Angel Fire Resort and Angel Fire, New Mexico Winter Review and Video

Angel Fire Resort and Angel Fire, New Mexico Winter Lodging, Skiing, and Ski School Review and Video

My family, dog, and I recently returned from a fun winter vacation in Angel Fire, New Mexico.  We stayed at the pet-friendly, Lodge at Angel Fire Resort.  We spent four nights and three days there skiing, playing, taking snowboarding and skiing lessons, eating, relaxing, and playing in the snow.  Here is a written review and a video review of our Family Vacation at the Angel Fire Resort in Angel Fire, New Mexico.

Angel Fire Resort and Angel Fire, New Mexico Winter Lodging, Skiing, and Ski School Video Review

How to get to Angel Fire New Mexico

We drove from Austin, Texas to Angel Fire, New Mexico.  With stops, it took us about 13 hours.  It was a mostly boring drive.  We stopped for lunch in Lubbock.  Along the way, there were not many options to stop and eat.  There were long stretches of road with not much of anything.  Plan ahead and get gas and snacks while you can.

You could also fly to Santa Fe or Albuquerque. Angel Fire is a 3-hour drive north of Albuquerque.

Arriving at the Angel Fire Lodge

We arrived at the lodge in the early evening.  The staff was very warm and welcoming and seemed especially happy to see our big Golden Retriever.  One of the staff members called our dog over by name to give her pets and hugs.  We also got a welcome gift bag for our dog filled with treats, a toy, and poop pickup bags.

Accommodations at Lodge at Angel Fire Resort

The Lodge is a short walk to the ski lifts and ski rental. It’s basically on the same property.

There’s an indoor pool, hot tub, fitness room, free Wi-Fi access, washer/dryers, and a few restaurant choices.

We stayed in a pet-friendly room with direct access to the courtyard from our back patio. The room had two queen beds and plenty of space for all of our stuff. There were lots of drawers and closet space. Our room had a small refrigerator, coffee maker, and fake fireplace.  The room was clean and the water pressure was good.

I thought the bed was comfortable. I brought my own pillow and slept fine. Although, my husband did not think the bed was comfortable and complained about the pillows. The heater made a tick-tock sound when it was on and it took some time to get used to the sound.

The Wi-Fi worked fine.  The indoor pool was clean, yet crowded.  There is a maximum occupancy of 10 people for the pool.  Only kids were in the pool.  The adults watched the kids poolside.  The hot tub was absolutely packed with both kids and adults when we stopped by on a Saturday night.

Restaurants at Angel Fire Resort

There is a variety of restaurants to choose from at the resort. The food and food service overall was just mediocre. The food was overpriced, as it is at most resorts. There were not many healthy options.

Legends Grill

The first night we ate at Legends Grill on the second level of the Lodge at Angel Fire Resort. We thought the food was pretty good. My husband and son shared a pizza. My husband also got wings. I had a Caesar salad and a bowl of Texas chili. The resort was fairly empty that first night we were there. We did not have to wait for a table and the food did not take too long to arrive. It worked out well.

Village Haus

For lunch on the second day, while the kids were at Ski School, we ate at Village Haus. There was a bar inside and mostly already prepared foods with cafeteria style service. There were boxed salads, wrapped sandwiches, but you could also order burgers, corn dogs, and a few other grilled items. The dining area was crowded at lunchtime and we had to share the end of a table with another family. The food was decent.

Chianti’s

For dinner one night we chose to pick up food from the restaurants and just eat in our room. The resort was crowded and there were long wait times to be seated. I wanted spaghetti and meatballs from Chianti’s, but they were out of meatballs. I ended up ordering spaghetti with marinara sauce. My husband ordered wings again from Legends. They told us to come back in about 15 minutes.

Fifteen minutes later, my husband went to pick up the food. Somehow, my order was never placed and he had to wait for them to make it. It took a long time. When I finally got my food it did not seem like it had just been made. The pasta was Luke warm. The sauce was watery. I ate it only because I was hungry and had no other options.

Annie’s Coffee House

One day, we had brunch at Annie’s Coffee House in the lobby of the Lodge at Angel Fire Resort. The food and service were horrible. While ordering we said three different times that the kids did not want their bagels toasted. My husband and I even joked about them coming out with toasted bagels. Well, sure enough, the bagels came out toasted. The kids had to wait a while to get new bagels that weren’t toasted.

The staff seemed overloaded and confused. There were quite a few people waiting for food, but I wouldn’t say it was packed in the restaurant. I waited forever to get an already prepared bagel sandwich that was chewy and did not have the same ingredients listed on the menu.

I also ordered a latte. The guy before me picked up his order of 5 different drinks but returned shortly with a drink that was not the one he ordered. It had obviously been tasted. His wife ordered a mocha and this was a regular latte. I knew that that drink was supposed to be mine. I wanted to make sure the barista didn’t try to give me that exact same drink, so I watched her carefully. She went to the back of the restaurant and came back with the same cup without a lid on it. I watched her place a new lid on the cup and hand it to me. Then, I called her out on it. I said, “Isn’t that the same coffee the guy just returned?” She apologized and made a new drink for me. The new drink was Luke warm and only tasted like warm milk. I couldn’t taste any coffee in it. That was really poor service and a health hazard.

Skiing in Angel Fire

Our experience skiing was nice. While the kids were in ski school for two days, my husband and I were able to enjoy the slopes.  He is an intermediate skier.  I’m more of a beginner.  That was only my third time skiing.

We rented our equipment from the Angel Fire resort and bought our ski passes ahead of time.  We arrived early before the lifts opened and did not have to wait in line for too long.  The second day we were there we noticed the line was very long.  Plan to get to the equipment rental early, so you don’t have to wait in line for a long time.

I only skied on green trails.  Some were quite challenging for me.  At the beginning of the day, the snow was pretty powdery, but by the end some parts of the slopes were icy.

The lifts were nice.  The views were beautiful.

Angel Fire Ski School

We signed the kids up for two days of Ski School.  They insisted on snowboarding rather than skiing.  The first day of lessons did not go well.  The instructor was new and he said they had a lot of equipment problems.  I’m not sure exactly who’s fault that was.  He claimed the snowboards are hard for small kids to maneuver.  Our kids are ages 6 and 8.  By the end of the full day lesson, they were not even able to go on the Bunny Slope.

The next day, we switched the kids to ski lessons.   It was a success.  They did so much better and had a great time.  We were able to ski with them after the full day lessons and even go on a green slope together.

Other Resort Activities

There is more than just skiing and snowboarding at the resort.  You can go sledding, tubing, and more in the winter. During the summer there is boating, biking, golfing, and more.

The Town of Angel Fire, New Mexico

We did not explore much of the town of Angel Fire.  To be honest, I don’t think there’s all that much to explore anyway.  One night we ate dinner at Hail’s Holy Smoked BBQ. It was good and a close drive from the resort.

If you would like to get more information about Angel Fire including pricing for skiing and lodging visit the Angel Fire Resort Website.

 

Summary

Overall, we enjoyed our stay in Angel Fire, New Mexico.  It’s a great vacation place for families and pet owners.  Plan to bring your own food if you are picky or healthy eater or if you want to save some money.  It is probably not the best place to go for skiing, but if you want a fun, family vacation, driving distance from Texas, Angel Fire would be a great getaway.