Travel guide
Railway station hotels: from Newcastle to Nikko
Some hotels were built by a railway for its own station, some sit right next to one, and a few simply borrowed the name. This guide groups the nine railway-themed stays in our Railway Station Breaks collection by country, with a little history from official sources and the practical bit: how close the trains really are.
United Kingdom
Royal Station Hotel, Newcastle upon Tyne
This is the real thing: a Victorian hotel built by a railway company for its own station. Historic England's list entry dates it to 1861–3, designed for the North Eastern Railway by its architect Thomas Prosser from earlier plans by John Dobson, and enlarged in 1888–90 by William Bell. It opened as the Central Station Hotel and is attached to the east end of Newcastle Central station.
Historic England lists the hotel at Grade II, and the station it was built to serve at Grade I. The entry also records that the hotel passed to the British Transport Commission when the railways were nationalised in 1948, and was sold to a private owner in 1983.
For arrivals by train, the hotel says it is a one-minute walk from Newcastle's Central train and Metro station.
Station Hotel, Aberdeen
Historic Environment Scotland lists the Station Hotel at 78 and 80 Guild Street at Category B. It is two buildings joined inside: No 80, built in 1894 to designs by Ellis & Wilson as the headquarters of the Great North of Scotland Railway, and No 78, a hotel building of 1900 by R G Wilson. The railway company took over No 78 in 1910, and both passed to the LNER in 1923. HES picks out the original panelled boardroom and the open-well staircase in No 80.
HES describes the building as standing opposite Aberdeen railway station, and the hotel itself says it is next to the train station and opposite Union Square shopping centre.
The Furness Railway, Barrow-in-Furness
This Wetherspoon pub with rooms takes its name from the local railway company rather than a station. Wetherspoon's pub history says the building was a Barrow Co-operative Society department store, and that the original Co-op premises here were built in 1889 on land bought from the Furness Railway. The pub's displays tell the story of "Coppernob", one of the Furness Railway's original four locomotives, which was brought to Barrow by sea for the railway's opening in 1846.
Wetherspoon says the hotel is about five minutes' walk from the railway station, with a regular train service to Lancaster and Carlisle.
The Railway Inn, Dawlish
Historic England lists the Railway Inn on Beach Street at Grade II, describing a two-storey stuccoed building of about 1840. CAMRA's pub guide describes it as a short walk from the beach, the station and buses.
In Dawlish the railway runs right along the sea wall. Network Rail explains that the line follows the coast here because it was the only area that offered a level foundation. On 4 and 5 February 2014 a storm washed part of it away and cut off the only railway line to the south west for eight weeks; the repairs included rebuilding Brunel's original sea wall at the breach.
Since then, Network Rail and the Department for Transport have invested £165m in making the line between Dawlish and Teignmouth more resilient. That includes a stronger, taller sea wall with a new high-level promenade, and a new footbridge with lifts that made Dawlish station fully accessible for the first time in its history.
Want to see what's running along the coast before you head out? Our sister site Live Railway Trains UK is a live train map.
If you're 16 to 25 and planning to hop between these UK stays by train, our sister site's 16-25 Railcard guide explains how that railcard works.
USA
Grand Canyon Railway Hotel, Williams, Arizona
The Grand Canyon Railway's own historical timeline says the first passengers reached the South Rim by train from Williams on 17 September 1901. In 1908 the Fray Marcos Hotel and the Williams Depot opened for the Santa Fe Railway. The railway's hotel history page explains that the Fray Marcos was one of the Harvey Houses run by the Fred Harvey Company, named after the Spanish missionary Marcos de Niza.
The Santa Fe retired the hotel in 1954, and the last regularly scheduled passenger train to the canyon ran in July 1968. The line was revived in 1989, when the Williams Depot reopened as Grand Canyon Railway on 17 September, and today's Grand Canyon Railway Hotel, built to resemble the Fray Marcos, opened in 1995. The old hotel no longer takes guests: parts of it house the railway's gift shop and offices.
The hotel is right next door to the train depot. The railway says the trip to the South Rim is 65 miles and takes 2 hours and 15 minutes each way. When we checked (30 October 2026), the railway said the train leaves Williams every day, an hour earlier in November and December, giving you more than three hours at the canyon before the return trip.
The Railroad Inn, Cooperstown, New York
The inn's own website says it was originally built in 1890, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Glimmerglass Historic District, and has been remodelled with 22 railroad-themed rooms and suites. It is in the heart of the village, steps from the Baseball Hall of Fame. Worth knowing: the inn says there is no lift, and its suites have a staircase inside the room.
Railroad Pass Hotel and Casino, Henderson, Nevada
Railroad Pass is a casino with a railway name rather than a station hotel. Its own history page says it was established in 1931 and calls itself "Nevada's longest-running casino" – that's the casino's claim. It traces its roots to a time when train tracks ran through Black Mountain, and describes itself as a stop on the Boulder Highway, on the outskirts of Henderson, with a room of old photographs and memorabilia.
The rooms are in the attached Ramada by Wyndham hotel, which the casino says is handy for Boulder City, the Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and Las Vegas.
Japan
Nikko Station Hotel Classic, Nikko
This hotel stands right in front of JR Nikko Station, with Tobu-Nikko Station about a minute's walk away. Its bar looks out on the historic JR Nikko Station building, and it has hot-spring baths fed from its own source. There's also a self-service cloakroom, so you can leave bags before check-in or after check-out and explore without them.
From Tokyo, the hotel's access page gives about 95 minutes from Tokyo Station by JR, or about 107 minutes from Tobu's Asakusa station on the Tobu Nikko Line. Tobu Railway runs limited express trains, including SPACIA X, and sells the NIKKO PASS. The hotel suggests the World Heritage shrine of Nikko Tōshō-gū, Lake Chūzenji and the Kegon Falls as easy trips without a car.
Myanmar
Railroad Hotel Kalaw
Railroad Hotel Kalaw is in Kalaw, Myanmar. We couldn't find an official website or a reliable source for its history, so we haven't added any details here.
Before you plan anything in Myanmar, check the FCDO advice first, and read the insurance section of our travel documents checklist.
Before you book
- Not all of these are grand hotels. The list runs from a Victorian railway hotel to a Wetherspoon pub, a village inn and a casino, so read each stay's details in the shop.
- Check your trains. Timetables change, so check your journey (and any engineering works) close to the day you travel.
- Dates matter. The opening dates, train times and facilities above are what each source said when we checked on 30 October 2026.
Questions people ask
Which of these hotels were built by a railway company?
The Royal Station Hotel in Newcastle was built for the North Eastern Railway in 1861–3 (Historic England), and part of the Station Hotel in Aberdeen was the Great North of Scotland Railway's headquarters (Historic Environment Scotland). In Arizona, today's Grand Canyon Railway Hotel opened in 1995, built to resemble the railway's original Harvey House hotel (Grand Canyon Railway).
Is Dawlish station step-free?
Network Rail says a new footbridge with lifts made Dawlish station fully accessible for the first time in its history.
How long does the Grand Canyon Railway take?
The railway says the trip is 65 miles and takes 2 hours and 15 minutes each way, from the Williams Depot next door to the hotel.
Should I check anything before booking the stay in Kalaw?
Yes – check the FCDO advice first, and see our travel documents checklist.
Sources
We wrote this guide from these pages, checked on 30 October 2026. Rules, timetables and hotel details change — please check with the operator before you travel.
- Royal Station Hotel – list entry 1104900 — Historic England , checked 30 October 2026
- Royal Station Hotel – offers and hotel information — Royal Station Hotel (Cairn Collection) , checked 30 October 2026
- 78 and 80 Guild Street, The Station Hotel (LB20663) — Historic Environment Scotland , checked 30 October 2026
- Station Hotel Aberdeen – offers and hotel information — Station Hotel Aberdeen (Cairn Collection) , checked 30 October 2026
- Pub history: The Furness Railway — J D Wetherspoon , checked 30 October 2026
- Wetherspoon Hotels – The Furness Railway — J D Wetherspoon , checked 30 October 2026
- Railway Inn, Dawlish – list entry 1096682 — Historic England , checked 30 October 2026
- Ten years since Dawlish's railway washed away — Network Rail , checked 30 October 2026
- South West Rail Resilience Programme — Network Rail , checked 30 October 2026
- Five years since we reopened Dawlish — Network Rail , checked 30 October 2026
- Historical timeline — Grand Canyon Railway & Hotel , checked 30 October 2026
- Grand Canyon hotel history — Grand Canyon Railway & Hotel , checked 30 October 2026
- Stay at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel — Grand Canyon Railway & Hotel , checked 30 October 2026
- Where the Grand Canyon Railway travels (schedule and route) — Grand Canyon Railway & Hotel , checked 30 October 2026
- Nikko Station Hotel Classic (official site, English) — Nikko Station Hotel Classic , checked 30 October 2026
- アクセス (Access) — Nikko Station Hotel Classic , checked 30 October 2026
- Tobu Railway (English) — Tobu Railway , checked 30 October 2026
- The Railroad Inn – Cooperstown — The Railroad Inn , checked 30 October 2026
- About Railroad Pass Casino — Railroad Pass Casino & Hotel , checked 30 October 2026
- Railroad Pass Casino & Hotel (home page) — Railroad Pass Casino & Hotel , checked 30 October 2026
- Railway Inn, Dawlish — CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) , checked 30 October 2026
