Bishop’s Lodge

By David Barclay | November 27, 2024

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to stay for two nights at Bishop’s Lodge.  Located about 10 minutes outside of Santa Fe, NM, and about an hour drive from the Albuquerque Airport, it’s relatively easy to get to for a long weekend or longer stay.  Bishop’s Lodge is part of the Auberge Resorts Collection, a group of 28 unique properties located mainly in the U.S. which also includes the Lodge at Blue Sky in Utah and Auberge du Soleil in Napa Valley.  It is a relatively new addition to the collection, opening in July 2021 after an $84 million dollar investment to turn it into a premium western resort.

Bishop’s Lodge is a moderate sized boutique resort, on a little over 300 acres with only about 100 acres currently developed for the resort.  It has a total of 100 rooms, including 84 guest rooms, 14 suites, and 2 residences. 

While the resort is very popular in the summer months, it is open year-round and offers numerous seasonal activities for guests to enjoy.  Visiting in the fall brought slightly cooler weather, but the days were still perfectly comfortable in the mid-60’s with plenty of sunshine and clear skies. 

For this visit, I also decided to bring along my 15-year-old son, to confirm that Bishop’s Lodge can be a great destination for adult couples, small groups of friends, and families.

History

The property was originally purchased and developed as a personal retreat for Bishop Jean Baptiste Lamy while he oversaw the construction of Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi in nearby Santa Fe.  The bishop built a three-room chapel and lodge which he called Villa Pintoresca.  After the death of the bishop, the property was sold to the Pulitzer family for their private use.  The family built a small structure which would eventually become the core of the main lodge at the resort (the living room in the lodge is what remains of the old structure).  A few years later the lodge was acquired by the Thorpe family, who managed it as a ranch from 1918 to 1998.  The property changed hands a few more times, eventually being acquired by HRV Hotel Partners in 2015 and undergoing the multi-year restoration and transformation into the Bishop’s Lodge of today.

Accommodations

(The Sunset building and a Sunset Suite)

Bishop’s Lodge has multiple room categories.  We stayed in an entry-level room, a Sunset suite in the Sunset building.  Located close to the main lodge building, it was only a short walk to get to the SkyFire restaurant, the pool, and the main lobby.  Even the entry-level suites were spacious, with two separate closets, a large bathroom, and a lovely outdoor private sitting area.  Bishop’s Lodge also has a few entry-level rooms at the top of the hill, offering great views to those willing to hike uphill to them (or guests can ask a staff member for a ride on one of the multiple resort golf carts).

For large groups, the Lodge offers a two- and 3-bedroom Casitas.  Larger multi-gen groups can consider the Bunk House, which has 12 rooms.  The Bunk House is available for a full buy-out, or guests can reserve individual rooms.  11 of the rooms are identical and have a king bed in the main area of the suite and a separate smaller room with bunk beds (great for a family of 4).  If guests reserve 2 rooms, they can close doors on the hallway between the rooms and make it into a 2-bedroom suite.  The one room that is different is the Junior Suite, it’s the largest room in the Bunk House but just has a king bed and does not have bunk beds.

At the top of the hill are the premium Kiva Suites (3 in total), large one-bedroom suites off-set in a secluded corner of the resort.  The Kiva Suites are adults only and offer guests several sitting areas with in-room and outdoor kiva fireplaces and an outdoor plunge pool.

Activities

While the summer months are the most popular time to visit, Bishop’s Lodge offers activities year-round.  The activity schedule changes by the season, with a mixture of activities available for the full season and special events centered around holidays and other special dates.  We visited in early November and had just missed the Halloween festivities but could still enjoy the decoration sprinkled throughout the resort.

Summer activities include visiting the stables, horseback trail riding, guided hikes, mountain biking, exploring nearby national parks, river rafting, kayaking, paddleboarding, cooking classes, leatherworking classes, art exploration, painting classes and exploring Santa Fe.

Fall/Winter activities include many of the indoor activities available in summer, including cooking, leatherworking, art, and painting.  Unique activities include skiing, a southwestern winter culinary journey, and a Bluebird Cafe Songwriters Concert Series where the Bunk House is converted into a concert hall from January to March and all guests are invited to watch the performances. 

Bishop’s Lodge offers many southwestern wellness activities and treatments.  These include sessions for intuitive healing, astrology, sacred scents of nature, spiritual alignment, Shamantic healing, and a Kakawa Chocolate Immersion.

Bishop’s Lodge also includes many on-property complimentary activities including yoga, meditation, guided hikes of the property, post card making, and archery.

One activity that’s popular and available year-round is flyfishing.  Depending on the time of year, the expert fishing guides will take guests to various regions around Santa Fe where the fishing is good.  My son and I did a ½ day private guided flyfishing trip and our guide took us about an hour outside of Santa Fe to the Pecos River.  We had a fairly successful few hours of fishing and catching rainbow and brown trout.  It was also a lovely day and wonderful to be out enjoying the beautiful scenery and weather, and having quality time with my son away from both of our hectic daily lives.

Guests can also explore off-property on their own.  Bishop’s Lodge offers a free shuttle service to Santa Fe via luxury SUV.  It has also partnered with Mercedes Benz and has four vehicles that guests can borrow complimentary for up to 4 hours at a time (first come-first serve).

Dining

The main restaurant at Bishop’s Lodge is the SkyFire restaurant.  It’s open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and has a lively bar that’s popular with guests in the evening.  SkyFire serves dishes with a very southwestern and New Mexico flare.  For example, breakfast egg dishes come with a choice of red or green salsa (or get both, called the Christmas salsa).  The dinner menu includes options for meat, fish, and vegetarian appetizers and entrees.  The New Mexico Truffle Bread is a favorite among staff and guests, and the dessert selection is also tantalizing. 

(New Mexico Truffle Bread and a Braided Churro)

Guests who wish to dine off-property can find many options in nearby Santa Fe, either in the plaza area or on Canyon Road.

The Verdict

Bishop’s Lodge was a wonderful western resort with a plethora of activities both on property and in the nearby area.  My only complaint about the trip is that we only had a long weekend available for our trip, I would have loved to say another night or two to further explore the surrounding area and try a few more of the complimentary activities.