Taos - American Southwest - page 204

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FAST FACTS
Members of the Taos Medical Group, on Weimer Road ( & 575/758-2224 ), are highly
respected. Also recommended are Family Practice Associates of Taos, 630 Paseo del
Pueblo Sur, Ste. 150 ( & 575/758-3005 ). Holy Cross Hospital, 1397 Weimer Rd., off
Paseo del Canyon ( & 575/758-8883 ), has 24-hour emergency service. Serious cases are
transferred to Santa Fe or Albuquerque. Gross receipts tax for the city of Taos is 7.5%,
and for Taos County it's 6.3%. There is an additional lodgers' tax of 5% in both the city
of Taos and in Taos County. If you're looking to connect to the Internet with your laptop,
head for the plaza, which offers free wireless access anywhere you sit.
See also “Fast Facts: American Southwest,” on p. 607.

3 WHERE TO STAY

A tiny town with a big tourist market, Taos has thousands of rooms in hotels, motels,
condominiums, and bed-and-breakfasts. Many new properties have recently opened,
turning this into a buyer's market. In the slower seasons—January through early February
and April through early May—when competition for travelers is steep, you may even
want to try bargaining your room rate down. Most of the hotels and motels are on Paseo
del Pueblo Sur and Norte, with a few scattered just east of the town center, along Kit
Carson Road. The condos and bed-and-breakfasts are generally scattered throughout
Taos's back streets.
During peak seasons, visitors without reservations may have difficulty finding vacant
rooms. Taos Chamber of Commerce, 108 F Kit Carson Rd. ( & 575/751-8800 ), might
be able to help.
Southern Rockies Reservations ( & 866/250-7313; www.taosskitrips.com) will help
you find accommodations ranging from bed-and-breakfasts to home rentals, hotels, and
cabins throughout Taos, Taos Ski Valley, and the rest of northern New Mexico. It'll also
help you arrange package trips for outdoor activities such as skiing, horseback riding,
hot-air ballooning, and snowmobiling.

8

TAOS & VICINITY
Hotels/Motels
Expensive
El Monte Sagrado Moments New to Taos in 2003, this resort near the center
of town offers a feast for the senses. Water running over falls, lush landscaping, and deli-
cious food and drink lull guests into a sweet samadhi, or state of relaxation, while the eyes
luxuriate in the beauty of rooms impeccably decorated. These range in theme from the
Caribbean casita, a medium-size room with a medium-size bathroom, which evokes the
feel of an African jungle, to the Argentina global suite, a huge two-bedroom decorated
in cowboy-contemporary style with wood floors, leather furniture, iron and copper
accents, and two large bathrooms featuring stone and glass mosaic-decorated shower and
tub, not to mention its own patio and outdoor hot tub. In 2007, the inn nearly doubled
in size with a series of new, more reasonably priced rooms and an elegant meeting center.
All rooms are quiet and lovely, with patios or balconies and views. In line with the resort
owner Tom Worrell's plan to preserve the earth's environment through responsible devel-
opment and sustainable technologies, the resort recycles its water, using it to irrigate the
grassy cottonwood-shaded “Sacred Circle,” at the resort's center. The intimate spa, with