Thought I’d throw out one more suggestion- if you want to try some authentic New Mexican cuisine, Tomasita’s in Santa Fe is very good.
I’m curious how OP managed to get stuck with this.
Sometimes hotels offer a discount if you reserve non-refundably. It’s usually not much of a difference, less than 10% IME.
Lots of hotels have cheap deals that are non-refundable. My hotel does it periodically, either by booking directly through us or via third party.
So bone up the entire schedule for a few bucks. Got it.
It works for a lot of people. If you know, barring WW3 or your own death, that you’re going to be at the hotel on the dates eligible, why not?
Our accommodation is AirBNB houses, and it’s not uncommon for them to be prepaid with no cancellation allowed. Not always, and most of ours haven’t been, but it’s certainly not unusual especially if you’re booking close to the date. It’s spelled out up front, so I don’t have a problem with it, and I’ll decide on a case by case basis if I want to take the calculated risk to get the specific place that I want.
I’m currently lounging in an absolutely spectacular adobe house just south of the Sante Fe plaza, so I’ll say it worked out yet again :). The house we stayed in one night in Carlsbad was perfectly fine too.
So the trip was a huge success. Very enjoyable!
We ended up landing Sunday morning and immediately headed south on I-25, east on US-380, south on US-54 and east on US-82. We stopped at the Trestle just outside of Cloudcroft, the giant Pistachio, and a few miscellaneous scenic overlooks. Overnight in Carlsbad and most of Monday in the caverns, which was spectacular. I did the natural entrance hike in and back, the rest of the family just in 
We drove directly to Santa Fe Monday afternoon and evening. Our house in Santa Fe was amazing. Traditional style, huge tall rooms, privacy from the kids, and now I really want a steam shower. Tuesday was a low key downtown day. We did a walking tour around the plaza and into the various churches, ate at the Shed, and visited the Georgia O’Keeffe museum. And then of course the dopefest in the evening 
Wednesday was another road trip day, Up to Bandelier, Los Alamos, the Rio Grande gorge bridge and briefly Taos. Very enjoyable, especially the Bandelier cave dwellings.
Thursday was basically Meow Wolf. That was a huge hit with both adults and kids. I think we spent six hours there in total. We did a long late lunch at Cafe Pasquals that was wonderful and then I took the kids back to Meow Wolf while my wife did some shopping/reading alone time. Really fun day.
Friday we headed back to Albuquerque for our flight home, but we did stop for a quick ride up the Sandia Peak Tram, which was fun.
All in all a spectacular trip. I think there was enough left undone to justify another trip one of these days. I really enjoyed this.
For those who like Meow Wolf, I’d also recommend City Museum in St. Louis. It is literally psychedelic in that when I was at both places it felt like I was in an altered state of consciousness.
It is different from Meow Wolf in that the default art is found object/“outsider art” rather than “eclectic and bright” even though there are elements of that as well. It also does not tell a story. But it does have a lot more climbing and slides that you can do than Meow Wolf, and the overall effect is that of an all-ages PlayPlace on acid.
I’m glad your trip went well, Driver8. You made the most of your time here and I’m sure your kids will remember it for a long, long time. I’ll have to get up to Meow Wolf one of these days. I live here and I’ve never visited the place. Now that I know Santa Fe Brewing still makes their State Pen Porter (they just don’t can it any more) I have another reason to head north!