Set in the foothills of Santa Fe, New Mexico’s Sangre de Cristo Mountains lies the Encantado Resort and Spa.

Proudly, the Encantado Resort and Spa, an Auberge Resort, can boast to the fact that they are New Mexico’s first and only AAA 5 Diamond resort.  Putting another feather in their cap, Condé Naste Traveler has also just listed them on their 13th annual Hot List!

Encantado is located about 10 minutes outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico.  From the moment that we pulled up to the valet stand, we could tell why this resort has received all of the accolades.  Instantly, the staff jumped to our attention, made us feel like royalty, and made is very clear that they were excited to have us visiting their property.

We were whisked into the beautiful lobby, greeted by a radiant smile at the registration desk, and after an expeditious check-in our host beamed that her new husband, who also worked at the resort, and was standing at attention behind us, would be ushering us to our private casita.

First impressions are critical, and the Encantado Resort and Spa scored high points in this area.

As we began to get settled into our casita, we heard a knock on the door and much to our surprise we were greeted with an ice cold bottle of champagne compliments of the hotel manager.  Nice Touch!

We began to unpack our belongings and made notice that everything that one would desire, from a world class resort, was present and accounted for.  Clearly a great deal of thought had gone into our casita to make certain that we would remember this place.

We found beautiful wood trim, exquisite tile-work in the bathroom, heated tile floors in the bath, a large soaking tub, a large shower with a rain mist head, wonderful smelling soaps, a large closet, a bed so comfortable that it almost defies you to leave it, a well stocked mini-fridge stocked with complimentary refreshments, a beautifully crafted desk to work from, a large deck over-looking the distant mountains, and a fireplace preloaded with wood simply waiting for a match upon the fire-starter block.

After refreshing ourselves a bit from our days travel, we headed off for a sunset dinner at the resort’s Terra Nova restaurant.  We will tell you more about Terra Nova in a separate post, but suffice it to say it’s chef was twice nominated by the James Beard Foundation for best chef in the Southwest.

After a fabulous meal, we returned to our room to find that the lights had been dimmed, soft music was playing on the casita’s entertainment system, the bed was turned back, there were 6 dark chocolate’s sitting in a beautiful box on the bed, there were slippers set on both sides of the bed, the pillows were fluffed, and there stood a large, solitary fireplace match entreating us to lite a fire in the fireplace.

We obliged.

The next morning, after a scrumptious night’s sleep, we enjoyed breakfast in our room, and then made our way to the spa to workout, take a steam bath, and luxuriate in the spa’s surroundings.

AAA’s Five Diamond awards are not easily earned.  But it is crystal clear why this has become New Mexico’s only AAA Five Diamond winner.

We give the Encantado Resort and Spa many thumbs up, and highly recommend that you make a luxurious, romantic stay at this world class resort.

Disclosure:  this experience was provided by Encantado Resort.