Bishop’s Lodge Ranch Resort & Spa

Oh my, this is the most fantastic place to stay at. The sad thing is they are going to renovate it starting At the end of September.
But part of it is remaining open. I have never been at a better resort. It is vintage, luxurious, peaceful and very private. Management is the best ever!!! No regrets and after renovations I cannot even imagine what it’s going to be like. To touch the vintage; now is the time to come

If you’re just looking for a decent place to stay for a good price this is your place. The grounds are really beautiful and looks great on the outside. The rooms can do with some updating though. In it’s time, it was probably very nice. The room we were in was a deluxe; it was huge with a seating area (couch and chair) and a fireplace. There was a little area where they kept the chest of drawers with coffee maker on top, a double sink area and the bath/​toilet area. There was also a desk with lamp. If they would update the rooms this place would get a 5 stars from me. There were a few things that were broken; the vanity mirror (but really, who cares about that) and the little thingy majig to open the window to let the cool night air in. Also, even though there was a thermostat, I’m not sure it was working, or they had it to where THEY controlled it, not the residents of the room. Luckily, we are cold natured and from Texas so we didn’t get hot except when I was blow drying my hair. I tried to turn the thermostat below 70 and it never dipped below 70 no matter what temp I set it to. So, if you’re hot natured you might want to address this before you get a room. The room was clean and so were the sheets, but there was no fitted sheet on the bed (just the flat sheet covering the mattress) and our feet kept getting tangled and my face ended up on the uncovered mattress. I know mattresses are not cleaned, so it kind of grossed me out; we asked for a fitted sheet, but was never brought one as they said they would. There was a nice (free) breakfast in the mornings; nothing special, just muffins, fruit, cereal, waffles, and coffee. It was disappointing that the restaurant/​bar was not opened every day; they just have it running Thursday — Sunday I think, and only after 5:00. So, if you get back to the hotel and want a drink on the patio, you’ll have to get that at the grocery store and take it back to the hotel. The hotel is right next to the stables, so if you are doing any horseback riding it’s close enough to walk. The pool looked nice, but we didn’t use it. They also have a hot tub. Everyone there was very nice and helpful, but were not at the desk at all times; they should probably get a couple of people at the desk. So, there was a lot of drawbacks, but for the price and for what we needed it for was perfect. We just needed a place to lay our heads and get dressed to go out and enjoy Santa Fe. I suggest the horseback riding; Lynn was awesome and very good with showing us the ropes horseback riding. Ask for Prince; he’s a great horse. Hope this review helped.

FYI— READ THIS! I was about to book this resort, it looked very promising for a family (visiting other family in Santa Fe). Sad to say that when I called them I was told the pool, spa and restaurants are ALL CLOSED down preparing for renovations!!! Damn… It is so hard to find a family oriented place in Santa Fe for kids!
Date I called was June 16, 2015

I recently took a long weekend with my boyfriend here and had a great time. With that said — Bishop’s is dated. It doesn’t have flat screen tv so you cannot use your computer linked to the tv. The «wireless» is VERY SLOW and not even worth trying. They do still have a hard connection with an ethernet cable in the room, but who wants to do that? They do not have microwaves in the rooms so you can’t heat up your yummy leftovers from Santa Fe restaurants.
Now for the good stuff. My room was very large with an oversized tub and king-​sized bed (very comfortable). Nice electric fireplace, mini-​fridge and sink with a small two-​cup coffee maker. They also had us in a room with a nice balcony, but it is shared with two other rooms so there is little privacy.
The room was super clean and very safe. They offer continental breakfast in the morning although I did not take advantage of it. The grounds are still a beautiful place to roam.
They are currently renovating the lodge, which is good, so I’m hoping they will do things like fix the concrete that has worn away from the salt they use during the winter. It is a hazard as it stands because it’s so loose that you can easily fall. There are some cracks forming in the rooms, bathrooms, etc. The restaurant was closed, the pool was closed and the spa was closed but again, they are upfront about this because they are renovating.
It was a good visit and a comfortable one. I think it will be even better once they get things upgraded.

Yes, I agree on what the rest say. Service at best was just an Ok. Food was good but I must have been starving as the pork was luke warm even though I asked for Med. rare, They left me there forever to pay. Room we got was cool but full of smoke. They tell me this is normal and some people like it. WTF? I could not see across the room and my clothes smelled like I just got done camping for a week. Room was not very well maintained at all. Towel rack falling off the wall etc. New room was cold and not to our liking. Room we asked for was not the room they showed either. Won’t stay here again even though it was not terrible it’s not a place I would love to come back to.

Bishop’s Lodge offer’s a New Mexican sanctuary close enough to Santa Fe to explore down town, yet remote enough to escape reality.
Based on the Unilocal reviews I didn’t have very high expectations of the room, but with the right deal ($ 109/​including breakfast with regular rates $ 275/​night), I gave it a go. The room reviews are spot on– some shower mold, worn carpet and AC was an in window unit without temp setting (low, high only). The linens, toiletries and room size were all on par with a 4 star hotel. Paid the $ 25/​night upgrade for a larger king room, min 460 sq ft with kiva fireplace and great view.
The grounds are gorgeous. Perfectly manicured, full of sculptures, wind socks and local flavor –an old wagon, barn accents, etc. Breathtakingly serene.
The staff was welcoming and accommodating. The restaurant: fantastic. The options for the included breakfast were both traditional and local dishes. We ate one dinner on the balcony that was fabulous. Bottle of vino, appetizer and two entrees all for $ 120. The same meal at a Vegas hotel would be $ 300.
With plenty of biking trails and a heated, Olympic pool we enjoyed ourselves immensely. I’d love to check it out once they renovate.

What the others have said is true; amateurish staff (trying to be helpful but lack training), very slow service in the restaurant (but good food), very poor maintenance all over (rooms, exterior of the buildings and common areas) and a general lack of leadership from the management.
The good news is that according to the one knowledgable and well trained employe we met, the resort has been sold (mid Aug 2014) to a true resort management company that plans to invest in a major upgrade and remodel. They will undoubtedly bring in new management that knows how to maintain and run a first class property which this property can be.
Until then, if you like «rustic» and can overlook the service issues, the place is quiet/​peaceful, has a nice pool, plenty of hiking and horseback riding trails if that’s your thing and is only 10 minutes from the old town plaza and it’s restaurants and shops.
We would stay again, but only with a deeply discounted rate like we had (Platinum ICE member ~50%). Until the many issues are addressed it is not worth anywhere near their rack rate.

There is SO much potential to be seen in this resort. But sadly, I didn’t pay $ 200+ a night for potential!
Our room (#127) was old — but“old” is okay as long as it’s clean and updated. Unfortunately, the first thing that greeted us as we opened our door was a HUGE rip in the carpet (one that we kept tripping over during our entire stay). Paint was peeling, windows were dirty, found hairs in our bed!
We were charged the $ 14.00 resort fee per day — but what exactly that fee was for I have NO idea. The pool was supposed to be heated. it was not. The spa was closed. There was supposed to be a place to sit outside the bar with a fireplace… no fireplace (or chairs) were to be found.
We had to ask to have our shampoo and other toiletries replaced (we found this out after the first day when I went to take a shower that night and realized the did not give us more soap or shampoo). Housekeeping was not up to par with other resorts.
Our patio deck was splintered and, quite frankly, unsafe to walk on without shoes.
Breakfast in the resort restaurant was lackluster and not worth the price.
As I mentioned, the potential of this resort is evident — located on an expansive number of acres, it is secluded and has a rich history. I would imagine that with a substantial amount of money, they could renovate and actually bring this place up the standards required to call it a «resort.»

I had a fairly bad experience with them in multiple arenas while booking for a small business meeting: online booking through the chat that resulted in errors, computer glitches that resulted in us being double booked/​charged, and staff that were more eager to get off the phone than to investigate problems with the reservations. I spoke personally to the manager at the end and my problems were all finally resolved.
I am a busy person, so I don’t appreciate that I had to spend so much of my time trying to fix problems that were the result of Bishop’s Lodge’s computer systems and their staff.
From this experience, I believe management at Bishop’s Lodge has been alerted to significant problems in their systems and people. I hope that they will get their act together for others.
Update on 11 Feb 2014. I had to change a reservation to add a day. I call in, am transferred to elevator music that never ends. Since I know that
doesn’t answer their emails, I emailed one of the staff directly since I have been working with her, and gave her explicit instructions to charge the credit card, I give her my phone number in case she needs further information. She never responds.
I call the hotel the next day to make the change. They tell me that it has actually been changed. Great. Has it been paid? The woman says it indicates «direct payment.» Neither of us knows what that means, so I get transferred to someone who doesn’t know either. and transferred to another person who gives me an explanation I don’t understand regarding partial deposits. So I explicitly break it down, «How much is the hotel room? My confirmation letter that I just received 5 minutes ago indicates that X amount has been paid. Can you see there is a difference? (ohhh, yea). I need to prepay this.» So he transfers me again to someone else, aka voicemail.
I have to call the hotel again and tell them I need to talk to someone who I can pay a bill. I WANT to give you money. I get transferred 3 times and finally pay my bill. If this update on 11 Feb 2014 sounds bad, multiple it by 20 for the full experience.
Good Riddance! I told my team, they better not come here again next year.

The grounds are gorgeous. The food is superb. Too bad many other areas fall short. Ice maker– broken. Wood for the fireplace — 1 log. Soap– none. We did receive the items once we asked for them.
I believe a room with a fireplace should come with ample wood. Soap, pretty basic amenity that should come with the room. I will try somewhere else next time I want to visit a special place.

I have been meaning to update this review, only just got around to it. While everything I said before is still true, but there is some more information that y’all need to have. The front desk is NOT reliable at all. They managed to lose not one but two things for me. Here are the details:
1) My company ordered flowers to be delivered to me at my hotel to congratulate us on our wedding. They were never brought to the room. Three weeks later my HR lady asks me if we got them, that’s the first I knew that we even had flowers from them sent. Nice.
2) Even worse, they managed to lose a package that I left at the front desk for my makeup artist. He had accidentally left some of his brushes in my room after doing my makeup, but wasn’t able to meet up with me to get them again before I left town. I brought a sealed package with his name on it to the front desk, both verbally (and in writing on the package) explaining who it was for and that they would be there to pick it up either that night or the next day. They lost it. Professional makeup brushes are not cheap. I was mortified.
I expect better from a luxury resort. Two days later my niece accidentally left her cell phone in our hotel room at a cheapo place in Flagstaff (*that I need to go write a review for as well…*). I called them to ask if they would ship it back for me; and they DID. I would more have expected them to just say «sorry, we never found a phone», something I could not dispute, than for Bishops Lodge’s front desk to shaft people on packages & deliveries TWICE in a visit.
The rest of Bishop’s Lodge was great but I am highly disappointed in their front desk staff.

Not happy. Not happy. Not happy. Not happy. $ 200/​night stay. AC problems in our ‘superior’ room EVERY NIGHT.
3 days of complaints and temporary relief but then it returned every night.
Kept it at 67 last night. Nice and cool UNTIL 2 am and then we were sleeping on top of the sheets. For this much money?
Nah!!!
No apologies from management on our AC problems. Not even a call. Heck, we get those type calls from La Quinta and Best Western hotels whenever there is a problem of some sort.
Dining room was nice but with snobby and slow waiter. We had previously seen menu and asked as to burgers and such and he smirked «that’s the bar menu» and left to get menus. We had arrived after dark at 7:15 pm or so and just wanted a snack and not $ 24 fish plate. Older bar menu waitress was VERY nice and helpful.
We needed ice for trip and had to drive about 80 yards down to ‘ice shed’ to discover that IT was out of service. If you need ice for room you have to drive to ‘ice shed’. Nothing close to our ‘superior’ (higher elevation) rooms.
We have three little dogs and like to keep environment clean by picking up their poop in poop bags. Well, no trash cans anywhere to drop them at or in our room. (Not.).
No wonder other guests let their animals’ lie where it drops.
For pet owners, NO grass around except in front by pool/​spa area.
Otherwise, dogs have to poop on trail. We don’t like to do that.
Pretty surroundings and nice trails but no mountain views to be has EXCEPT from the top if our small/​cozy 3 car parking area.
We paid for a mountain view and got TREES. Pretty setting but not at $ 200/​night with no mountains. Now, on our drive up from Santa Fe we saw some mountains an that was free.
Never coming back. Waste of hard earned money.

Yes, it’s far from town… but perfect for a nice getaway, especially if you’re a local. My family and I took my step-​dad here for Father’s Day and they had a kickass «Cowboy Cookout» up on a beautiful Mesa. The food was cooked on the open stove, there was a great band playing and the view was spectacular. They caravan you in their nice SUVs up to this Mesa, so it’s a bit away from the lodge… but there are clean bathrooms up there and the staff is great to take you back to base camp when you’re ready.
The ponies were great for families and kids, if you like that sort of thing. Also, once again, the staff was professional and did a great job in making all of us feel welcome! I look forward to visiting again!

This review is for the Sunday Brunch only.
For many years now, Bishop’s Lodge has been our family’s go-​to for a fancy brunch.
There are some really great options for every taste bud. They’ve got New Mexican goodies like tamales, enchiladas and beans, so if that’s your itch you can scratch it.
They’ve got seafood: salmon, clams, oysters.
Then there’s the ham, the prime rib, the eggs hollandaise. So much to choose from and everything is spectacular… including the desserts.
I can’t speak too much on the prices, because this place is always my dad’s treat, but once in a blue, this is a great place to go and stuff your face.

After some extensive research for a special place to celebrate Thanksgiving we decided upon the Restaurant at Bishop’s Lodge. This was our first family trip to New Mexico so we decided to spend a couple days in Santa Fe. This was all part of birthday celebrations and my wife’s college graduation. So we wanted it all special.
All was fine, we toured the state and then two days before Thanksgiving we decided to call Bishop’s Lodge since we had not heard back to confirm our reservations as I had been promised when I called on November 4, 2012. We were disappointed to learn that our reservations were never recorded! We were told that they would talk to the manager and would call us back in one hour. They did not and we had to call back. We were told once again that we did not not have any reservations and that they were totally booked. Once again, the young lady said she would talk to the manager… we then talked to the manager and he confirmed they could not accommodate us. We explained our situation to no avail… oh he did offer to seat us at 10:30 am. Really! We declined and asked that they find us reservations elsewhere.
He agreed and said he could get us reservations at Amaya in a Santa Fe hotel and that someone would call us to confirm. Another young lady did call us back shortly to confirm our reservation but had our name wrong so she had to call Amaya to correct the name then called us back.
After all this we were not only exhausted but greatly disappointed. We called about three weeks in advance only to have them either bump us or mishandle our reservation. Needless to say we were all bummed out including our kids who had gone on line to research the place and were looking forward to a special Thanksgiving dinner at the lodge.
Needless to say this was a terrible experience and the management at the lodge restaurant did little to correct this unfortunate mistake. They could have offered us something as a good gesture in exchange for their ineptness and they did not. Yes they did find us a reservation elsewhere big deal.

Upon check-​in, we were told we could not stay the full time we had reserved. It took quite a while as we cooled our heels in the lobby for the front desk to straighten it out. During the time we stood there, the person answered two phone calls, rather than attend to our problem, and she said that is their policy because they don’t have voice mail.
The room was very good, but after a rain, the ceiling leaked above the bathroom. We chose not to change to another room that they offered because of the hassle and it was our last night of the stay.

Keep your eye on the bill !!!
We were charged twice for horse riding that we did once.
Then we were charged for horse riding we never did before we arrived.
It takes 7 – 10 days for the money to be refunded to your account for there mistake but worse was the waste of time getting the money back!
Without a word of a lie I rang at least 8 times and my wife rang 6 – 8 times.
I rang the manager 3 times in one day and his, secreatry said he would get back to me… still waiting 3 weeks later ! Come on Stuart have some courage don’t leave it to your staff when there is a stuff up!!!
We had to dig around our bank statements to prove we were over charged and not lying!!!
Would never go back don’t trust them.

This review is solely based on the Bishops Lodge Skeet & Trap Shooting — not an actual stay at the Bishops Lodge. My dad made a reservation for 5 people to enjoy skeet shooting for Thursday, October 13, 2011.
For the record, see the Skeet & Trap info on their website:
As the through planner he is, my dad made these reservations weeks in advance of the actual date. This was not a last minute, let’s just go up there thing. Per person, the cost for this was something like $ 160 each. Not chump change for sure. But in any case, we all thought that this would be something fun to do for the scheduled 1−3p time. We had a guide/​instructor (Chuck) who helped us with the how-​to, the rules, safety measures, general Q&A and set-​up for the shooting. After about 20 minutes, we all took turns shooting a couple of clay targets with 12-​gauge shotguns that were placed on some trees. Then we proceeded to the skeet course. 4 of us got our turn to shout «pull» and try our best to hit the clays but we received some bad news.
A complaint came in from a neighbor (Shirley MacLaine). Apparently, she has a lot of power and influence and was able to make one call to have us stop shooting. We all sort of understood this and figured there could have been a potential problem, as we saw many beautiful homes above the range — we just figured — isn’t this loud for people up in those homes?
So we were visited by management. They forced our stoppage of shooting. We were all disappointed, but figured, okay, this happens. Maybe we can do this again on another visit. We were then told that there was both a complaint of the noise AND an event booked at the hotel and that this appointment for skeet should have never been booked. This seemed odd. How did they allow my dad to book this?
Okay, my dad exchanged info with the manager (Rich). Maybe he could get a future booking for skeet solo as he was the only one of us that lives in Santa Fe. He could go up there again whenever he wants.
So we are getting ready to leave the skeet range and one of us in the group starts getting into it with one of the other «managers» of the hotel. At first, I just think that this is him expressing his disappointment that we all did not really get to shoot and have some fun with skeet. But as it turned out, we were being thrown out from the hotel grounds COMPLETELY. Why? We don’t know. We will never know.
I didn’t really find this out until we were back at the hotel reception. We were just hanging out in the lobby and near the front of the hotel, making sure that my dad would get back any deposit from the booking or a credit or whatever and we were also planning our next move — what to do next as we all had some time to kill. But the «security/​management» began to become adamant that we leave — immediately. We couldn’t stay there for lunch or a drink or just to walk around. There was no reason given.
Horrible customer service, treated all five of us — both out of town visitors and residents of Santa Fe like hobos. I would highly recommend that anyone interested in staying at this place, patronize another comparable location in Santa Fe.

One of the nicest hotels I’ve ever stayed in, and we got an awesome deal on the room through Travelzoo. What a setting. It almost made me want to get up early and go for a run… except I hate running. So I went hiking instead. The property is breath-​takingly gorgeous, for visitors even if it’s standard for Santa Fe people.
We stayed in one of the lower end rooms, which was really roomy, very lodge-​like and comfortable. The signature fragrance in the shampoo and lotion is completely addictive, and I have been ordering it ever since: it’s a mix of pine, cedar, and some kind of spice.

I believe this is the perfect place to stay in Santa Fe. Its about 5 miles north from the actual city, but also close enough its no big deal if you want to go into town.
They have levels of rooms… Historic Room, Historic Suite, Villa Room, Villa Suite. We stayed in the Historic Suite, lovely. Perfect size. Great little living room with a couch, chairs, a desk and a mini fridge. The bedroom is separate from the rest of the suite (as to be expected), you have a small step and private doors. The suite also comes with a super little deck and a table and chairs.
The bathroom was big and clean (loved the Limestone counter top), but whoever designed the bathroom needs to go back to design school. The toilet is so low to the ground, I thought I was sitting on the ground. The faucet is backwards… I nearly burned myself getting into the shower. Hot is cold, Cold is hot. The lighting was weird and the shower curtain was to short, I got the floor wet. BUT, they have awesome bath essentials… you’ll smell like a pine tree. A few windows in our room were broken, but they came to fix it within 5 minutes of us calling the front desk. OH! They even called us 30 minutes after we checked in to see how everything was. So lovely.
The pool is FANTASTIC… full bar (a must) and a most excellent hot tub. The one annoying thing, was that there is a sign that says «ADULTS ONLY». Easy to read right? Well apparently not for some. Kids were playing in the hot tub (about 3 – 6 yrs old). Annoying. The worst part about that, is the hotel staff walked by a few times and seemed irritated, but did NOTHING! I only got in once, cause I was being splashed by mini me.
Great workout room and the Sunday Champagne brunch was OUT OF THIS WORLD! Only $ 35 a person. Which I think is a steal. They had everything from a taco bar to crepes to waffles to smoked salmon. Come on… GET IN MY BELLY!
The one bone I have to pick with this place is the damn golf carts and the drivers. More often the not, they are blocking the roads… parking in spots reserved for guests or peeling around corners promoting accidents. It got to a point where it was borderline obnoxious.
Golf carts aside, I would def come back and stay here… great great great.