George K.
Yelp
This hotel belongs to the same owners as the La Posada Hotel in Winslow Arizona. The latter is an awesome destination hotel which we thoroughly enjoy. What the owners suggest is that you can stay at the La Posada, then take the Amtrak to Las Vegas NM, stay at Castaneda, then take the Amtrak back to Winslow. The Castaneda is located directly adjacent to the train station.
The owners did a lovely job of restoring the Castaneda hotel. But it is pretty simple compared to the elaborate complex at the La Posada. What's also very limiting is food. La Posada has a renowned restaurant (Turquoise Room) where you can get three gourmet meals daily. Castaneda has a restaurant which features bar food. Furthermore, there is very little for vegetarians or pescatarians. It is closed two days a week, and never has breakfast nor lunch. It is hard to give even three stars to a hotel which cannot feed you three meals a day. The hotel staff however were lovely people and made us feel comfortable, so I think 3 stars is appropriate.
It is interesting that a customer from 2019 writes about their breakfast at the hotel. As of 2022, there is no breakfast of any kind at the hotel. They do set out free coffee in the morning, but I could not drink it since they only offer non-dairy creamer (I avoid consuming nasty chemicals).
While there's very little to do at the hotel, the town does have more places of interest to visitors than Winslow, so you will want to walk around the town. Lounging around the hotel won't work, the way that it would at the La Posada.
Now, a bit about Las Vegas NM. This was once the second wickedest town in the West, with the same desperadoes as at Dodge City. So there is a very interesting history to the town. The town is fairly spread out though (about 3 x 6 miles area). If you come by Amtrak, you won't have a car. There are no taxis, no Ubers, and no regular bus service. So you're on your own two feet. The main town square (the Plaza) is about 1.5 mile walk from the Castaneda. Fine for athletic young folks, a bit harder for retirees. You can find all three meals in town, but you may have to walk quite a bit. We could not find a single place which serves a decent latte, though several will serve you a poor one. There is a Starbucks, but it's just too far to walk to.
There is no grocery store within walking distance, although you can walk to the Alon gas station, which has a convenience store. Interestingly, about a 4 block walk away is a sushi restaurant which serves very nice sushi (for dinner only).
The owners also own the Plaza hotel, located on the Plaza. This is a more upscale hotel and has a full-time restaurant. But do you really want to walk 1.5 miles from the Amtrak train station, hauling your luggage, to your hotel? I thought not. So you can go there if you're driving or are a young athlete, but not for most other folks.
If you come to Las Vegas NM, you need to read the book by Howard Bryan: The Wildest of the Wild West. You can buy that book ahead of time, or at the antique store across the street from the Castaneda, and probably many other places in town. The book is a total hoot and really gives you the spirit of the times.
We enjoyed our Amtrak trip and our stay at the Castaneda, so I do recommend this outing, but you need to know the limitations. And again, to emphasize, if you are driving rather than taking the train, you want to stay at the Plaza Hotel, instead. Same owners, but higher class hotel. I did not check out their rooms though. The rooms at the Castaneda are very nice, especially the king suites. These are worth the slight upcharge from the regular rooms.
P.S. Some reviewer claims that there is a shuttle bus in town. As of 2022, that is a half-truth. There is a free bus which makes two runs a day, two days a week (I'm not kidding) to the next town. I don't think this will help you in the slightest when you come to visit.
