Embrace the Climate You're In

Winter in Taos has been variously described as "magical" and "surprising."  But, what does it mean to your Innkeepers as former denizens of the sub-tropics of Florida and far Southern Texas? 

We have chosen to "Embrace the Climate We're In."  And we're convinced that you will find something special if you join us this Winter.

There are two key ingredients to remember:

Magical:  Snow in Taos is Rocky Mountain powder.  It's so small as to be almost "not there" since its moisture content averages around 7%.  This means that if I'm a good worker-bee Innkeeper, I can sweep the snow off the front courtyard with a broom.  Of course, if more than a few inches of snow has fallen overnight, I'll get out and shovel it.  But shoveling a few inches of snow in Taos is almost like shoveling feathers.  

Surprising:  Winter storms in Northern New Mexico typically ride the Jet Stream, meaning they move fast.  Remember that Taos averages over 300 days of sunshine a year, so it's very rare for a winter storm to linger here more than a day or so.  

As the storms break and ride away to points east, the skies open up to the incredible azure blue the artists found over a century ago.  These are the Bluebird Days and as Taos is blanketed with powdery white snow, the seemingly endless days of blue skies and brilliant sunshine bring warmth to the soul.  

The towering mountains above town remain covered as the dry snow evaporates around town and we celebrate Winter with a gusto.  It's ABOVE town where we go for Downhill and Cross-Country Skiing.

It's important to note that "cold" applies to nights in Taos, but rarely to the days.  Three layers of clothing is all you'll ever need:  a wicking layer next to your skin, a mid-layer such as a polar-tech type pullover and a heavier coat if you're going to be out and about during the snowfall or after sunset.  Gloves are nice and we always recommend a warm hat for your head.

Finally, Taos has an aggressive snow removal program on all its streets.  All roads leading into Taos are "lifelines" meaning that they are cleared as quickly as possible.  It is rare for any road into or out of Taos to be closed due to snow for more than the briefest periods of time.  Even the tiny one-lane street leading into La Posada de Taos is cleared during and after every snowfall.  

Snow never paralyzes Taos.  In fact, last winter during a relative drought between storms, we all started longing for a big storm.  It's a normal part of the cycle that we all live here and we love it dearly.

In the next couple of weeks, La Posada de Taos will be announcing its Winter Adventure Packages that will consist of columns of choices.  Each item will be discounted anywhere from 10 to 25% off the retail price you would pay if purchased on your own.  As you consider something to do this Winter, think about the magical and surprising Town of Taos and all that La Posada de Taos can offer.

Stay at a Real Bed & Breakfast

La Posada de Taos was the first B&B in Taos when it opened its doors almost 30 years ago.  Since that time it has remained continuously open and operating to offer its guests both Beds and Breakfasts each day.

La Posada de Taos always serves fresh-baked items at Breakfast

Why am I mentioning this?  Many people don't know it, but at least one of the "B&B's" at or near the top of Trip Advisor's Taos B&B page isn't a B&B at all.  Fact is that guests at that small Inn have to pay extra for breakfast, so most simply skip the extra expense.  Don't let their reviews fool you: if someone mentions they had breakfast at this non-B&B, they paid a boatload of extra cash for it.

Staying at that "other place" means missing out on one of the essential truths of a B&B:  that special time each morning when guests from all over the world gather in some of Taos' most historic homes and break bread together.

At La Posada de Taos and other members of the local Taos Association of Bed and Breakfast Inns (TABBI) we never charge extra for breakfast.  It's simply not done in our industry.

La Posada de Taos' Breakfast is included in the price of your room.

Be sure to ask when you're booking whether that price includes breakfast.  If the quoted price only includes the room with some other frilly-sounding stuff, call a B&B and compare.  

You get the beds, the breakfasts and all the other great stuff at one cost when you stay with us.  Don't let Trip Advisor's categories fool you.

Call your Innkeeper, Brad Malone today and ask him, "What's for breakfast, Brad?"  

Culinary Destinations

Guests who come to B&B's in Taos expect something more than the "toaster breakfast" served at local motels.  It's a given.  

Those that stay at La Posada de Taos also tend to have very refined palettes.  When they eat away from home, for example, they frequent fine dining establishments.

It's also a given that the cost of that breakfast is included in the price of your room.  Not so everywhere in Taos.  One boutique Inn that TripAdvisor.com ranks among the tops in Taos charges extra if you want the Innkeeper to serve breakfast.  Of course, Trip Advisor doesn't know or care about that.  Guests are on their own to find out whether that B&B actually provides both "B's" as part of its inclusive services.

From the very beginning of our time here at La Posada de Taos, we decided that our guests deserved the best we could offer.  We immediately focused on both "B's:  the beds and the breakfasts.  I'll save the story of our incredible linens for later, but I just wanted to introduce you to a few of our culinary creations.

Breakfast at La Posada de Taos always begins with cut fresh fruit, organic yogurt and our signature housemade granola.  This simple beginning sets the stage for a wholesome, hearty breakfast.  The first course is always accompanied by a variety of fruit juices such as our favorite Blueberry Pomegranate juice or orange juice.

Fresh Cut Fruit with Organic Yogurt and Housemade Granola Begins Breakfast Each Day at La Posada de Taos

 But what is breakfast without something baked fresh in the oven each day?  We're not talking store-bought muffins here.  And we're definitely not talking about anything prepared from a mix.  Nope.  At La Posada de Taos our chefs had determined that the only way our guests are going to enjoy their breakfast from beginning to end is that the baked item be made completely from scratch.  The housemade delicacies vary from day to day, but typically include a housemade blueberry muffin or a made-from-scratch buttermilk biscuit.  Yum!

La Posada de Taos' Made-from-Scratch Buttermilk Bisquit with a Selection of Chili Jams

Michael Carter, our own "Breakfast Guru," next prepares an entree that our guests always find memorable.  The Breakfast Tostada pictured below is an example.  The photo pretty much shows the makings of the dish:  corn tortilla, black beans, cheese, poached egg, corn chip strips, and a small avocado and tomato side. It's hearty, it's healthy and it's just one part of the well-balanced meal that our chef will prepare each and every day for our guests.

The La Posada de Taos Breakfast Tostada

I'll focus more on the incredible entrees and baked items in future posts.  We hope you get to come and enjoy breakfast with us some day.  It's always a memorable meal.

Google Place Pages

Before I launch into details about how to use TripAdvisor.com, you should probably be aware of the importance of Google Place Pages.  If you have already claimed your Google Places Page, you're not done yet.  Google has recently introduced several new products that are important for you to know about.  One expert recently told me that Google has introduced more new products in the last 4 months than they had in the previous 4 years.

If you haven't already claimed your business listing on Google you should immediately do so.  Don't worry, it's a simply process that you can complete in less than hour.  In fact, Google now has tutorials and a step-by-step lesson for you.

Why is this important?

In a recent TripAdvisor.com Forum posting, a Property Management Company representative from Santa Fe asked if there was anything she could do about how Google Places had links to reviews on Trip Advisor on her company Places Page that weren't for her company.  She was told in separate correspondence that Trip Advisor relies at least in part upon Google Places to identify companies.  She was told by Google that they rely on Trip Advisor listings to match reviews to "Places."

Caught in what seemed to be a circular trap, the company representative was exasperated.  The problem was that the reviews for this company on Google Places were NOT reviews for this woman's business.  They were reviews for a vacation rental company that had appropriated the business name via an identical domain name.  Ultimately, the problem wasn't really either Trip Advisor's or Google's fault -- it was a legal matter.

The point of this example is to show you the danger of not claiming and managing your business identity on Google and of not properly managing your business reviews on Trip Advisor.  If you have time, click on this link and follow the thread of responses -- there was a lot of confusion and a lot of wasted time and effort.  Because the TripAdvisor Forum was not the setting for a detailed response, I communicated via e-mail with the business rep.

My recommendation for this business:  they had not included the full name of their business when they claimed their Google Places identity.  I recommended that she start over on Google Places as if claiming a NEW business identity and once she had that set up, she could "Suspend" the first one.  Most people don't know it, but as the business owner, you have the power to remove your Google Places Page as long as Google can verify your relationship as owner.

An example of a Photo on La Posada de Taos' Google Places Page

Finally, I want to relate to you that La Posada de Taos did not claim its Google Business Identity on what is now known as Google Places until late in 2009.  At the time I first went to claim it, their map had us out on the West Mesa (we're downtown) with 3 rooms instead of 6 and lots of other misinformation.   We claimed our Identity and we keep our page current with visits every few months.  Here's what we currently do.  If the link doesn't work, do a Google Search using keywords La Posada de Taos and Google Places.

From time to time I'll have more information on Google Places Pages, but for now here are the Must Do's:

• Fully complete all the information
• Include photographs
• Link a video (even if it's just a generic Taos video from YouTube)
• Look at ALL of the business development tools available through Google, use at least one.
• Check your Google Map location (you can change it here easily)

Why Trip Advisor Matters

For our guests and fans, La Posada wants to extend a huge Thanks for the recent reviews on TripAdvisor.com.  For local businesses in Taos, this is the first in a series of articles that I'll be posting introducing you to TripAdvisor.com and assisting you in using all the business tools that they have to help you grow in 2011.

We recently had the opportunity to attend the annual Professional Association of Innkeepers International Conference and Trade Show in Charleston, SC.  At that conference, several representatives of TripAdvisor.com were there to answer questions and give factual information regarding developments at the world's largest travel review website.

When we took over Taos' First B&B in 2008, it had already been operating continuously since 1982.  We didn't know much about Trip Advisor, but we knew it was the 600 pound gorilla in the corner of the room.  At the time of our take-over, La Posada was #8 out of 26 B&B's in "Taos" and #12 out of 48 B&B's in the Taos area.  More on the difference in "areas" later.

We quickly rose to the #2 spot early in 2009 and have held steady at #2 or #3 ever since.  Earlier today, the newest listing from TripAdvisor.com came out and La Posada de Taos moved into the #1 spot for all of Taos and the Taos vicinity.  We're really proud of this new designation.  Here's the latest listing for "Taos" and the "Taos Area."

La Posada de Taos

If you're not familiar with TripAdvisor.com, it is the world's leading travel review website with over 50 million visits per month.   Because it allows anyone and everyone to participate, it is a Social Networking website of the first degree.  Facebook is the largest of them all and was featured in last summer's hit movie The Social Network.

Although other websites allow you post reviews like Trip Advisor does, none of them approach the volume of traffic.  A newer -- some say more savvy -- website known as Yelp is quickly gaining popularity, but is still dwarfed by TripAdvisor.

In addition to reviews of B&B's and hotels, Trip Advisor accepts reviews of restaurants and other attractions, including other businesses in any given area.  As part of an effort to assist other members of the Taos County Chamber of Commerce, I'll be posting information on the business uses of TripAdvisor.com in my upcoming blogs.

Be sure to post back comments and questions on this blog if you have anything.

The Reviews Don't Lie: La Posada is Truly Special

Since becoming an Innkeeper in May 2008, I've had a shift of perspective away from many of the things found in big city life such as career tracking and toward simpler things such as the history of my new hometown and those who have lived here for over 1000 years, the Taos people.  Of course, it helps that I get to do this in Taos and that I get to share it all with guests from all over the world.

La Posada de Taos is a Bed and Breakfast in Taos, NM.  It was the first in town almost 30 years ago and it has remained in constant operation since its visionary founder rescued the historic home.   As the first B&B in town, we believe that we have a higher set of standards to meet and we have worked hard to keep raising the bar for ourselves as we prepare to enter our 3rd full year as the stewards of La Posada.

Our focus has always been on the customer experience, particularly the comfort of our guests.  Soon after we took over the Inn switched to 600 thread-count sheets and pillow cases.  Guests rave about them and we offer them for sale when we can keep them in stock.

Food standards are no different.  Immediately upon assuming control of the kitchen my partner and the Inn's Chef Michael Carter threw out the old 3-ring binder of breakfast casserole recipes and began introducing his own signature dishes each morning.  Featured in this first of many breakfast photos to come is Michael's Blue Corn Toasted Pinon Waffle with Buttermilk Biscuits, fresh fruit, housemade granola and organic yogurt.

Blue Corn Toasted Pinon Waffles:  Chef Michael Carter's Signature Dish

When you come to a B&B like La Posada, you're going to be surprised.  Unless you're staying at a 5-Star resort, H\hotels and motels are sterile, impersonal places.  Not so here.  Reviews of La Posada de Taos posted on TripAdvisor, Yahoo, BedandBreakfast.com and other travel review sites indicate that we are the #1 B&B in Taos that includes breakfast in the price of your room.

Having just returned from the 2011 Professional Association of Innkeepers International (PAII) Annual Conference and Trade Show in Charleston, SC, we are ready to continue to raise our standards and to focus even more resources on the guest experience.  Stay tuned.

Introduction to "Notes from the Hinterland"

Portrait of the Blogger

The Hinterland I presently hail from is Taos, New Mexico, USA. A strange place with big beautiful mountains and painterly blue skies unlike anywhere in the world. It is and has been the home to many of the world's most famous artists. It is the "secret" destination of many of our nation's elites. 


New Mexico is "The Land of Enchantment" and the birthplace of "The Bomb." Over on the other side of the Central Mountains and just a short time after the first atomic bomb was tested south of here, the Roswell Incident occurred.  Los Alamos is down the road from Taos. But don't worry, I'm not going to write about space aliens here. I mean, really, they're much more likely to be where you are than where I am.  The Taos Hum might deserve an explanation, but so far as we can tell, an alien origin to the Hum would be a great Science Fiction story.


Far and remote from the coasts are we. No airline hub here. Nope.  California has 5 counties with populations larger than the entire State of New Mexico.  Texas has 2, New York 2 as well.


Since you'd have to drive about two and a half hours to get to Taos from an airport that has more than one airline, you're probably wondering why 2 million visitors make the effort every year.  Put another way:  You have to really understand why Taos is important in order to make the effort to get here. 


La Posada de Taos was the first B&B in Taos and remains one of the oldest continuously operating in the state.  It's a great business and it's an even more wonderful opportunity to live and be present in such an amazingly beautiful home where our doors are open for visitors to enjoy as their home away from home in this incredible place.  If you want to catch a glimpse of what I'm talking about, check out some of my photos on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/r.brad.malone?sk=photos.


In 2007, before I became an Innkeeper in Taos, I began this blog as a forum for both storytelling and social commentary.  Although I'd love to have a political discussion with you, it's inappropriate for an Innkeeper to be harsh or opinionated when his guests are more interested in learning about Taos Pueblo than in discussing the federal deficit.  Washington, D.C.?  Where's that?


My days begin sitting down at breakfast with our guests at La Posada de Taos.  Each day our Chef, my partner Michael, prepares something entirely from scratch.  And each day I set plates of gourmet breakfasts down and then join our guests for a shared meal around the dining room table.  It's a magical time for me.  Meeting folks from all over the world and facilitating their interaction with one another as well as with Taos is a gift.


As I've been honing my storytelling skills at the breakfast table, I've been asked to also share some of them on the blogosphere.


Thus, a blog begins anew.  I've retained a few blog posts about interesting things that happened here in New Mexico in the years or months leading up to our arrival in Taos.  It is my intention, however, not to keep the focus on personal stories and to ultimately relay to you some of the quintessential Taos history that will amaze and, hopefully, entertain you.


The English hadn't even come to the East Coast by the time the American Indian and Spanish Colonials had already settled their boundary disputes in New Mexico.  The history of this region can be traced through tales dating back to pre-history and moving forward through the Spanish era that began over 400 years ago to the immigration of Anglos in the mid-1800's, artists at the turn of the 20th Century and then the Hippies of the late 1960's.


Why Taos, New Mexico? It's a fair question. A lot of Americans don't even know where it is. Some folks out here like it that way. New Mexicans revel in being mistaken as being from somewhere else. It's true that some Americans believe that a passport is required to enter or leave the state. Each month New Mexico Magazine prints a column entitled "One of Our 50 is Missing" featuring stories from citizens who have been, for example, denied insurance coverage ("We don't insure persons or property outside the US.") or unable to pass through TSA Security without first giving passport information.


Albuquerque, with over a million people in its metro area, is the most remote large city in America.  Thus, Taos is even more remote.  It's a town of 5000 people that was described in 2009 by culture critic Dave Hickey in this way: 

In the twentieth century, it has probably produced more serious art and literature than any other non-metropolitan area in the United States, and, throughout this century, Taos' virtues have remained more amenable to producers of art than to it's consumers. It has resisted gentrification. . . 

I'll be getting back to Mr. Hickey's observations in a future post, but suffice it to say that there is no other town of 5000 people like Taos.  It is geographically isolated -- surrounded on three sides by the Sangre de Christo Range of the Southern Rockies.  Trains never came to Taos.  The closest Interstate Highway is over 60 miles away.  There is a old-guard of isolationists who fight hard to keep Taos' unique identity and to prevent it from becoming what many perceive as the horror:  an adobe-themed tourist park similar to Santa Fe.


All the photos included on this site are my own.  You can visit me on Facebook both as an individual and through posts on our B&B's website at laposadadetaos.com.


If you want to know more, or if you're going to be visiting Taos, it is my hope that you can use me as a resource.  It's time to get on with it.  See you back soon, I hope.