At a Glance
Rancho Encantado is a relaxing Four Seasons resort – with a pool and destination spa – located in a gorgeous setting a fifteen-minute drive outside Santa Fe.
Indagare Loves
- The one-bedroom Summit and Sunset suites for the best views and ultimate privacy
- The spa’s fifteen treatment rooms, several of which are open-air
- The seventy-five-foot-long outdoor pool (and cocktails at the pool bar)
- Dinner at Terra, the resort’s restaurant helmed by chef Andrew Cooper
Review
Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado lies a fifteen-minute drive north of downtown, which is precisely its draw. Perched on a ridge on fifty-seven acres, Santa Fe’s most sumptuous resort is all about space: there are sweeping desert views, especially from the large pool deck; the massive rooms feature minimalist-chic decor; and the property fronts a 1.8-million acre national forest, so hiking trails are literally in your backyard.
There are sixty-five guest rooms (called casitas) and one-bedroom suites, all housed in two-story buildings scattered on a hillside. Casitas on the lower floors have an outdoor patio and an outdoor fireplace, while those on the upper floor have a more expansive view and a sizable terrace. Unlike that at many properties in town, the décor here shies away from the somewhat expected Santa Fe style, embracing a more understated sensibility. It’s as if the designers who settled on the light-painted walls, dark-wood floors and sleek furniture realized that anything more precious would clash with the natural splendor of the great outdoors. Loving details including soft throws and blankets, wood-burning kiva-style fireplaces and original art add color and imbue a sense of warmth. As you’d expect at a Four Seasons property, the high-tech features are seamlessly integrated: heated bathrooms floors, flat-screen televisions and docking stations. And nearly everything in the minibar (included in the room rate except for alcoholic beverages) is locally sourced, which imparts a nice sense of place.
The luxury of space is also striking around the common spaces, which include an elevated pool area, a state-of-the-art fitness center, movement studio (yoga and Pilates) and massive outdoor fire pit off the Lounge Terrace, where a nightly ritual involves S’mores making and stargazing. And the Spa at Rancho Encantado is an appealing destination even for those not staying here. For a place like Santa Fe, which has long been renowned as a center for the healing arts and alternative medicine, the small number of high-end spas is surprising. (Until Rancho Encantado opened, visitors had to choose between Ten Thousand Waves, the famous Japanese-inspired wellness haven, which has some great therapists but a less than luxurious setting, and the spa at La Posada de Santa Fe, which has garnered mixed reviews for its treatments.) With its well-conceived layout, including steam rooms, soaking pools and a gorgeous circular relaxation room, the Spa at Rancho Encantado is the kind of place where you want to spend serious time (and the therapists and treatments are top-notch).
Since it re-opened as a Four Seasons resort, Rancho Encantado has struggled a bit to draw locals and visitors based in the downtown area up to its lofty perch: it reminded me of Amangani in Jackson Hole, blessed and cursed in equal parts with a stunning setting that’s geographically and mentally removed from the heart of the destination. For its guests, the resort also offers a fleet of Mercedes that can be used free of charge for the half-day or day, facilitating day trips to nearby sites including Bandelier Park, Ghost Ranch and Georgia O’Keeffe’s Abiquiu Studio. I for one found the restful day and night I spent here a fantastic conclusion to my Santa Fe visit. After two days of the bustle of downtown, with its droves of tourists, long lines for hot-spot restaurants and ubiquitous commerce, the time of relaxation and introspection at Rancho Encantado was a welcome change of pace.
Who Should Stay
Return visitors to Santa Fe who have “done” downtown and want a more sophisticated, luxurious hideaway, and first-timers who have spent a few nights in Santa Fe proper and want to conclude their journey with some relaxation outside town should choose Rancho Encantado.
Written by Simone Girner