Santa Fe Hotel

The Santa Fe hotel is supposedly themed around the American South West, although unusually for Disney the theming almost completely fails to capture the essence of the area, and results in little more than a cheap and tacky representation of the New Mexico area.

The main entrance to the hotel (as guests drive up to it) is dominated by a huge drive-in style billboard poster of Clint Eastwood, and the area is a sprawling collection of terracotta painted dusty looking apartments set amid barren New Mexico style surroundings.

The main reception area is large, uninspiring, and usually very busy - one characteristic of the Santa Fe hotel that recurrs no matter which part of the hotel's communal facilities you visit, from the store to the main lobby and the food court. All are always very busy, probably because the Santa Fe is the primary hotel destination for the majority of the cheap weekend and three day break vacation packages.

The hotel does provide a relatively cheap on-site base from which to explore Disneyland Paris, and is well priced for families, but certainly isn't as enjoyable a base as the slightly more expensive Hotel Cheyenne, which children will definitely prefer.

If you're planning a stay at a Disneyland Paris hotel, and can't afford to stay in one of the other hotels, then you'll almost certainly find the Santa Fe to be a welcoming, if crowded hotel, however if you can possibly afford to upgrade beyond the Santa Fe to the Hotel Cheyenne, Sequoia Lodge or the Newport Bay then it's certainly worth doing.

Rooms

The Santa Fe features 1,000 guest rooms located in a total of 42 "pueblos". Internally the rooms are bright with Aztec style bedspreads covering one double and a pair of single bunk beds (each room catering for four people).

The price of the room usually includes a free continental buffet-style breakfast. Other breakfast selections are available at an extra charge.

Amenities

The hotel features a food-court style self service cafeteria, a store and a bar, but no pool or full service restaurants.

Shops

The Trading Post is a small on-site store, located inthe main reception building, selling the usual collection of Disney memorabelia. The store also sells goods with a New mexico theme, though on my last visit Western styled goods (Hotel Cheyenne style) were more common that New Mexican styled items.

Restaurants

The hotel features a friendly self-service food court styled restaurant, La Cantina offering a variety of American Tex-Mex speciality dishes, such as black bean soup and the ubiquitous Chilli con Carne.

The Rio Grande Bar serves mexican styled cocktails such as Tequila Sunrise, Sombrero, Howling Coyote and other similar drinks. There is also an occasional live music sesion in the evenings.

Check in / out

The earliest check-in time at the Santa Fe is 13:30 PM local time, with the latest check-out time being 11:00 AM local time.

Generally Disney prefer a credit-card imprint to be left with the hotel's reception, which will be used to cover any additional items that you charge to the room during your stay.

On checking into the hotel you are issued with a Disneyland Paris ID card, which is valid up until 11:00 AM on the day of departure. As well as being usable as a charge card, the ID also provides access to the hotel swimming pool, health club, theme park car park, and also provides access to the Hurricanes night club at the Festival Disney area.

Location

The Santa Fe resort is located approximately 15 minutes walk from the theme park, on the banks of the Rio Grande River which runs out of Lake Disney.

A Disney shuttle bus service is available that leaves from the hotel's main reception, depositing guests close to the theme park gates, though unless the bus is already waiting it's probably quicker to walk, since there's a 3-4 minute walk to the park from the bus' destination stop anyway.