La Posada Hotel

Atmosphere in Spades

by A TripAdvisor Member

Atmosphere and a sense of history pervades La Posada. We slept in the room that Howard Hughes always stayed in during La Posada's heyday in the '40s. The adjoining room was where Charles Lindberg and Anne Morrow spent their honeymoon. Carole Lombard spent her last night on earth at La Posada (she died in an plane crash on her way back to LA).

Beautifully restored rooms. We roamed all over the hotel. Danced in the ballroom. Ran down the flagstone hallways in our bare feet. I still have dreams about this place.

This was Mary Coulter's fantasy project. They gave her an almost unlimited budget to create a story: that this was the hacienda of a grand Spanish family long, long ago, who traveled the world and brought home treasures--paintings, suits of armor, sculpture. The fictional family added on to the house in a later century, making it larger--you can see the change in architecture. Such was Coulter's imagination.

The treasures and the hotel were sold off when La Posada, no longer the darling for the West Coast jet setters, fell into the possesion of the railroad, who put in dropped ceilings and tore out flooring and tried to make it an office building. The horror.

That this hotel was restored to the extent that is has is almost a miracle--certainly it is a testament to people who had as much imagination as Mary Coulter (but sadly, not the budget to bring in the priceless art objects).

Winslow is a dusty, forlorn town, but as long as you don't leave La Posada, it doesn't really matter. Here you can just step back in time and give free reign to your imagination. That's not something many hotels offer.

Ranks with the best...

by A TripAdvisor Member

I have stayed at some world-class hotels in my travels -- Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong, Chateau Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies, Hotel Portillo in Chilean Andes -- and La Posada ranks as one of the most memorable. Yes, the Hotel is not located in the lovliest part of a largely desolate little town (although you haven't traveled much if you consider it a "bad area"), but the Hotel itself is a charm! Certain special places ooze with character, and La Posado is one of them. The history, the colors, the artwork, the restaurant, the furnishings, and, yes, the trains, all combine to give the Hotel an ambience you have to experience to understand. It's just a certain feeling you have walking around the place, as if (as advertised) you're in a rich relative's hacienda in the 18th century era of Spanish colonialism. And, for those who may be concerned, the windows of our rooms -- although not directly facing the track -- faced west and, thus, were "open" to the rail tracks. All four of us -- including my light-sleeping 3-year-old daughter -- slept wonderfully through our two nights there. I recall hearing the trains a couple of times in the night, but only as a distant, comforting rumble from another era. Indeed, both my wife and I commented (prior to reading any of these reviews) as to how quiet the rooms were given their proximity to the frequent trains. We only had breakfast in The Turquoise Room (we were touring during the days -- Meteor Crater, Petrified Forest, Painted Desert), but they were the best meals we had on our trip. We would highly recommend this wonderful place to any of our friends, and we will certainly return if in this area again!

wonderful, charming step back in time

by TripAdvisor Member warren's_mom

We stayed at La Posada on June 16 and I can enthusiastically comfirm all the raves that have already been written and add that we did have a room facing the railroad tracks (Amelia Erhardt) and could only hear the train faintly when we were awake... until 6am when a train went through with whistle blaring. Even that was a good thing as we dressed and went to the sit in the lovely sunken garden and enjoy the self serve coffee provided to tide folks over until the restaurant opens for breakfast. Everything about this hotel is charming and gracious...just walking around an looking at everything could provide an evenings entertainment, and a fascinating video in a small room off the lobby tells some of the story of the restoration ...and the restaurant is very good with a creative menu. If you're going to be near Winslow, do yourself a favor and stop here. You will have a lovely experience.

A Truly Exquisite Hotel

by TripAdvisor Member keithwesterberg

THIS is how a hotel should be designed. It is truly exquisite in every way. Any hotel designer needs to come here and experience this place to understand how to create the intergration of beautiful public and private spaces. You CAN just stay in the hotel, curl up with a book and have a perfect retreat. Or you can go to the Hopi reservation and the Anasazi ruins. This is the ONLY place to stay within hundreds of miles.

La Posada: A Gem in the Desert

by TripAdvisor Member comfortableshoes

My husband and I spent one night at La Posada this month and loved every minute of it! After a day of driving from Southern California it was a pleasure to pull into the parking lot of this beautiful old hotel and know that we were going to spend a delightful evening here. We stayed in the Carole Lombard Room, a lovely corner room on the second floor. Once we freshened up we headed down to the bar for a cocktail. My husband had a margarita and I a Cosmopolitan - both fantastic! We were also given a bowl of homemade potato chips to try, which were quite good. For dinner in the Turquoise Room we each started with a bowl of their signature soup, half black bean, half creamy corn, an excellent taste combination! When it came time to choose our entrees my husband decided on the elk, a first for him which he ended up enjoying quite a bit. I prefer fish so I chose the sturgeon and was quite happy with it. All in all, it was a lovely meal. After dinner we strolled around the hotel, enjoying the artwork and southwest furnishings. The following morning we both chose one of the traditional southwest breakfasts, which were delightful. All in all, La Posada is a lovely place to stay, a gem in the desert. To stay there is to step into the past, forget your worries and imagine what it must have been like back in the '30s, '40s and '50s, stepping off the train into the glorious La Posada and all it has to offer. We will be back!

Winslow

by Bursland

Our stop for the night was to be the La Posada hotel in Winslow.This is an old Railway Hotel and has been beautifully restored. There are antiques everywhere and old paintings and photographs.Our room "The Mary Coulter Room" was superb very cool and well furnished ,it also had a balcony overlooking the cottonwood grove.The hotel restaurant was excellent

"Standin on the Corner"

Guess everybody whose been through Winslow as a tourist has done this but I couldn't resist .Didn't see a girl in a flat bed Ford slowin' down to take a look at me though ,maybe next time ?

Arizona Route 66

by Bursland

"Painted Desert"

We travelled through Arizona on what is left of Route 66 and I40 crossing the state line just before Lupton on day 11 of our Route 66 road trip.At I40 junction 311 we turned off to visit the Painted Desert what a spectacular sight .Just a taster we hoped, for our visit to the Grand Canyon on day 12 & 13 .

"Drivin' though on 66"

Our stop for the night was to be the La Posada hotel in Winslow.See my Winslow page for more info

"Meteor Crater"

Well worth a visit only about 6 miles from the interstate.To stand on the edge of the crater is amazing.It is impossible to imagine a crater this size being made by something crashing to Earth.The visitor centre has a wealth of information