The Inn of the Five Graces

The Inn of the Five Graces

Step outside The Inn of the Five Graces and the walk before dinner takes in Jackson-Kirkland Gallery, Nedra Matteucci Galleries, and Lewallen Contemporary Art, all within a few minutes of the hotel's Santa Fe city-center address. The property carries the Relais & Chateaux name but keeps just 24 rooms, which is why a fireplace and a private patio come standard in most categories, from the 400-square-foot Deluxe King up through a 2,002-square-foot Standard King Villa. That same small scale means the spa, with its massage room and steam room, the seasonal outdoor pool, the fitness room, and a conference hall all sit inside a 24-room footprint, a density most boutique hotels this size don't attempt. Breakfast can be taken in the room or at the restaurant, with a snack bar and a diet menu on request. Staff move between English, Spanish, and German, and pets are allowed, so a couple traveling with a dog has real options beyond the garden and terrace. Anyone wanting a big resort pool scene or hundreds of rooms of anonymity should look elsewhere; the pool is seasonal, the grounds are garden and terrace, and the draw is the 24-room scale and the five-minute walk to serious galleries rather than a shuttle bus. Five Graces earns its rating less through spectacle than through the fact that almost everything on the property, from the fireplace in your room to the steam room down the hall, is meant to be used, not just seen. In Santa Fe's gallery district, this 24-room Relais & Chateaux inn pairs a fireplace and private patio in most rooms with a full spa, pool, and conference hall in a footprint most boutique hotels can't match. Pets are welcome and staff speak English, Spanish, and German.