After my wife and I stayed there recently, the hotel sent us a survey, asking our “advice” in several areas. Our advice? Train and motivate your staff! Everybody working there looked ready to blow their brains out. Nobody said, "Hi! Welcome to the Inn and Spa at Loretto! Great to have you here!" Felt like we were checking into a funeral home.

Room was remodeled, but it looks like they let the builder pick the colors and design on the cheap, not an interior architect. Red walls and black doors/trim made the room feel like a cave. Colorful bath floor tiles totally unrelated to black/white shower tiles--looked thrown together. Room had a big-screen, digital, plasma TV--but only an analog signal, so the picture quality was mush. That’s a prime example of the well-intentioned attempt that misses the target at this property.

When making the reservation, we were told construction had been completed (and it even says so in the “manager’s reply” on this web site), but awakened each morning to a guy down the hall sawing holes in the ceiling and pulling metal cable for lights--annoying!!

One morning, a staffer was collecting linen from the room next door at 8 am, and let the door slam 3 times as he completed his task. No one on staff moved with discretion or consideration that other guests might be resting, despite the retreat/oasis aspect the property promotes.

Concierge (and I use the term loosely) was like somebody's Grammy--nice, but not too whippy. When I asked a good restaurant to go for a special dessert, the “concierge” said, "Well almost anywhere serves dessert." Gee, thanks for that tremendous insight.

As we were loading our car after three days (we’d planned to stay for a week, but it just wasn’t worth it), there was a staff woman outside by valet pick-up that seemed terribly interested in our stay, how it was and so on. That's nice, but about three days too late. Valet guys seemed more on their toes than usual, probably because of her presence. The valet guys were at least helpful during our stay, offering accurate directions.

My online survey asked if staff addressed me by name. By name?! They barely acknowledged my presence! I didn't feel like anybody cared if we lived or died, much less if we stayed there again or not.

The fastest “improvement” for this place would be to drop "spa" from the property name; it's terribly misleading. There’s no spa—there are four massage rooms, and that’s it. No saunas, no hot tub, no cold plunge, no relaxation area—and no signage pointing the way to the, er, “spa.”. My wife went to get a massage early one evening, but found the "spa" closed. When she asked at the front desk, she was told the "spa" closed if they didn't have any appointments! What a joke. Closed by when? 10am? Noon? Five pm? And how are you supposed to make an appointment if it's never open? The “spa” was probably the worst, most misleading aspect of the entire experience. If you want a spa, stay at the Four Seasons Las Colinas near Dallas.

We felt like, overall, this place has delusions of grandeur, and is trying to be a five-star resort on the cheap, but falls woefully short. Even with an online discount, we paid high, premium prices for a decent Best Western level of accommodations. As noted in other reviews, location is perhaps the best aspect of this property, but there are countless places to stay in Santa Fe that are as well located.

Overall, we felt our stay at the Inn and Sort of a Spa at Loretto was very, very lame for the price.

I think a shower should work like this: turn the water on, wait for really hot water; dial the hot water back to the temperature you like; flip on the shower.

For Labor Day Weekend, in my $376/night Vista Grande room, my first shower (taken mid-afternoon on a Friday) worked like this: turn the water on, wait for hot water; wait longer for hot water; give up and take a quick rinse shower in tepid water; call for maintenance; take a nap after maintenance visits & hope for a full hot shower after the nap; after the nap, take a full shower in the same ol' tepid shower. It never improved throughout the weekend.

Discussions with the Desk Manager revealed that this is a known problem, that worked had been done on the pipes a few months ago, that it relates to the age of the building, and that she could not do anything about it. She did offer to discount my rate... but when I checked out at 5am on Monday (early flight :-( ), I found that this discount amounted to eliminating the $16/night parking charge. Whoopee! I left a note for the general manager, he has never bothered to contact me.

The bathroom itself has a very small tub/toilet space, and the room has little available furniture or drawer space for unpacking (not exactly comfy to store your clothes all over the room). The concierge service is exceptional - everyone was very very helpful. Be aware that there is a zoning hearing coming up for an addition to the hotel - thus, there may be future construction activities at the sight.

But if you relish a hot shower, avoid this hotel.

My sister and I booked a 3-night Luxury Link package and enjoyed our stay here very much. I had stayed several years ago and the hotel rooms have been redecorated since then. The hotel wasn't perfect then either, nor is it perfect now. The best thing about it is the location, a short walk to Canyon Road and also to the plaza. We were given room 416, a grande vista king with a miniscule balcony. The room was a very good size, with two comfortable chairs, a desk, and plenty of room for a rollaway bed. There was a non-working fireplace with a large flat-screen TV mounted over it. There was also a CD player which was a nice touch, and a minibar and coffeemaker (with surprisingly good in-room coffee). The bathroom had two sinks which was handy for getting ready in the morning. The king four-poster bed was very comfy and the linens were high-quality. There was no fan in the bathroom, no light in the shower, and one of the other lights in the bathroom did not work. Overall the lighting in the room was inadequate. I do not care for the dark red walls, and it is very strange that they did not bother to repair the walls before they painted, and that they used glossy paint which is just bizarre. Our package included a three-course dinner which was very good -- especially the fresh sweet pea soup, the scallops, and creme brulee. It also included breakfast each morning which was excellent. Service varied from outstanding to downright neglectful depending on the server. There is an outdoor pool with fairly comfortable chaise lounge chairs, and food and drinks can be ordered poolside although service was lax. Our package also included 2 massages which were OK but not great (mine was supposed to be 50 minutes but was actually only 45). One nice feature of the package was that it included valet parking, the resort fee, taxes, and tips (otherwise these charges really add up). I would definitely stay here again, mainly for the location, but probably only if I could get a similar package.