After leaving Colorado, Shae, Truffles and I headed down to Santa Fe, NM as we managed to get tickets for Meow Wolf, then we headed to the northwest corner of New Mexico to stay in Farmington.
We picked Farmington for a couple of reasons. It was close to a few places we wanted to visit – Durango and Mesa Verde National Park (both in the southwest corner of Colorado) and Bisti De-Na-Zin Wilderness in New Mexico. We’d loved to have stayed in Durango, but hotel and Airbnb prices there were very high.
Farmington was a good solution because it was within 1-1.5 hours of everything we wanted to see and hotels were more affordable. Even better, there were a couple of category 2 Marriott properties which meant they were cheap on points. We picked the TownePlace Suites Farmington in particular because every suite has a full kitchen. With us planning on staying there 10 nights, having a kitchen would be preferable to having to use my portable kitchen.
It ended up being a pretty good stay. Our room was comfortable, they offered several hot options for breakfast (something many hotels still aren’t doing due to COVID) and their staff members were friendly. Here’s a full review of our stay at the TownePlace Suites Farmington, NM.
Check-In
The drive from Santa Fe to Farmington took 3.5 hours, so we arrived about 2:30pm. I’d checked on their website before we arrived to see if they had any one bedroom suites available for us to be upgraded to, but those were all booked up.
We booked the stay in Shae’s name as we were trying to earn her enough elite nights to earn Titanium status this year, so she went inside to check-in while I unloaded our car. It didn’t seem to take too long to check in and so we were soon on our way up to room 325.
Suite
When entering our suite the galley kitchen was on the right, the living area straight ahead and the bedroom and bathroom ahead and to the left.
Kitchen
Every room at the TownePlace Suites Farmington (and every TownePlace Suites property for that matter) has a full kitchen. That includes a full-sized fridge-freezer, double stove top, microwave and dishwasher.
Our fridge-freezer wasn’t working properly when we arrived (we didn’t realize until that evening), so they replaced it the following day.
In the cupboards and drawers were pans, silverware, place settings for four, etc.
The hotel also has a number of small appliances and other items you can borrow during your stay.
Living Area
To the left of the kitchen was the living area. This had a sleeper sofa on the far side of the room, with a desk and storage unit to the right of it. There were in fact two desks – one which is part of the unit and a second one on rollers just beneath that fixed desk.
One of the reasons I like TownePlace Suites rooms is that even when you’re only in a studio suite, there’s a lot of storage available.
To the left of the suite’s entrance (i.e. opposite the galley kitchen) was a closet containing an iron and ironing board, along with a rack to hang jackets.
Bedroom
On the opposite side of the living area was the bedroom. This had a king bed which was very comfortable and blackout curtains that worked well. At the foot of the bed was an ottoman with a tray on top that you can use in bed or on the couch, although we set it to one side.
Between the bedroom and living area was the suite’s TV which was on top of a storage cupboard.
Their TV channel selection was OK, but we plugged in our Fire TV Stick to give us even more options.
Bathroom
The bathroom featured a bathtub with a shower which had good water pressure.
There were small bottles of toiletries; I’m not sure if they’re transitioning to new toiletry brands, but there was a mix of brands.
The bathroom had an additional closet, although in reality it was a continuance of the one that was opposite the kitchen as the two closets linked up – you can see the other door on the right.
This closet had some shelving along with bedding for the sofa bed in the living area.
Overall, we were happy with our studio suite. While it would’ve been nice to have been able to get an upgrade to a one bedroom suite if there was one available, the well-designed storage space meant that it didn’t feel too cramped in the room.
Breakfast
Breakfast is complimentary for all guests at the TownePlace Suites Farmington. They served it from 6:30-930am on weekdays and 7-10am on weekends. I appreciated that as it meant we didn’t have to be up too early in order to get breakfast.
The hotel had several hot options for breakfast each day which was something else we appreciated because not all hotels have returned to offering that yet due to COVID. There were always breakfast burritos and breakfast sandwiches, along with other rotating options like scrambled eggs, Canadian bacon, biscuits and gravy, etc.
Rather than these items being self-serve though, there were staff members there to serve it for you. I’ve been a little confused as to why so many hotels continue to do this seeing as it doesn’t seem like COVID is spread via people touching the same surfaces, utensils, etc. It’s not like it’s a big issue – I just prefer being able to grab items myself as it’s a little quicker.
The breakfast burritos were surprisingly good.
We always took our breakfast back up to our room, but there was seating available downstairs if you want.
The TownePlace Suites Farmington also had a coffee and tea station; from what I can remember, this was available 24/7.
Amenities
With TownePlace Suites being an extended stay brand, they have guest laundry facilities. There were three washing machines and three dryers, with it costing $1.50 per load for either type of machine which was a reasonable cost.
The TownePlace Suites Farmington has an indoor swimming pool. This was open during our stay in September 2021 from 9am-11pm, but you had to make a reservation at the front desk. There was a whirlpool too, although it looked like it didn’t have any water in it.
The hotel’s fitness room had several pieces of equipment and I don’t think it required a reservation – it didn’t have a sign on the door advising that anyway which is what the swimming pool had.
If you need to use a computer during your stay, there’s a business center with a couple of computers and a printer.
A fun feature at every TownePlace Suites property is the TowneMap. This is on the wall in the lobby and is a map of the local area with restaurants, attractions and services in the area marked on it.
Also in the lobby was a pantry area where you can buy snacks, microwave meals, beverages, etc.
At the back of the hotel were a couple of outdoor seating areas. One was outside of the swimming pool area and included a grill guests can use during their stay.
The other outdoor seating area was at the opposite end of the hotel.
Pet Policy
The TownePlace Suites Farmington is a pet-friendly policy. They accept a maximum of one pet per room (cat or dog weighing 50 lbs or less) and charge $100 per stay. That’s expensive if you’re only staying one or two nights, but it works out better than a per-night fee for longer stays. For example, we stayed 10 nights and so it averaged out to $10 per night which wasn’t bad.
The hotel has a number of rocky areas around the property for your pup to do their business, along with some grass out front.
Farmington has a few dog parks too. We took Truffles to Westlake Dog Park two or three times as it was such a great dog park. There are separate sections for large and small dogs and both sides are very spacious with shaded areas.
Service
Service at the property was good. We declined housekeeping during our stay and so can’t comment on that, but their front desk staff members were always friendly and helpful.
The hotel was offering a refresh service daily if you wanted it which included the following:
- Make the bed (no sheet change)
- Dust
- Load dishwasher
- Wipe counters
- Replace terry
- Replace amenities
- Clean bathroom
- Quick sweep of floor
- Trash removal
They then offered a full clean once a week if you wanted.
Wi-Fi
The TownePlace Suites Farmington offers free internet for all guests. The speed was good and I don’t remember us having any connection issues during our 10 night stay.
Check-In & Check-Out Times
Check-in is from 3pm, while check-out is at 12pm.
Location
The TownePlace Suites is in a useful location in Farmington as it’s within walking of an Albertsons grocery store and several restaurants. It’s 15 minutes to Aztec Ruins National Monument, just under an hour to Bisti De-Na-Zin Wilderness, just over an hour to Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado and about 1.5-2 hours to Chaco Culture National Historical Park which is particularly worth visiting.
Parking
It’s free to park at the hotel. There are several spaces out front, with many more spaces behind the hotel down a level. There are also four Tesla Supercharger stations at the back of the hotel.
Cost
We booked our stay using points. The TownePlace Suites Farmington is a category 2 property and so costs 10,000, 12,500 or 15,000 points per night depending on if they’re charging off-peak, standard or peak pricing.
Award nights were at standard pricing throughout our stay, so it cost 12,500 points per night. However, we ended up paying less than that. That’s because Marriott offers every 5th night free on award stays, so with us staying 10 nights we got both our 5th and 10th nights free. That meant our 10 night stay cost a total of 100,000 points, or 10,000 points per night.
For comparison, it would have cost us $126.08 per night with tax if we’d paid cash for our stay. That means we got 1.26cpp (cents per point) of value by paying with points which is very good value for Marriott points.
Final Thoughts
We had a decent stay at the TownePlace Suites in Farmington, NM. Our studio suite had plenty of storage and so it didn’t feel too cramped in our room, it was nice that they had a full hot breakfast available and their staff was friendly.
When staying in nearby Bloomfield earlier this year, we’d stayed at a great Airbnb. That was no longer available, so the TownePlace Suites was a great alternative that we’d be happy to stay at again in the future.
Truffles Approval Rating
Truffles gives this hotel four paws out of four – pawfect! Our room was quiet, the pet fee wasn’t bad for a longer stay and there was at least one great dog park nearby.
Our Rating
Room = 4.5 / 5
Hotel Amenities = 4.3 / 5
Food = 4.2 / 5
Location = 4.3 / 5
Service = 4.3 / 5
Overall Value = 4.5 / 5
Total = 4.35 / 5
Address
TownePlace Suites, 4200 Sierra Vista Dr, Farmington, NM 87402
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