rudolf & Santa. Then it climbed up on the roof of our room and was walking around on the roof, it kept scratching trying to get in, then it growled!!! We. freaked. out!!! Then hubby says "Thats def not Santa!" Yikes!!! We looked over at the coffee table full of leftover pâté, stinky cheese's etc., & jumped up like the scene out of Home Alone running around the room in circles!!! We thought we were surely going to get eaten!!! Hubby grabbed the fire poker, I grabbed some scissors & hubby goes "what are you gona do with those, cut his hair??" Right! Not a good plan. So I got the garbage bag, tossed all the food in it, tied it up & what seemed like an eternity, but was actually a few mins, became quiet again. As we peeked out the window, the bear slowly disappeared into the falling snow, vanished into the dark winters night. The most exhilarating Christmas we have ever had & won't soon forget! We left the next day, on our way out, the staff thanked us, told us they enjoyed having us :) Now we know what all the fuss is about! Voted: "Top Ten Most Romantic Inns." By Travel America. "My first choice in Taos & best value." Travel & Leisure. "Old west atmosphere & perfect location." Zagat survey. We 100% agree duh! We also want to add: "Amazing Experience & Coolest Christmas Holiday Adventure Ever!"