El Garces Hotel

What is El Garces Hotel?

The building is a neoclassical structure that originally combined a hotel, a restaurant and a railway station under one roof. It was one of the early train stations built of concrete. Its official name today is El Garces Intermodal Transportation Facility, and locals know it as Needles station. Amtrak trains and buses stop here, and a waiting room for riders of the Southwest Chief opened in 2016. It is reported to be wheelchair accessible. The name honors Francisco Garcés, the Spanish missionary who explored and surveyed this area during the 1770s.

History of El Garces Hotel

Railroads reached Needles in 1883, and the town became a major stop on the Santa Fe line to Los Angeles. When fire destroyed the first station in 1906, the railway built El Garces in its place in 1908. As passenger travel dropped, the hotel and restaurant shut in 1949. The interior was turned into offices and baggage space in the 1950s, and the eastern third was torn down in 1961.

The railroad left the building in 1988. Needles purchased the building in 1999, National Register recognition followed in 2002, and it reopened as a transit hub in 2014.

Visiting El Garces Hotel: tips

The building stands in downtown Needles, a short drive from the Route 66 alignment through town. Allow half an hour to walk around the exterior and take photos. The 66 Motel is about 0.7 miles away. Food is listed at Munchy's, about 0.1 miles off, and the Econo Lodge is about 0.2 miles away.