NORTH-CENTRAL REGION
Taos.org; @VisitTaos—Nestled at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Taos grew in the late 1700s as a fortified plaza and trading outpost for the neighboring Taos Pueblo and Hispano communities.
Taos has no shortage of interesting hotels. Hotel Willa, opening in 2025, is situated at the gateway to the Downtown Taos Historic District. “The hotel transforms a 1960s motel into an ode to the awe-inspiring scenes of Taos,” Eason says.
Hotel Willa offers a contemporary take on traditional Southwestern style and adobe design, featuring 51 rooms with terracotta walls complemented by warm colors and arched doorways. An onsite gallery and an Artist-in-Residency program curated by The Paseo Project further cements Hotel Willa as a haven for the creatively inclined. The upcoming Juliette restaurant and bar, crafted in collaboration with local culinary stars Johnny Ortiz-Concha (Taos Pueblo) and Maida Branch, promises a fresh, inspired dining experience.
The 156-room Sagebrush Inn & Suites has more than 13,000 square feet of event space, including a 9,000-square-foot conference center and intimate meeting rooms.
El Monte Sagrado Taos provides a resort experience with 78 guest rooms and luxury suites. The resort includes a full-service fitness center, a saltwater pool, complimentary yoga, and various treatment options at The Living Spa. The resort offers 7,000 square feet of flexible meeting space for various events, including Rio Grande Ballroom, Sandoval Room, Gallery, a private Mediterranean-inspired wine room, and an outdoor setting in the Sacred Circle among mountain vistas.
Other culinary discoveries include Dawn Butterly Café. In addition to offering coffee and light bites in the UNESCO World Heritage Site and National Historic Landmark, the Pueblo café serves pop-up lunches with traditional Pueblo flavors infused into today’s cuisine, like chokecherry aioli, prickly pear mocktail, and sage dark chocolate mousse.
La Luna restaurant at Hotel La Fonda de Taos opened in late 2024. The restaurant is a celebration of family, tradition, and wholesome dishes based on Indigenous American heritage.
The Social Club is a vibrant cocktail lounge, which opened in spring 2024 in the heart of Taos. It pours up craft cocktails with locally sourced spirits and ingredients to give guests a flavor of Taos. The small-batch spirits and welcoming atmosphere create a unique experience.
Kevin and Meg Sousa share their passion for the culinary world through their contemporary American restaurant, SUCHNESS. “What started out as restaurant pop-ups at The Stakeout, SUCHNESS has evolved into a brick-and-mortar with an open-kitchen concept to let the guests into the action,” Eason says. With 32 seats inside, the space offers an intimate dining experience surrounded by carefully curated artwork and curated music selections.
Step off the beaten path, beyond ordinary tourist routes, and transcend boundaries and curiosities through ethically curated, intimate, and immersive New Mexico excursions with Heritage Inspirations tour company. The Horno Bread Baking Tour experience at Taos Pueblo is exclusive to Heritage Inspirations. In addition, Heritage Inspirations offers authentic experiences, such as visiting Taos Pueblo, a World Heritage Site. Whitefeather Native Culture Tours LLC is a Native-owned and -operated tour business also offering tours of Taos Pueblo.
