All over the world, some of the most charming new luxury stays are popping up in the unlikeliest places — old railway stations. What once echoed with whistles and rolling wheels now welcomes guests with plush beds and grand architecture lovingly brought back to life.
These joyful makeovers aren’t just feel-good nostalgia projects; they are big, bold investments that rescue beautiful buildings, breathe new energy into city centres and turn sleepy landmarks into thriving, glamorous destinations once again.
In the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, railway stations were built as civic showpieces — grand gateways lined with frescoes, wrought-iron spans and cathedral-like halls. As car and air travel took over, many of these structures slipped into decline. Today, developers and conservationists are giving them a second life, blending the romance of the rail era with the expectations of luxury travellers.
“It’s always exciting when you can repurpose a historic building without erasing its fabric,” said Toland Grinnell, president and COO of EverGreene Architectural Arts. “The challenge is inserting modernity in ways that let people enjoy both worlds.” Here are four stations reborn as hotels that do exactly that.
One of London’s most recognisable landmarks, St Pancras is a red-brick Gothic triumph that once housed the Midland Grand Hotel. Opened in 1873 and designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, the original hotel was lavish but famously impractical — 300 rooms shared only eight bathrooms due to the impossibly thick 18-inch concrete floors that made retrofitting difficult.
After decades of decline, a £200m restoration completed in 2011 revived the station’s soaring interiors and ornate façade. Today, guests experience the revived Victorian splendour through features like the daily “Victorian Punch Ritual”, a playful nod to the golden age of rail.
With its Romanesque arches, gold leaf accents and monumental stonework, St Louis Union Station was once among the busiest passenger hubs in the world. When the last train departed in 1978, its future looked bleak.
A $150m renovation remade the structure into a 539-room hotel, meticulously restoring original details including the Grand Hall — a 65-foot-high spectacle of mosaics, sweeping arches and an hourly 3D light show. The property is now both a National Historic Landmark and a flagship of the Historic Hotels of America network.
Tokyo’s red-brick station, completed in 1914, stands as one of the city’s finest architectural survivors. A six-year, 50 billion-yen renovation transformed the structure into a 150-room luxury hotel that reopened in 2012.
Blending European-style architecture with omotenashi, the Japanese philosophy of hospitality, the hotel offers vaulted ceilings, refined rooms, an AN SPA and 10 restaurants — all connected to one of Asia’s busiest transport hubs.
America’s first “union station”, opened in 1853, pioneered the idea of a shared terminal for multiple railways. Its hotel reinvention goes a step further: 26 authentic Pullman carriages have been converted into unique guest rooms.
Each restored carriage — accessed by a short set of narrow steps — recreates a polished, private rail experience, complete with period-style fixtures. Statues of early 20th-Century railway workers line the corridors, adding to the sense of time travel.
From London to Tokyo, these projects show how dormant transport icons can be reborn as profitable, culturally rich assets — proving that in the right hands, history can still check in for the night.
