The Inn & The Innkeepers

Shantal and Brantly are avid outdoors people, keen gardeners and enthusiastic students of the culinary arts. Shantal enjoys a wide variety of outdoor activities including skiing, fishing, biking, and urban roller skating. Shantal also enjoys knitting, sewing, card and parlor game playing, fixing up old cars, writing, soap making, reading, watching movies, and pottery making. Shantal comes to Taos from a life as a college teacher, prosecutor, crabber, and bar owner. Brantly returns to northern New Mexico after a career in the oil industry with stints in real estate and computers. His love for this part of the world comes from growing up in the Santa Fe area.

Winston and Eva, two escapees from the SPCA, fill out the Goodwin household. They are allowed in the first floor common areas of the Inn, but are not allowed into the guest rooms.

The Cottonwood Inn has extensive gardens on its acre of land. Both of us are avid gardeners and we keep irrigation, insecticide and fertilizer use to a minimum. We also have extensive views. One directions finds you looking over the grazing sheep and horses, the other direction has you are looking straight up to the stunning Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

Our gardens consist of native trees (cottonwood, aspen, piñon pine and western juniper), but we also have several lush and colorful perennial garden areas. Most of our plants are quite drought tolerant, however we do indulge in a few of the more water needy types.

Our common areas are very large and comfortable for sitting and reading, visiting or watching TV or one of the many videos or DVDs from our video library. The Inn also lends itself to small weddings and family reunions and we are happy to help facilitate wedding plans.