On Walkabout Hotel Review: Casa Benavides Inn Bed & Breakfast

Basic Information

•  Name: Casa Benavides Inn Bed & Breakfast
• Where: Taos, New Mexico
• Cost: $110 – $325
• More Information: Casa Benavides Inn website

Narrative

On the recent trip that I took my family on to historic Taos, New Mexico we decided that instead of staying in a chain hotel like a Holiday Inn that we usually stay in, that we would try a locally owned and operated bed & breakfast.  With Thanksgiving coming up we have some friends from Australia who may visit us if they can get a good price on flights to USA.  They wanted to see Taos and we thought staying at a bed & breakfast would be a good experience for them.  So I did some Internet research and settled on staying at the Casa Benavides Inn Bed & Breakfast:

This bed & breakfast is located in the historic district of Taos and right next to Kit Carson’s old house that has been turned into a museum:

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According to the Inn’s website the owners Tom and Barbara McCarthy come from two families that have deep connections to the city.  They knew each other their whole lives before marrying and having three children.  They opened the Inn in 1989 and named it after Barbara’s parents Carlos and Ruth Benavides.  Carlos had built three of the prior homes on the property which are now part of the hotel.

When we arrived in Taos we at first drove right by the inn and had to turn around to make the turn into the parking area that can at first be hard to spot from the main road.  Parking in the historic district of Taos can be challenging, but once we turned on to the small entrance into the hotel’s property we found that there was plenty of parking here:

This is another nice aspect of the hotel which is that it is conveniently located within walking distance of the historic district.  Once at the inn there is no need to drive to get to anywhere else in downtown Taos.  After my wife and I pulled into the property and parked we found a sign pointing the way to the reception desk.

To go inside the hotel I passed through this pleasant courtyard outside the hotel lobby and dining areas:

On the way to the reception desk I stopped and checkout the beautifully decorated lobby of the hotel:

However, once I got to the reception desk there was no one there to check us in:

So I had to walk around a little bit until I found the kitchen.  The Inn’s employees were in the kitchen baking goods for the afternoon tea time.  One of the workers came out and was able to quickly check me into the hotel.  She was extremely friendly and invited us over to the dining area to have some of the afternoon tea and cakes they were preparing.  Before having tea and cakes my wife and I wanted to get our bags put away in our room.  The room we stayed in was the Acoma Room that was being offered for $135:

We really liked the room because it was big enough for a family of 3 to stay in and it was tastefully decorated:

The room had hand made wooden furniture such as this cabinet that contained the room’s television:

Since we were in Taos we didn’t spend a whole lot of time in the room so the TV was hardly ever used.  The room also featured some pieces of artwork by local artists that were a nice touch:

The room also had its own restroom that we found to be clean and functional.  After checking out the room and putting our bags away we then walked over to the dining area to have tea and cakes.  Like the rest of the Inn the dining room was tastefully decorated in a Southwestern style:

The cakes we had were all home made and quite tasty.  Be careful here because you can definitely pack away some calories staying here and eating all those great cakes and cookies:

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel which featured a mixture of American and Southwestern cuisines:

If you just want an American style breakfast, cereal and French Toast are available.  However, I not only had the American breakfast items offered, but I also ate all the Southwestern items like eggs with chili as well.  I especially recommend the homemade tortillas which I must of ate about four of.  I had just climbed to the summit of New Mexico’s highest mountain the 13,161 foot Wheeler Peak the day prior so I had worked up quite an appetite that morning and found the food outstanding.

Conclusion

Overall we were very impressed by the Casa Benavides Inn.  I can’t say it is the best bed & breakfast in Taos since I haven’t stayed in all of them, but what I can tell you is that you will not be disappointed staying here.  The room we stayed in was very nice, the service was very friendly and family oriented, and the food was great.  The addition of having a tea time along with having a breakfast is a nice added bonus.  The location is hard to beat as well being so close to downtown.  With all these features my wife and I both thought we got our money’s worth at $135 a night staying at the Inn.  If anyone has any other bed & breakfast recommendations in Taos please share them in the comments section, but right now my wife and I are big fans of the Casa Benavides Inn and look forward to staying there again the next time we are in town.