A motel, also known as a motor hotel, motor inn or motor lodge, is a hotel designed for motorists, usually having each room entered directly from the parking area for motor vehicles rather than through a central lobby. Entering dictionaries after World War II, the word motel, coined as a portmanteau of "motor hotel", originates from the Milestone Mo-Tel of San Luis Obispo, California, which was built in 1925. The term referred to a type of hotel consisting of a single building of connected rooms whose doors faced a parking lot and in some circumstances, a common area or a series of small cabins with common parking. Motels are often individually owned, though motel chains do exist.
Jones Motor Company is a historic U.S. Route 66-era building in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Built in 1939, on Central Avenue in the Nob Hill neighborhood of Albuquerque, the building originally housed Ralph Jones' service station and Ford Motor Company car dealership. It was designed by Tom Danahy in the Streamline Moderne style, with curved garage bays surmounted by a central stepped tower.
U.S. Route 66 is a former east–west United States Numbered Highway, running from Santa Monica, California to Chicago, Illinois. In Missouri, the highway ran from downtown St. Louis at the Mississippi River to the Kansas state line west of Joplin. The highway was originally Route 14 from St. Louis to Joplin and Route 1F from Joplin to Kansas. It underwent two major realignments and several lesser realignments in the cities of St. Louis, Springfield, and Joplin. Current highways covering several miles of the former highway include Route 100, Route 366, Route 266, Route 96, and Route 66. Interstate 44 (I-44) approximates much of US 66 between St. Louis and Springfield.
The U-Drop Inn, also known as Tower Station and U-Drop Inn and Tower Café, was built in 1936 in Shamrock, Texas along the historic Route 66 highway in Wheeler County. Inspired by the image of a nail stuck in soil, the building was designed by J. C. Berry. An unusual example of art deco architecture applied to a gas station and restaurant, the building features two flared towers with geometric detailing, curvilinear massing, glazed ceramic tile walls, and neon light accents. It has traditionally held two separate business: "Tower Station," a gas station on the western side, and the "U-Drop Inn," a café on the eastern side. Though it has passed hands several times in its history, the building has consistently housed the same types of businesses it was originally constructed for.
The Aztec Motel, also known as the Aztec Auto Court or Aztec Lodge, was a historic motel located on former U.S. Route 66 in the Upper Nob Hill neighborhood of Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Until its demolition in 2011 it was the oldest continuously-operating Route 66 motel in New Mexico and "one of the five most important motels left" in Albuquerque.
Belvidere Café, Motel and Gas Station is a historic building in Litchfield, Illinois, United States, along Route 66. The site also has a residence and two motel units.
The Boots Motel, a historic U.S. Route 66 motor hotel in Carthage, Missouri, opened in 1939 as the Boots Court at 107 S. Garrison Avenue.
The Alamo Plaza Hotel Courts brand was the first motel chain in the United States, founded by Edgar Lee Torrance in Waco, Texas, in 1929. By 1955, there were more than twenty Alamo Plazas across the southeastern U.S., most controlled by a loosely knit group of a half-dozen investors and operating using common branding or architecture.
The Wagon Wheel Motel, Café and Station in Cuba, Missouri, is a 19-room independently owned historic U.S. Route 66 restored motel which has been serving travelers since 1938. The site opened as a café in 1936; the motel has remained in continuous operation since 1938. The motel rooms were fully restored in 2010, adding modern amenities such as HDTV and wireless Internet.
John's Modern Cabins are an abandoned ghost tourist court on U.S. Route 66 in Newburg, Missouri. Structurally unsound and at risk of being demolished or simply collapsing for many years, their name is now an unwitting example of irony in the English language.
The Provine Service Station is a historic filling station on U.S. Route 66 in Oklahoma. Located a half-mile south of Hydro, Oklahoma and operated by Lucille Hamons from 1941 until her death on August 18, 2000, the site was added to the US National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
The Munger Moss Motel is a motel in Lebanon, Missouri. It was built in 1946 as an addition to a roadside restaurant and filling station, both of which are now gone. The site's Munger-Moss Sandwich Shop served travellers on U.S. Route 66 in Missouri, circa 1936. Located on the Big Piney River at Devil's Elbow, Missouri until 1945, it relocated to Lebanon, Missouri after World War II when construction of a four-lane bypass of U.S. Route 66 in Missouri to Fort Leonard Wood drew traffic away from the original Munger Moss BBQ site.
66 Motel, an independently owned six-room motel established 1946–47 in Needles, California, formerly served travelers on U.S. Route 66 in California. Bypassed circa 1970 by Interstate 40, the motel has been used as single room occupancy apartments since the 1990s.
The West Winds Motel is a historic motel located on old U.S. Route 66 in Erick, Oklahoma. The motel opened in the mid-1940s to serve travelers on Route 66; at the time, tourism drove Erick's economy, and the motel was one of several in the city. The motel had a typical motor court layout with two lodging buildings and an office forming a "U" shape around a central courtyard. The lodging buildings have a Mission Revival design with stucco walls and red metal roofs designed to resemble tile. The motel units have individual garage spaces in front of their entrances, a style which was common in the 1930s and 1940s but fell out of favor in later years.
Big Chief Restaurant, located at 17352 Manchester Road in Wildwood, Missouri, currently operates under the name Big Chief Roadhouse. It was also formerly known as Big Chief Highway Hotel and Big Chief Dakota Grill. The restaurant opened in 1928 as part of a tourist camp that included overnight accommodations for travelers on the newly opened U.S. Route 66 in Pond, Missouri, now incorporated within Wildwood. After the highway was later routed to bypass Pond, the business struggled to survive, operating as housing for government employees during World War II. Eventually the cabins were demolished, and the restaurant was used for other business operations. It was reopened as a restaurant in the 1990s.
The Tower Court is a historic motel on Central Avenue in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is notable as one of only a few 1930s motels remaining in the city. The motel was built in 1939 by Ben F. Shear and was added to the New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties and the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
The Luna Lodge is a historic motel on Central Avenue in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which is notable as one of the best-preserved Route 66 era motels remaining in the city. It was built in 1949 and was one of the easternmost Albuquerque motels, located about 6 miles (9.7 km) from the city center. The motel eventually closed and fell into disrepair, but was restored and converted to low-income housing in 2013. The property was added to the New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties and the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
The 66 Motel in Tulsa, Oklahoma was built on the original, two-lane U.S. Route 66 around 1933 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. The listing included two buildings: the main or office building and a separate strip of motel rooms. The buildings are described as having "a vernacular interpretation of the Moderne style of architecture, sharing similar characteristics such as horizontal emphasis, flat roofs, asymmetrical design, and glass block windows."
