OJO CALIENTE
Review of Ojo Caliente Mineral Spa in Ojo Caliente New Mexico
THE GOOD: Beautiful setting in nature, nice variety of mineral pools. Wonderful oasis location between Taos and Santa Fe in a historic resort.
THE BAD: Overcrowded – oversold; there were too many people milling about the pools. The food is nothing special – not fresh enough for a health resort. Certainly nothing to write home about.
ROOMS: The sheets were soft and the rooms were simple clean. I only wish they would have kept the old skeleton keys to the sockets still on the door over the modern card scanner.
The rooms. Many people might negatively rate this place for not having showers in the rooms. We stayed in a room that only had a toilet and sink – and im assuming the other rooms didnt even have this as there were bathrooms in the hallways. I actually didnt mind that the rooms were missing a shower tin theory because it is a spa destination presumably using the spa facility showers would be convincnt enough. The problem is that the showers in the bathrooms do not fee or lookl clean. If the facilty had nicer showers this would be no problem at all since the price of the rooms included access to the pools. There was something nice, somehow nostalgic that the historic rooms hadn’t been retrofitted with showers. The railroad layout of the hallway and the central doors with windows above was reminiscent of another time in the Wild West, and it was just enough to get a taste of an unfamiliar past. I recently visited a train museum in Durango, Colorado and got a similar feeling upon entering one of the train cars from the 1800s. It’s a harmless haunting, a gentle teleportation into a time I never knew but its ghost remains. The framework hadn’t been totally scrapped – you knew that the people from that time would still recognize the place. The rooms were not very well insulated from sound so if you are asleep and someone comes stumbling back to their room loudly you will most likely notice.
POOLS:The hot springs were great. I loved all the different pools and their focus on each of the minerals present in varying degrees. Two things I would change are the mud baths are sort of too watery. I didnt really enjoy that texture. I prefer something thicker. Secondly there was no cold plunge. I do appreciate that they employed at whisper only policy. I think that should be a universal bathing culture norm so long that there is one area for conversation. I also appreciate that its not strictly adults only and that 13+ are allowed as we brought our kids along. One of which isn’t quite a teen, but we are fortunate to have very well behaved and respectful children that excel in adult environments.
FOOD: A hot spring and spa is a health resort and I really appreciate when this translates to the food served. Ideally that is organic, farm to table cuisine with a focus of fresh and seasona and locall. I would have loved to see a carefully curated menu offering these things. Flavors of the southwest. There wasn’t care put into the menu or the drinks – behind the bar looked sad.
All and all this resort is confused. Its has the potential to be a really amazing place. The pools up against the rocks are wonderful, the place has history.
Other reviews mentioned it being “oversold” and “understaffed.” I would agree with one caveat – I’m happy to stay at a simple hotel that doesn’t have a very high level of service and is more self serve so long as everything is clean -which it was with the exception of the communal shower area. The pools were too crowded. We stayed a Sunday night and used them into Monday and maybe I would have been satisfied with the numbers on a midweek day. I’d rather pay more to visit than feel like I’m too close to others in a place focused on relaxation – there’s just something unsettling in that proximity. Its human nature to be on guard. I didn’t have any treatments so I can’t comment on that. The gift shop had some lovely local offerings, unfortunately again the food they offered in there was bad. Snickers Ice Cream bars have no business at Health Spa.
Official Review by TwoStepsFar
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