Inn style, finally

Inn at Santa Fe has new name, new amenities, new outlook

Bob Quick | The New Mexican

5/19/2008 - 5/20/08

A California woman recently stayed at the Inn at Santa Fe — formerly The Sleep Inn — on the southwest end of Cerrillos Road, next to Fashion Outlets of Santa Fe.

"She told me it was so clean — she loved it," said Yolanda Hoemann, director of sales for the property, which recently has undergone a $2 million renovation under its new owners, a group of five California hoteliers operating in Santa Fe as Inn at Santa Fe LLC.

"And she said she paid twice as much for her first night in Santa Fe," Hoemann continued, contending that for many guests, the property has become a "jewel" among Santa Fe lodging places.

The new owners "fell in love with the area and the hotel," Hoemann said. "They saw what it could be. They really wanted to do something with it."

Renovation of the 98-room hotel has been going on for more than a year and is largely complete. It includes new bedding, drapes and furniture, 32-inch plasma televisions, granite countertops and new refrigerators and microwaves. In the public areas there's a newly built spa as well as a main entry with automatic doors.

"The door cost $25,000," said Dale Stewart, the hotel's front-desk clerk, who has worked at the property for three years. "The chandelier is real crystal."

The property's artwork also has changed, with most of the works on display in the lobby and elsewhere on the property the choice of Brian Corbell, the chairman of the company that owns the hotel, Hoemann said.

Upstairs guests can use a new laundry room with two washers, two dryers and a folding table. Several improvements are still in the works, including a new elevator and a boardroom and hospitality suite.

The improvements come with higher room rates — a current special rate is $79.89 with breakfast — but they are still reasonable for the Santa Fe market, Hoemann indicated.

"Many of our rooms are now $89 and $99. For Indian Market we won't go any higher than $159," she said. "We don't want to gouge people. I feel it's affordable luxury."

The inn's occupancy rate "has been climbing and climbing," Hoemann said, and is a distinct improvement over the times when, as the Sleep Inn, on very slow nights as few as four rooms were booked.

"A lot of times we sold 35 rooms, which was still low," Hoemann said.

When the property opened as The Sleep Inn in December 1998, initial rates ranged from $50 to $70.

Hoemann is hopeful that the Inn at Santa Fe will benefit from the New Mexico movie industry, which in the Santa Fe area uses such venues as the Bonzana Creek Ranch for filming. The ranch is not far from the Inn at Santa Fe.

"We get some nice business from there," she said.

Hoemann's also working with the nearby Fashion Outlets of Santa Fe on a "Shop and Stay" program that would involve shopping at the outlets and staying at the Inn at Santa Fe.

Shopping opportunities have improved at the outlet center with the new ownership of the property and the recent opening of a large Ralph Lauren Polo store there. A Nike outlet store is on the way, and nine other retail shops are on the way, Hoemann said.

The Inn at Santa Fe is one of Santa Fe's newer hotels. It was originally due to open in 1996, but was delayed by Santa Fe's then-soft lodging market.

The hotel was delayed again in 1997, but construction finally started in early 1998 after the development rights held by Santa Fe Hospitality Co., a local group, were sold to Creative Hotel Associates, a Maryland company that also bought Santa Fe Hospitality's Sleep Inn in Albuquerque.

The two principals in Creative Hotel Associates, Jerry Pettit and Bob Hazard, had been executives with Choice Hotels International Inc., where they developed the Sleep Inn concept.

Pettit and Hazard said one reason for buying the property for the Santa Fe Sleep Inn was that it was unique in being so close to Interstate 25.

The new owners of the Inn at Santa Fe include Wolter Mehring and Bob Zonitch. The partners own Thousand Oaks California Bed and Breakfast, which is in Thousands Oaks, Calif., near the Ronald Reagan Museum and the beaches of Malibu. They also own properties in Utah and Arizona.

Contact Bob Quick at 986-3011 or bobquick@sfnewmexican.com.

Sponsored link Inn at Santa Fe - See photos, learn about the inn and make a reservation online. www.innatsantafe.com.