The hotel was designed by Charles Frederick Whittlesey in the Mission Revival style and was part of a larger complex of railroad buildings including the Santa Fe Depot, which burned down in 1993, and the still-extant Freight Office.

Landscaping and fountains were also added to the exterior courtyards, and the interior public spaces were redesigned and redecorated by architect Mary Colter.

In the end there was not sufficient interest or willpower from the city government or residents to save the hotel, and it was demolished as planned starting on February 2, 1970.

It was situated at the corner of First Street and Central Avenue, at the northern end of a four-block complex of railroad buildings that also included the Santa Fe Depot, the still-extant Freight House (1946), Curio Store (1912), and Telegraph Office (1914), and several others.

[18] It was of wood-framed construction with tiled roofs and a rough, gray stucco exterior applied to a layer of steel lath.

[13] The main hotel block was E-shaped with three protruding wings, each with a curved Mission-style gable, fronting on the adjoining railroad tracks.