32 Grand Old Railway Hotels Left Vacant Along Forgotten Routes

20. Hotel La Fonda (Santa Fe), New Mexico, USA: Southwest Icon's Railway Rebirth

While La Fonda's history predates the railway, its iconic status was cemented when the Santa Fe Railway took ownership and transformed it into a Fred Harvey House in 1925. This brought unparalleled luxury and access to the heart of Santa Fe for rail travelers. Though it remains a vibrant hotel today, its periods of transformation and the stark shift from a primary rail clientele to automobile and air travel mean its earlier, pure railway-driven opulence is a memory that its grand, historic spaces still evoke.