Hotel in Santa Fe County, United States
Ten Thousand Waves
150ptsJapanese-style spa retreat, not a hotel spa.
About Ten Thousand Waves
Ten Thousand Waves is a Japanese-inspired bathhouse and inn on a Santa Fe hillside — the right booking if the spa is your primary reason for visiting. The setting is intimate and purposeful rather than resort-grand. Day-use access works well for Santa Fe visitors; overnight guests gain the best value by choosing rooms with private outdoor soaking tubs included. Booking is easy outside peak weekends.
Is Ten Thousand Waves worth booking?
Yes — if you want a spa retreat that feels genuinely different from the standard luxury hotel formula. Ten Thousand Waves, located at 21 Ten Thousand Waves Way in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is a Japanese-inspired bathhouse and inn set into the hillside just outside downtown Santa Fe. For a first-timer, the core experience is the communal and private hot tubs, not a hotel room with spa access as an afterthought. The spa comes first here, and everything else — lodging, dining, the mountain setting , orbits that central offer.
The physical layout reinforces this. The property climbs a hillside, with private tubs, shared pools, and treatment spaces distributed across terraced levels. You move between spaces on foot, often outdoors, with pinon pines and open sky around you. The scale is deliberately intimate rather than resort-large. If you are expecting a sprawling pool complex or a grand lobby, you will need to recalibrate , this place works because it is contained and purposeful, not because it is grand.
For first-timers, the clearest booking logic is this: decide whether you want to stay overnight or visit for the day. Day-use access to communal tubs is available and works well if you are already based in Santa Fe. Overnight rooms let you lean into the setting more fully, and the quieter morning hours at the pools are a real advantage for guests. On the room side, the property offers a range of accommodations from standard suites to private cottage-style options. The higher room tiers include private outdoor soaking tubs, which removes the need to reserve a private tub separately , worth considering if privacy matters more to you than price.
Santa Fe has stronger options for pure hotel luxury, but nothing in the area combines a working Japanese bathhouse with overnight lodging at this level. If the spa is the reason you are going, this is the right call. If you primarily want a well-located Santa Fe hotel with spa access as a perk, you may find better value elsewhere in the city. Check our full Santa Fe County hotels guide and our full Santa Fe County experiences guide for context on how it sits within the wider destination.
Booking is direct , this is not a hard reservation to secure outside peak summer and holiday weekends. Plan ahead for private tub reservations, which fill faster than room inventory.
Know Before You Go
- Address: 21 Ten Thousand Waves Way, Santa Fe, NM 87501
- Leading for: Spa-focused stays, couples, solo retreats, day-use bathhouse visits
- Booking difficulty: Easy for rooms; private tub reservations fill faster, especially on weekends
- Room tip: Upper-tier rooms with private outdoor soaking tubs offer the leading value if you would otherwise pay separately for private tub access
- Setting: Hillside property outside downtown Santa Fe; a car or rideshare is needed to reach the city centre
- Not ideal for: Travellers who want a large-pool resort, a full-service hotel lobby experience, or easy walkability to Santa Fe dining
- More Santa Fe context: restaurants, bars, wineries
How It Compares
See the comparison section below for how Ten Thousand Waves stacks up against peer properties.
Compare Ten Thousand Waves
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Ten Thousand Waves | — | |
| Aman New York | — | |
| Amangiri | — | |
| Hotel Bel-Air | — | |
| The Beverly Hills Hotel | — | |
| The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel | — |
How Ten Thousand Waves stacks up against the competition.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is the dining at Ten Thousand Waves?
Ten Thousand Waves is primarily a spa destination, so dining plays a supporting role rather than a headline act. The on-site food offering suits a day of treatments rather than a dedicated restaurant visit. If serious dining is your priority for a Santa Fe trip, plan meals in the city center — the restaurant scene there is strong and worth the short drive from 21 Ten Thousand Waves Way.
How is the pool and spa at Ten Thousand Waves?
This is the core reason to book. Ten Thousand Waves is structured around a Japanese onsen-inspired bathing concept with a mix of communal and private tubs set into the hillside above Santa Fe. The private tub option is worth paying for if you want the full experience without sharing space. For a hotel spa comparison, this format is more immersive than a standard spa floor at a resort property like Amangiri or Aman New York.
What is check-in like at Ten Thousand Waves?
Ten Thousand Waves sits at 21 Ten Thousand Waves Way, about eight miles northeast of downtown Santa Fe, which means check-in requires a car or arranged transport. The property has a quieter, more deliberate pace than a conventional hotel lobby — arrival feels more like entering a retreat than a resort. Day-use spa guests and overnight guests share arrival infrastructure, so expect modest rather than grand entry formalities.
How does Ten Thousand Waves compare to nearby hotels?
Compared to conventional Santa Fe luxury hotels, Ten Thousand Waves occupies a different category: it is a spa property with lodging, not a hotel with a spa. If you want full-service hotel amenities, concierge support, and a restaurant as a primary feature, properties closer to the Plaza district will serve you better. Ten Thousand Waves is the stronger choice when the spa experience itself is the reason for the trip.
Is Ten Thousand Waves family-friendly?
Ten Thousand Waves is better suited to adults and couples than families with young children. The communal bathing format and retreat atmosphere are oriented toward quiet relaxation. Families looking for an activity-rich New Mexico base would be better served by a conventional resort property; Ten Thousand Waves works best when everyone in the group is there for the spa.
Do loyalty programs work at Ten Thousand Waves?
Ten Thousand Waves operates independently, so major hotel loyalty programs such as Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors, or World of Hyatt do not apply here. If points accumulation or status benefits are a material factor in your booking decision, this is a notable tradeoff to weigh against the property's specific appeal. For those programs, Amangiri or a chain-affiliated Santa Fe property would be the practical alternative.
How is the location of Ten Thousand Waves?
The property sits in the Sangre de Cristo foothills at 21 Ten Thousand Waves Way, roughly eight miles from downtown Santa Fe. The hillside setting is the point — you are trading urban walkability for mountain quiet and altitude. A car is necessary for the stay; factor that in if you plan to eat out in Santa Fe regularly, as each trip requires the drive.
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