OPA in Santa Fe - my hotel

I had a great time at the 18th Annual OPA National Exhibition. Once I knew my painting was in the exhibit, I started to plan my trip. My flight to Albuquerque - roundtrip American Airlines for $185 and change. There was a $15.00 fee for a checked bag each way. I was glad I booked a window seat. The irrigation patterns on the desert floor were well worth seeing.

I took the Sandia Shuttle from Albuquerque to Santa Fe. Roundtrip cost is $45, and it's reliable and easy to use. I would certainly recommend it. There is a train that runs between the two cities but it's not as convenient and a lot more expensive.

After booking the plane and the shuttle, I made an extensive online search for a hotel. OPA made their home in the La Fonda hotel. A great hotel, but $179 a night. I was going for 5 nights, so I was looking for something more economical. Martin found Garrett's Desert Inn at $88 a night. The location was good, and the price for location couldn't be beat, but . . . I found too many negative reviews and decided not to stay there.

Instead, I stayed at the Inn of the Governors. My rate was an average of $120 a night. When I got to Santa Fe, my room had been upgraded from a traditional room to a superioir king!!! Above is my comfortable bed with six pillows, and there were 4 more pillows in one of the two armoires in the room.

On one side of the bed was a writing desk and chair, a nice window that opened to the outside for fresh air, and a sitting area with two chairs and a table. At left you see the seating area dn door that went outside to a small balcony with two chairs. The view wasn't great: the parking lot and a little of the pool, but you could get a distant view of a mountain and great skies. Mostly I opened the door for a nice breeze. I wasn't really in the room long enough to sit on the balcony, but I went outside and sometimes watched the clouds in the sky. I was happy.

In addition to the little balcony, was a kiva woodburning fireplace. Very cool. I only thought about burning it once, but in the end, I didn't burn it at all. Still, it was fun to have it there and it looked good too.

In the armoire was a TV at the top and in the bottom a refridgerator with water.

Next to this armoire was another on with an ironing board and iron.

On the other side of the bed was a night table and there were three lamps in the room. The bathroom was very nice with thick towels, and great designs in the tiles, which I forgot to take a photo of. Shower was really nice. I was happy with my room.