El Monte Sagrado

The resort is absolutely beautiful. Comfy robes and bed. Pretty rooms and dog friendly. Lots of room to walk around and close to the main streets of Taos. Paul and Greg were the best bartenders and really gave us a good experience in the resort. They were friendly, with a good vibe and great conversation. The anaconda bar is the place to go when you are in your down time!

My bartenders paul and greg are wonderful. Good drinks, great conversation and friendly service at the anaconda. From a person who usually doesn't care for bars this was wonderful. The resort is beautiful, big and close to everything. Would reccommend to anyone

The check in process was fairly painless, I was escorted to the private casita and given a quick tour by the front desk representative. I had asked for guidence on the best way to bring my bags to the casita and wasnt given much help nor was offered a baggage roll cart. I know this may seem petty but the option was to either pay someone else to carry my bags or carry them by hand and the option for a roll cart was not obvious as only the valet seemed to have access to them. Casita was clean and cozy but dark and got a bit suffocating - no screens on the windows , so as I had my pet I did not ever feel comfortable opening up the window for fresh air with no screen. The beds were set so high I had a hard time comfortably getting up into it at 37 and my 66 yr old mother had an impossible time. I had to assist her every time she wanted to merely sit on the bed. Im 5’7 and the edge of the bad came up above my waist, my mom is 5’1. After getting situated in the room we decided to get dressed up and go the to the restaurant on site for dinner. It is decorated beautifully and we were looking forward to the Chefs menu. Our waiter unfortunetly greeted us with an attitude of which he was bothered by our presence as we did not want to sit at the bar. He could not even be bothered to answer our questions about the wine menu nor offer any suggestions outside of “its up to you.” However, as for the food it was fantastic! We were absolutely impressed by the beef tenderloin, it was delicious and greatly enjoyed. It was unfortunate to be met with such tension by our waiter. It was clear he was not trained to be serving in an establishment offering such a high standard of food. After dinner we took a walk around the grounds before heading back to our room. I specifally picked El Monte Sagrado because of the fabulously described living spa - which includes a stunning room filled with tropical plants, a salt water pool and a hot tub. My mother enjoys swimming and tropical getaways and us being from the mountains were so excited to find a tropical getaway so close to home. Again, unfortunetly this was not the case. We walked into the pool area to find that the hot tub was out of order and the room itself was quite cold. We attributed it to it just being a problem for that day and I could address it with the staff the next day. We continued on to our casita. It was around 9 - 10 pm at night at this point and probably around 20-30 degrees. I went to open our door and the light turned red indicating that the key wasnt working - I tried both keys and was met with the same red light. I left my mother outside and walked to the front desk to get the keys redone for the room. Couldnt find anyone at the front desk, had to find our waiter from dinner to find someone to rekey the cards. I get back to our casita and the keys still dont work. I walk back to the front office - and Im met with slow disregard for the situation which was frustrating as we were locked out of our room with my mother sitting outside to prevent having to walk all the way back to the lobby. After waiting outside for over 30 minutes, another slow disregarding employee came to “charge the door”. So for another 20 minutes we had to wait with the door wide open as maintenance changed out the battery on the front door. Our back door was completely disfunctional as well but that was never addressed for the entirety of our stay. We were offered 1 free drink each as a resolve - to use the next day at the bar after 4pm. We were exhausted by this time and were ready to enjoy some down time in the casita. The next morning I went to ask about the hot tub. I was informed that the hot tub would not be functional during our stay and it would not be addressed until after Christmas. This was a huge disappointment as again - this was the whole reason I picked this location outside of that it was pet friendly. I asked if there was something we could work out in the spa as a consolation to the hot tub not working. She then offered to move us to a “spa room” - I agreed and went to go look at the room. It was a single bed room with a tub in the middle of the room. I went back to inform her that I currently have a 2 bed and Im staying with my mom. After packing up all of our stuff to move and waiting for concierge to come get our stuff (who never came) and I myself had to run all around ALL to find out the room she was offering wasnt even going to work for us and we just moved back into the same casita - again with no resolve to the original issue. However, we were offered a “deal” for a day pass to the wet and dry sauna. I found out later that it was indeed NOT a deal but just the price that the spa offers for access regardless. 15 dollars each for 2-two person saunas. After all of that - we decided to go check out the pool to hopefully at least enjoy a swim in the salt water among the tropical ambiance. The pool was so cold. Not only was the water cold but the entire room was cold. We were shivering and miserable within minutes and had to go back to the room to warm up in the shower. In the shower which would not drain - so whatever was sitting in the drain would float up into the tub while showering. It was gross to say the least. We wanted to stay and get food on site for the day and the only way to do that is to order room service and pay the extra 26% plus a service charge. I paid close to $100 dollars for breakfast burritos and orange juice. Before arriving at El Monte I received a text - stating that should we need anything at all to just text. I was excited as the prescident being set was that we were going to receive top notch service by a friendly staff. By the end of our stay it was clear that their claim to great service is just words - it is not action. Every single issue that came up was met with “what do you want” not “this is how Im going to help”. It was clear that staff was very accustomed to receiving complaints and instead of resolving for future are now just responding with frustration expecting the constant reoccurance of complaints. The site is stunning and a few members of the staff are clearly trying to make it better. One bartender I believe her name was Alexis, was absolutely wonderful. She provided fabulous service without having to be asked and without having to fix something that was already wrong. We left El monte Sagrado MORE tired and MORE exhausted than when we arrived. We ended up continuing our trip in Santa Fe - staying at the Best Western and had a far more relaxing experience. All systems were in order, we got breakfast, it was clean and I wasnt asked to fix any of their problems. FOR a fraction of the price. There was also an additional charge of $120.00 to my card for room service I didnt receive at 1am the last night of our stay as well. It did end up falling off but was another statement of disregard for our stay and my personal card. To say Im disappointed - is an understatement.

Great Hotel and Amazing Service. Quiet and Peaceful. My Family Loved it. Grace was very helpful. The Valet and Bell Guys were Great. Must Stay in Taos🙏👊💥👍

We've been blessed to travel the world, from luxurious 5 star resorts down to mom and pop cabins in the woods. I have extensive experience in the customer service profession, as was my career for over 30 years. This stay was a celebration of our Honeyversary, and on this adventure, we brought our 2 dogs. The resort is very pet friendly! But, bring lots of poop bags, and have fun locating trash bins to dispose of puppy downloads. Be sure to order the Barkcuterie (I think was the name) for dogs at check-in. It was well thought out, dog friendly, for those furry loved one's that can handle extra tantalizing foods in their regular feedings. the board lasted us several days in the fridge, adding a little of this or that to their regular feedings, and the dogs LOVED IT! There are many positives that the El Monte Sagrado offers, and to our surprise, much needed attention in areas. If we would have paid approx. $500 a night (Peak Season Rates for our room), we would have been very disappointed! *Highlights and -Negatives: * Great staff in the reception area, very friendly. Philip, Grace, and Riah stand out. * Extremely cool surroundings, lots of history, and intentional design inside and out to enhance the resort. You have to ask about such, do so! * Joshua the interim manager, was flat out, hands down incredible! Find him, talk to him, and have him share some highlights and specifics around the resort. He made our stay way more enjoyable! * Valets, especially Vincent was attentive, on time, opened doors for both, closed doors, and was so kind. * All food that we had was extremely delicious! * Massages and facials were fantabulous! Very Pricey, but it's a resort. * Never heard guests above us in Native American Geronimo. - Terrible bar service, the bartenders overall leave a lot to be desired. Don't expect smiling friendly bartenders. 3 separate visits and all disengaged, uninterested, and overall annoyed to be working. - Fireplace in Geronimo never worked. - Water temp. in Geronimo warm enough to stand under full blast. Never "HOT." - No robes in Mountain King, supplied if you ask. - Run down hallways/entry ways in the Mountain Kings, dated for sure. - No microwaves in rooms for leftovers. - Normal guest movement that could be heard clealry above us in The Mountain King We were upgraded to the Native American Geronimo from the Taos Mountain King, which was very thoughtful. Sounded great at first, who doesn't like an upgrade? But, we ended up back in the Mountain King per our request 2 nights into our stay. The Taos Mountain King is an open and spacious room, with a huge jetted tub in the center of the room. This thing means business, operate with caution! Two people could easily sit in there comfortably, like a hot tub. Which IMO was really fun and helped make up for the main hot tub being closed, as I love hot tubs. It can be closed off with heavy curtains if you want more privacy. It also had a separate walk-in shower, and private toilet. You have to request robes in the Mountain King. Not in the Native American. Both offer intersting, well thought out decor. Both offer gas fireplaces, patios, and traditional ammenities such as Keurig, water, and a tiny fridge. NO microwaves, so rethink leftovers. The Geronimo offers a open walkway entrance, closed off rooms, maybe more square footage, and a little more privacy within. The walk in shower was huge! But, the water barely got hot enough to leave the stream, even on full blast. The fireplace does NOT work, even after informing the front desk, we were told it could take more time to get gas to the fireplace. We attempted to turn turn it on 50 minutes back to back, and nothing. There is a beautiful library on the 3rd floor. We found out that the elevator is only 1 of 2 in the entire town of Taos. In the library is a great selection of reading material, and a very nice billiards table. Bring your own chalk, or have fun trying to locate some. One thing to consider is the timing of your stay. In November, it's considered mud season. Very few restaurants were open, and many stated "open" on different websites, but doors were locked, and hand written notes were in windows saying "See you in a few weeks." A lot of businesses were closed as well. There is some serious road construction that as apparently been going on for years. FOOD that we could find: Orlando's...Phenomenal, quaint, very casual, cozy, very busy, and the House Margarita, along with their Posole was amazing! The Alley Cantina...tucked away, but worth the adventure, fish and chips were spot on! Doc Martin's...live music, fun little restaurant, food was delicious. I don't know for sure what I ate, but it was not what I ordered. The waiter was clearly having an off night, so I just accepted the meal, and it was very good!LOL! Black Mesa Winery...30 minute beautiful drive, great flights, worth the drive. Overall our stay was pleasant. It was an interesting getaway. We would possibly consider staying again knowing what we know now, but absolutely not at peak season rates. We would ask pertinent questions prior to staying again.