La Posada Hotel

Mary Colter was one of the few prominent women architects of her era, and she spent decades designing buildings for the Fred Harvey Company along the Santa Fe line, including several of the most beloved structures at the Grand Canyon. La Posada, meaning the resting place, was the project she cared for most and the one over which she had the greatest control, and she poured herself into every corner of it.

She conceived the hotel as the sprawling ranch home of a fictional Spanish don, complete with an invented family history that shaped the layout, the furnishings, and even where the wear and patina should fall. She chose the tiles, the ironwork, the gardens, and the art, aiming for a building that felt as though it had grown over generations rather than been built all at once, and the result is a place of unusual warmth and imagination.

La Posada was a Harvey House, part of the chain of hotels and restaurants the Fred Harvey Company ran along the Santa Fe Railway to feed and shelter travelers in an age before dining cars were common. The famous Harvey Girls, young women who served in crisp uniforms with a reputation for order and hospitality, staffed the dining room, and the hotel hosted movie stars, presidents, and ordinary passengers alike during its heyday.

The Santa Fe line still runs right past the front door, and freight trains rumble by around the clock, close enough to feel. That connection to the rails is central to the hotel's identity; it was built by and for the railroad, and its revival preserves a way of travel that shaped the whole Southwest, when the train was how you crossed this vast country.

After the hotel closed in 1957, the railroad stripped its interior and used the shell as division offices, and by the late twentieth century the building was slated for demolition. A group of preservationists and new owners stepped in, bought it, and began the enormous task of bringing it back, room by room, garden by garden, working from Colter's original vision and old photographs.

The restoration replanted the sunken gardens and orchards, reopened the long tiled halls, and filled the public rooms with art, much of it by one of the owners, a painter. The dining room reopened as a celebrated restaurant, and the hotel took in guests again. The revival of La Posada stands as proof of how much can be saved when a place is loved enough to fight for it.

The hotel anchors Winslow, a Route 66 railroad town on the high Colorado Plateau that saw hard times when the interstate bypassed it and the trains stopped stopping. Downtown a corner park marks the line from the Eagles song Take It Easy, and travelers come to stand on the corner, giving the small town a cheerful claim to fame.

The country around Winslow rewards exploring. The Painted Desert and Petrified Forest lie to the east, the ancient pueblo ruins of Homolovi State Park sit just north of town, and the Hopi mesas rise beyond, homeland of the Hopi people who have farmed this plateau for many centuries. La Posada makes a comfortable and characterful base for all of it.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is a place we chose through independent editorial review, never a paid placement.

La Posada Hotel, in Winslow, Arizona, is a beautifully restored historic railroad hotel considered the masterpiece of architect Mary Colter, who designed it for the Fred Harvey Company and the Santa Fe Railway. Opened in 1930 in a romantic Spanish hacienda style, it once welcomed train travelers in grand fashion, then fell into decline before a loving restoration brought it back to life. Today, with its lush gardens, elegant interiors, art, and acclaimed restaurant, La Posada is a treasured landmark and a destination in its own right.

Yes, visitors are welcome to explore much of La Posada even without booking a room, wandering the beautifully restored public spaces, gardens, and grounds, admiring the art and architecture, browsing, and dining at the acclaimed Turquoise Room restaurant, though reservations for meals are recommended. Simply strolling the hacienda-style halls and gardens offers a wonderful sense of the golden age of rail travel. Its location beside the active railroad tracks also makes it a fascinating stop for train and history enthusiasts.

La Posada is significant as arguably the finest surviving example of the grand railroad hotels of the Fred Harvey era and as a crowning work of Mary Colter, one of the Southwest's most influential architects. Built to serve Santa Fe Railway passengers, it embodies the romance of early twentieth-century train travel and Southwestern design. After nearly being lost, its restoration saved a National Historic Landmark, and today it stands as a living tribute to the elegance of the Harvey Houses and the era they represent.

La Posada is enjoyable year-round, with the gardens loveliest in the milder months of spring and fall, and Winslow's high-desert summers hot but manageable and winters cool. As an indoor and garden destination, it works in any season, and its restaurant and public spaces are a welcome retreat any time. Whether stopping for a meal, an overnight stay, or simply to admire the landmark, checking current hours for the restaurant and any tours before you go helps you plan.

La Posada is in Winslow, right along historic Route 66, near the famous Standin' on the Corner Park celebrating the Eagles song, with Homolovi State Park and its ancestral Hopi ruins, Meteor Crater, and Petrified Forest National Park all within reach. Flagstaff and the road to the Grand Canyon lie to the west. That makes La Posada a wonderful centerpiece or overnight base for a Route 66 and northern Arizona road trip through the high desert.