One thing that I love is discovering a new and exciting place to visit. Los Poblanos is a historic inn and organic farm that I learned of thanks to the Hotel Emma in San Antonio. Hotel Emma showcases all of their bath products, and this prompted me to dig a little deeper. After doing a pretty extensive search on google, I decided that this resort had to be included on my next trip to New Mexico. One advantage of traveling to New Mexico is that Santa Fe, Taos, and Albuquerque can all be reached by driving not too terribly far. This particular trip I visited both Taos and Santa Fe as well. I spent two of my nights at Los Poblanos, and I want to tell you more about it.
Although the focus of this post is on Los Poblanos, I want to start out with a couple of great ways to spend an arrival into Albuquerque. Gruet Winery has two outposts in New Mexico. They have a smaller tasting room in the Hotel St. Francis in Santa Fe and a larger building in Albuquerque. If you enjoy sparkling wines, you must visit Gruet. My favorite is the Grand Blanc de Noirs. It is very tasty and reminds me of Veuve at a lower price point of $30. Another great stop is the Sawmill Market. This is a food hall with so many fantastic choices it is almost overwhelming. I spent the beginning of my day at these two stops and then headed over to Los Poblanos.
Los Poblanos greets you with a dramatic tree lined long entry with signage asking you to drive slow in the event of a llama crossing. They have a rather large parking lot at the end of the drive, and on a Sunday afternoon it was packed. I was kind of shocked, but I quickly realized that many locals or visitors come to the restaurants and farm store. Even though I arrived early, I was able to check in at 1pm before their normal time at 4pm. They also provided a drink ticket for their restaurant Campo at that time. My room was a deluxe field suite. It appealed to me the most in photographs online. The website does a great job of photographs highlighting the differences between rooms. You can learn more at https://lospoblanos.com/accommodations/rooms.
The options for your stay include the south and north field rooms, farm rooms, and the meem rooms. My south deluxe field room was number 2. The inside was well appointed with a canopy bed, small seating area with couch and chair, a small bar, and all of the wonderful Los Poblanos products. There were a couple of drawbacks that I saw to the room. While my south field room had a view of the lavender fields, it also looked at a large portion of the parking lot. Although I enjoyed sitting outside on our patio to read, l didn’t love having a view of the parking and having some noise from people walking in and out of the farm store and restaurants. This could easily be fixed by having a north field room or one of the meem rooms. The farm rooms and south field rooms are located closer to the thoroughfare of guests walking around. The only other thing that I have to mention is the bathroom. While is was very large and had great products, it felt cold and sterile. There was a shower only that was perfectly fine and a small sink. I would have liked a larger vanity and a bathtub.
The amenities on the property are rather extensive. They have a croquet field and lawn games over by the lotus pond. The grass was a little muddy while I was there, which somewhat hindered its use. Not too far away is the Hacienda Spa. I did not have any treatments during my stay, but the spa looked lovely. The property also has a pool and small gym. The pool isn’t terribly large but very suitable for the number of guests. I enjoyed sitting by the pool early in the morning with a cup of coffee. In the afternoon, you can have drinks poolside as well. If you plan in advance, La Quinta is an elegant setting for afternoon tea service. They offer service on Wednesday and Sunday. Tea was booked for the Sunday we visited, but I would absolutely look into booking this when you make your reservation. The building is gorgeous with a pool out front and dramatic trees framing the area. It made me feel as if I was looking onto a hacienda in Spain watching others enjoy their tea on Sunday afternoon.
You can also explore the lavender fields, growing gardens, and the greenhouse. There are two peacocks that roam the property freely. During my stay, I saw them roaming twice and was able to get in close proximity. And, as I mentioned the llama crossing, there are in fact llamas on the property that you can visit. Finally, one of my favorite things was their farm shop. There are so many fantastic items in here, it was hard to not get carried away with purchasing. Their lotions and bath products are just the start. They also have lavender simple syrup and all kinds of spices and jellies. If you cannot visit in person, I still recommend their farm store online.
For food and dining, there are many treats in store. Let me continue talking about the farm shop because just inside the main entrance to the shop you can get coffee, pastries, sandwiches, cheeses, loaves of bread, etc. What they have to offer for their house items blew me away! I will make a very bold statement and say that the sandwich I purchased in their farm shop was the best cold sandwich I have ever had in my life. It was their seasonal sandwich that included charcuterie meats, fresh greens, peppers, pickled vegetables, and aioli on a house made milk bun. The sandwich was so good that I literally went back inside and purchased another one for the next day on my way to the airport. They also had a ham and cheese on baguette with a grain mustard that was nice, but it couldn’t even compare to the seasonal sandwich. The other item I tried in the farm store was an iced dirty chai tea latte. It was consistently tasty. I make this order frequently, so I think my sample size for comparison is large. Last, I have to mention their cookies. I tried their version of an oreo. It was fantastic. The baked goods go quickly, so if you have your eye on something, do not hesitate.
Campo is the main restaurant on the property. All of the ingredients are fresh with beautiful flavors. I had dinner at this restaurant two nights and covered a pretty extensive portion of the menu. First, I want to talk about their drink menu. I tried several of their cocktails. My favorite was their version of the margarita. It had almost a sweet/savory salt on the glass with obvious notes of their signature lavender, and it really made the drink unique. After not finding a favorite cocktail the first night, this ended up being a repeat drink for me the second night. There really were not any bad choices on the menu. Their salads with amazingly fresh ingredients are a great way to start your meal. The pasta dishes were also a favorite of mine. The only thing I tried and did not love was one of the desserts that was a lavender cake. For me, lavender is better suited to smell and not to taste in cake. There is both indoor and outdoor dining available. I enjoyed dinner inside both nights, but this is just a preference for me.
Los Poblanos offers a different type of escape. The property is not showy. It is simplistic in a wonderful way. This would be a great place to spend a long weekend. New Mexico seems to be a state that doesn’t try to impress anyone, yet does exactly that. I think there is still more to see in New Mexico, and I am ready to spend more time.
