The Castañeda was built in 1898 and was Fred Harvey’s first trackside hotel. The hotel has approx. 30,000 sq ft, and a 500-foot-long arcade wrapping the entire east facade and courtyard.
The Santa Fe Railway mainline is directly in front, connecting Las Vegas New Mexico to Chicago and Los Angeles.

The Castañeda was designed by Frederick Roehrig, an architect from Pasadena, CA.

The Castañeda is one mile east of the Plaza Hotel. The entire area around the Castaneda is a registered historic district from the late 1800’s.

The hotel was so successful that in 1902 the Alvarado Hotel was built in Albuquerque – based on the design of the Castaneda.

The Alvarado was demolished in 1970.

The Castañeda survived but mostly abandoned and crumbling, for seventy years. The hotel opened in 1898 and closed in 1948.

In 2014 the hotel was purchased by the Mions, the two are also the owners of the La Posada Hotel in Winslow, AZ.
Shortly after they bought the place the renovation began. In April 2019 The Castañeda was reopened.