I often stay in the heart of Santa Fe, the oldest state capital in the United States, to be amid its plazas and sculptural adobe buildings. I love the art galleries along Canyon Road; major Indian-focused institutions like the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian and the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture; and the Santa Fe Opera, which hosts summer performances in a magnificent covered amphitheater.

There’s no town quite like it. Native Americans have always considered it a sacred place, and the Spanish christened it the City of Holy Faith. Together, these two cultures have profoundly influenced Santa Fe’s art, cuisine and architecture.

But there are major advantages to staying just outside the center. Santa Fe stands where the southernmost stretch of the Rockies gives way to pine and juniper forests. The epic landscape has long inspired both artists and outdoor enthusiasts (me included). With the opening of Auberge’s Bishop’s Lodge and the nearby Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado just having completed a refurbishment, we set out to compare the two out-of-town properties head-to-head.