I have to give my sister credit here — she remembered a bucket list item I mentioned ages ago, I wanted to sleep in a castle, and quietly built our whole overnight stop around it. As we came off the highway exit, I pointed and said, “oh look, there’s a little castle, we should drive up and see it.” My travel companions just laughed. That was where we were staying.
“No way, really? In a castle?” Big grin. Big surprise. This stop was one piece of our larger 3 Days Full of History & Fun in the Capital Region of NY trip, but it’s earned enough of a story because it was a bucket list item to get its own post.
What It Actually Is
Let’s get the honest version out of the way first, because it colors the whole visit: Amsterdam Castle isn’t a centuries-old European castle. It’s a 36,000-square-foot former National Guard armory, built in 1895 by architect Isaac G. Perry — the same architect behind the New York State Capitol building in Albany. It housed the 46th Separate Company (and later other infantry units) until it was decommissioned in 1994 and added to the National Register of Historic Places that same year. It changed hands a couple of times before the Phemister family bought it in 2005 and turned it into the private residence, bed and breakfast, and event space it is today.
So — castle-adjacent, architecturally. Turreted, castellated, genuinely striking from the road, with towers and stonework that absolutely earn the name from the outside. But it was built to store rifles and drill troops, not to house royalty. Once you know that, the whole place reads a little differently, and honestly, more interesting: this is a 130-year-old armory that someone lovingly, obsessively turned into a boutique hotel.
Checking In
We drove up the steep driveway, hauled our bags in, and checked in. Our room was on the first floor, one of a handful of guest suites tucked throughout the building. It was large — a big bathroom, a separate sitting area, and a bedroom with both a queen and a king bed.
Here’s the twist, though: the room itself didn’t feel remotely castle-like. It was modern, clean, comfortable, almost more boutique-hotel-in-a-city than medieval keep. The one thing that gave it away as something more unusual was the wall of artwork — dozens of framed paintings, prints, and photographs, floor to (nearly) ceiling, salon-style, above the dresser and TV. It’s a lot to take in for a hotel room, and it set the tone for the rest of the building.
The Great Hall
We had to head out for dinner pretty quickly since it was getting late and places nearby were closing, but the next morning we took our time wandering the ground floor, particularly the Great Hall — the building’s main dining and event space, and the room that does the most heavy lifting on the “castle” fantasy.
It’s genuinely striking. A soaring, vaulted wood ceiling. Nautical and heraldic flags hung high along the walls. A full suit of armor standing guard near the entrance, complete with a plumed helmet and shield. Gargoyle finials perched on posts along the seating, wings spread, teeth bared, looking equal parts menacing and a little silly up close. Every wall is covered — oil paintings, portraits, mirrors, sconces — it’s less “hotel lobby” and more “small private museum that also happens to serve dinner.” The long banquet-style tables, set with charger plates and gold linens, made it easy to picture the space full for a wedding or event, which is clearly a big part of what keeps this place running.
Our visit landed on a day when the restaurant itself recently closed until further notice. I wonder what used to be served – was it a meat and potato kind of place?, for some reason that says dark castle/medieveal to me. I should have looked.
The Knights on Guard
If one detail makes visitors reach for their cameras more than anything else in the building, it’s the small army of knights. The Great Hall alone has a whole line of them standing shoulder to shoulder against one wall, each in full polished plate armor, most holding a pole weapon in one hand and a painted shield in the other. A few wear tall plumed helmets in deep reds and purples, which is a nice touch — real medieval plume colors were often used to help identify a knight in the chaos of a battlefield or tournament, and having several standing together in different colors makes them read almost like a little honor guard.
Worth saying plainly: these aren’t excavated relics. Real plate armor sets like this — steel plates shaped and hammered to fit the body, joined at the shoulders, elbows, and knees with rivets and leather straps so a person could actually move and fight in them — were worn by knights and wealthy men-at-arms in Europe from roughly the 14th through 16th centuries. A full harness like that could weigh 40-60 pounds, distributed cleverly enough across the body that a trained knight could still run, mount a horse, or get back up after being knocked down. It was serious, functional protection against swords, arrows, and blunt trauma, and it stayed in use until firearms eventually made it obsolete on the battlefield.
What’s lining the Great Hall, by the owners’ own description, are reproductions — decorative pieces built for exactly the effect they have on visitors like us, not historical armor pulled from a museum collection. That doesn’t make them any less fun to walk past. If anything, knowing they’re theatrical rather than archaeological makes it easier to enjoy them for what they are: really well-done atmosphere.
There’s also a solitary knight standing sentry just outside, tucked into a brick alcove near the main entrance. This one’s clearly a different animal entirely — a weathered, painted gold statue, sword held point-down, guarding the doorway more like a garden ornament than a genuine suit of armor. Between him, the gargoyles, and the stone lions out front, the building doesn’t let you forget what kind of place you’ve walked into before you’re even through the door.
The Kennedy Room
Upstairs, we found a room full of older furniture that our host mentioned had some real history behind it — and it turns out there’s a name for it: the Kennedy Room. According to the family that owns the building, John F. Kennedy visited the site on a campaign stop in 1960, and the room has been decorated ever since with period furnishings, family photos, and JFK memorabilia to commemorate it. It’s a small, unexpected detail tucked into a building that already has plenty of them.
Elsewhere throughout the building, you can still spot traces of its armory days if you look for them — “NG 46 NY” worked into the stickwork above some of the doorways, a nod to the 46th Separate Company that once drilled here.
The Verdict
I’m still not entirely sure whether I get to check “sleep in a castle” off my bucket list. Technically, yes — there are turrets, there’s stonework, there’s a sign out front that says “Castle.” But it’s not quite what I originally pictured when I put that on the list. It’s something a little different, and honestly a little more interesting: a piece of New York military history, reimagined room by room into something part hotel, part museum, part fever dream of a themed party.
What I can say without any hedging: it was more affordable than I expected, the bed was genuinely comfortable, and it was one of the most unique overnight stays I’ve had. If you go in expecting a boutique inn with a wildly decorated great hall rather than an actual medieval castle, you’ll have a great time.
If You Go
- Address: 49 Florida Avenue, Amsterdam, NY 12010
- Phone: 518-212-2607
- Booking: Reservations go through the hotel directly — call or use their online booking link at amsterdamcastle.com
- Restaurant: Food service has been limited to events only recently, so don’t count on a sit-down dinner without checking ahead — call before you plan a meal around your stay.
- Good to know: The property also has a former drill-shed-turned-gymnasium with a full basketball court, and it’s a popular wedding venue, so ask what’s on the calendar if you want a quieter visit.
More info: amsterdamcastle.com
Read more about this trip:
- How We Packed 3 Days Full of History & Fun in the Capital Region of NY
- Our Alpaca Hike at Clover Brooke Farm: A Walk That Might Talk You Into Buying Land
- Schuyler Mansion: A Founding Father’s House That Won Over a 12-Year-Old
- Secret Caverns: The Cave with a Waterfall
- 90 Minutes at the Titanic Immersive Experience
- Adirondack Animal Land: Feeding an Emu Through a Car Window
