Built concurrently with the Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah, the Goldfield Hotel outdid its counterpart in size and luxuriousness when it opened. The four-story brick structure faces Columbia Street with a tripartite facade comprising a recessed central section and two flanking room wings. Stone piers define the bays of the streetlevel facade; above, brick pilasters divide groups of windows. The central bay contains the main entrance and lobby and features two levels of balconies resting on brick columns. A large cornice completes the simply articulated exterior.
When the hotel opened, local newspapers praised its elegant mahogany-trimmed lobby with gilded columns, glass chandeliers, and black-leather-upholstered furniture. Guest rooms had red carpets, velvet draperies, and brass beds. The interior is still largely intact but has deteriorated dramatically since the hotel's heyday.
George Holesworth designed this building and the Mizpah Hotel at the same time. Similarities between the two are evident in the stone piers at street level and the symmetrical facades and floor plans. The Panic of 1907, as well as serious labor disputes in town, slowed construction of the Goldfield Hotel. By the time it opened, the town was at its peak, but the mining bust a few years later denied the building its anticipated status as a grand hotel. The Goldfield survived the terrible flood and fire of later decades and remained in operation until 1946. Despite attempts to restore it, the building has remained vacant.