Hotel Hospitality: Santa Fe - A Haunting Visit at La Fonda on the Plaza

SANTA FE — This Halloween, you can hit up all of Santa Fe’s spookiest haunts, and stay in one, too. That’s because the oldest hotel in the nation’s oldest capital city, La Fonda on the Plaza, has conjured up a special package that gives guests a ghostly experience and a fun fall getaway in one. This is not your ordinary ghost tour.

The special package includes:

• Two passes for the La Fonda Ghost Tour (please contact Tour Director Ken Ortolon at (512) 569-9613 to reserve. The passes are also good for the Discovery Walking Tour of Santa Fe that departs from La Fonda at 10a.m.)

• Luxury guest room accommodations for two

• Breakfast for two in La Plazuela, La Fonda’s charming atrium restaurant

• A copy of the book “Haunted Santa Fe” by Ray John De Aragon

• No hidden resort fees ever

Santa Fe’s 400-year history is rich with ghost and paranormal lore. There are tales of mysterious harp music wafting over the Santa Fe Plaza in the middle of the night – with no player in sight, of the spirit of a young bride tragically killed on her wedding night wandering through a downtown hotel, and of the ghost of a Santa Fe socialite grieving the loss of a child still roaming the mansion where she lived.

La Fonda itself is the scene of many ghost sightings and paranormal incidents, so it’s a fitting departure point for a chillingly good time touring the city’s top haunts.

Some places visited on the Ghost Tour:

• La Fonda on the Plaza itself where several ghost encounters have been reported. These include a judge and frequent visitor to La Fonda (then the Exchange Hotel) who was murdered and still visits his old haunts.

• The Santa Fe Plaza, where ghosts of a Spanish soldier killed in battle and a notorious Wild West outlaw have purportedly been seen roaming the streets at night.

• The Barrio de Analco, where a headless horseman is believed to ride the streets.

• The Santa Fe River, where a wailing woman is said to snatch away children who unwittingly get too close to the river’s edge.

• La Posada Hotel, the former family home of Santa Fe’s most famous ghost, Julia Staab, who is thought to wander its halls.

La Fonda on the Plaza, a AAA Four Diamond property, celebrated its Centennial in 2022. The hotel is a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Historic Hotels of America and is a winner of the organization’s “Best Historic Hotel” (76 – 200 rooms) and “Hotelier of the Year” awards.

La Fonda has also been named one of the Top 10 Hotels in the American Southwest in Condé Nast Traveler Reader’s Choice Awards and ranked #1 Best Lodging in 2022 in the Santa Fe Reporter’s “Best of Santa Fe” Awards. For further information, please visit www.lafondasantafe.com