City: Santa Fe, NM

Category: Accommodations

Telephone: (505) 988-2811, (800) 336-3676

Address: 100 Sandoval St.

Description: Although it looks rather ordinary from the outside, the Hilton of Santa Fe is in fact quite extraordinary in that it was built around a 300-year-old hacienda that belonged to one of Santa Fe’s early prominent families. Casa de Ortíz now encompasses the hotel’s dining room, as well as three luxurious casitas built into and around what used to be Nicholas Ortíz III’s coach houses. Two of the spacious casitas are one-bedroom suites and a third has two bedrooms; each has a “window” from which guests can view the original thick adobe walls that have stood for three centuries. The decor is modern southwestern with such traditional touches as kiva fireplaces, viga ceilings, and four-poster beds. One casita has a heart-shaped tub. Ask about Internet specials.Just a few blocks from the Plaza, the hotel has a total of 157 rooms, five suites, and three casitas, including the Casa de Ortíz. It boasts Santa Fe’s largest outdoor pool, which has a 6-foot tile bear fetish on the bottom. Other amenities include an outdoor Jacuzzi, a health club, and three restaurants. The award-winning Piñon Grill was built on the site of the Ortíz bedroom. The hotel’s 6,000-square-foot meeting space was the Ortízes’ private sanctuary. Voice mail and modem ports are standard in all guest rooms. The suites and casitas have kitchens. The hotel is completely nonsmoking.