Motel 6 is an American chain of motels with locations in the United States and Canada. The chain was founded in Santa Barbara, California, in 1962 by William W. Becker and Paul Greene, and derives its name from the fact that rooms initially cost only six dollars. Motel 6 also operates Studio 6, a chain of extended-stay hotels. The hotel brand is owned by The Blackstone Group's real estate business. Blackstone purchased the business in 2012 from Accor Hotels. In September 2024, Oyo Rooms, an Indian hospitality chain, announced an agreement to acquire Motel 6 and Studio 6 in an all-cash transaction valued at $525 million.[1] Since 1986, the chain has also run radio advertisements narrated by Tom Bodett and featuring the slogan "we'll leave the light on for you".
Motel 6 was founded in Santa Barbara, California, in 1962, by two local building contractors: William Becker and Paul Greene.[2] The partners developed a plan to build motels with rooms at low cost rates. They decided on a $6 room rate per night (equivalent to $60 in 2023[3]), which would cover building costs, land leases, and janitorial supplies; hence the company name "Motel 6".[4]
Becker and Greene had specialized in building low-cost housing developments,[5] and they wanted to provide an alternative to other major hotel chains, such as Holiday Inn, whose locations were becoming increasingly upscale in quality and price in the 1960s, after starting out with a budget-oriented concept. Becker and Greene spent two years formulating their business model and searched for ways to cut costs as much as possible. During the chain's early years, Motel 6 emphasized itself as a "no-frills" lodging chain with rooms featuring coin-operated black-and-white television receivers instead of the free color televisions found in the more expensive motels, along with functional interior decor, to reduce the time it took to clean the rooms.[5] The first location in Santa Barbara had no restaurant on-site, a notable difference from other hotels of the era. To this day, most motels have no on-site dining, though there is usually a choice of restaurants nearby.
As the 1960s progressed, the Motel 6 idea became very popular in the lodging industry, and other chains began to imitate the concept, as Motel 6 was slowly beginning to take a small share of the market away from the traditional hotels. In 1965, Motel 6 opened its 15th property, and first location outside California, in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. Realizing the need to move quickly, Becker and Green set out on an ambitious expansion program and had opened its 25th location in Gilroy, California, by 1966. The occupancy rate by then was about 85 percent, well above the industry average, and as a result of their success, Motel 6 became an attractive acquisition target. Becker and Greene sold the chain to an investment group in 1968.
In the early 1970s, Motel 6 opened its largest location, Motel 6 Tropicana, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Additionally, the chain moved east and opened a location in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1972. By 1980, Motel 6 had reached 300 locations. It was sold to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in 1985, who moved the chain away from its "no frills" approach and began including amenities such as telephones and color television.[5]
Market share declined throughout the 1980s, in part because of increased competition from other budget hotels. During this time, it bought out the Sixpence Inn chain in the western U.S., and Envoy Inn (formerly Budgetel and Bargaintel)[6] in the Midwestern United States and Pennsylvania.[7] Regal 8 Motels were acquired in 1991.[5] In 1990, the company was bought by the French-based Accor. In 1993, it opened its first high-rise location—Motel 6 LAX in Los Angeles, California.
Unlike the majority of hotel chains, Motel 6 directly owns and operates most of its locations. To expand more rapidly outside its traditional Western United States base, the chain started franchising in 1994. Accor management also took over motels that had been franchised by other chains. Motel 6 began to renovate all bedrooms, sold under-performing locations, and upgraded door locks and other security measures. Newer properties, as well as acquisitions, have interior corridors. Its competitors include America's Best Value Inn, Days Inn, Econo Lodge, and Super 8 Motels. In 1999, Motel 6 launched Studio 6 Extended Stay, hotels with suites that are designed for longer stays and feature kitchenettes.
In 2000, Motel 6 went international by opening its first location outside the U.S. in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. Then, in 2002, Motel 6 celebrated its 40th anniversary at its first location in Santa Barbara, California.
In 2006, Accor and Motel 6 invested more than $6 million in properties to help rebuild New Orleans and Gulfport following Hurricane Katrina. One of the Motel 6 co-founders, William Becker, died of a heart attack at the age of 85 the next year.[8]
The company was sold by Accor to The Blackstone Group in 2012 for $1.9 billion.[9] Blackstone announced that Motel 6 would be operated on a stand-alone basis.[10]
In September 2017, immigration attorneys accused Motel 6 desk clerks at two locations in the area of Phoenix, Arizona, of notifying U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement when guests checked in with identification from Mexico.[11] The attorneys said court records showed that federal immigration agents arrested at least 20 people at the Motel 6 locations over the course of seven months in 2017.[12] Motel 6 said the practice was "implemented at the local level without the knowledge of senior management"[13] and every location had been given a directive that they were "prohibited from voluntarily providing daily guest lists to ICE." Motel 6 was sued for discrimination and privacy violations in connection with the case and on November 2, 2018, agreed to settle with the plaintiffs for $7.6 million.[14]
Additionally, Washington state filed a lawsuit in January 2018 against Motel 6 for giving the names of thousands of other motel guests to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.[15] In April 2019, Motel 6 agreed to pay $12 million to settle the lawsuit.[16]
On April 24, 2018, the American Customer Satisfaction Index published a study of America's most popular hotel chains, placing G6 Hospitality's Motel 6 at the bottom of the category for the second year in a row.[17]
As of August 2022, the most expensive motel in the entire Motel 6 chain was the first one in Santa Barbara, California.[18] It had charged $6 per night before taxes for a room when it first opened in 1962.[18] Sixty years later, during the late summer of 2022, the first Motel 6 was reportedly charging $426 per night for a room, before taxes.[18]
In September 2024, Indian hospitality chain Oyo Rooms agreed to buy Motel 6 and Studio 6 in an all-cash deal worth $525 million.[1]
Services
An updated Motel 6 room in Santa Barbara, California
Motel 6 locations offer guests free basic wireless internet access, and some locations offer an upgrade to premium wireless internet access with the charge not exceeding $4.99.[19]
In March 2008, Motel 6 began a system-wide renovation program called the "Phoenix Project" to update the look and amenities of all bedrooms.[20] Before the remodel, most rooms had colorful road-trip inspired bed covers, carpeted floors, shower curtains, CRT televisions and beige furnishings.[21][22] Stained carpets and dirty shower curtains were a common complaint on online customer reviews. The remodel was designed with an eye towards not only modernizing rooms but keeping room rates low for years to come. Designers accomplished this by making the rooms more energy efficient, easy to clean, and easier to keep clean in the long term (keeping housekeeping and maintenance costs low).[23] The remodel earned Motel 6 Travel & Leisure magazine's 2010 design award for Best Large Hotel.[24]
Advertising
Beginning in 1986, Motel 6 has advertised through radio commercials featuring the voice of writer and National Public Radio commentator Tom Bodett, with the tagline "We'll leave the light on for you."[25] The ads were created by Dallas advertising agency The Richards Group.[5] They feature a tune composed by Tom Faulkner, performed by him on guitar and Milo Deering on fiddle.[26] The first spots were conceived and written by David Fowler. In 1996, the ads won a Clio Award. The campaign itself has won numerous national and international awards and was selected by Advertising Age magazine as one of the Top 100 Advertising Campaigns of the Twentieth Century.[27]
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 defunct motel named Milestone Mo-Tel in 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.
Holiday Inn is a chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson (1913–2003), who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee. The chain was a division of Bass Brewery from 1988-2000, Six Continents from 2000-03, and IHG Hotels & Resorts since 2003. It operates hotels under the names Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, and Holiday Inn Resorts. As of 2018, Holiday Inn has hotels at over 1,100 locations.
Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyouts in the last three decades, while its real estate business has actively acquired commercial real estate across the globe. Blackstone is also active in credit, infrastructure, hedge funds, secondaries, growth equity, and insurance solutions. As of May 2024, Blackstone has more than US$1 trillion in total assets under management, making it the largest alternative investment firm globally.
Accor S.A. is a French multinational hospitality company that owns, manages and franchises hotels, resorts and vacation properties. It is the largest hospitality company in Europe, and the sixth largest hospitality company worldwide.
Red Roof Inn is an American economy hotel chain based in the United States with over 600 properties globally, primarily in the Midwest, Southern, and Eastern United States. Red Roof Inn is a pet-friendly hotel chain.
Ramada is a large American multinational hotel chain owned by Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. As of December 31, 2022, it operates 851 hotels with 120,344 rooms across 63 countries under the Ramada brand.
Choice Hotels International, Inc. is an American multinational hospitality company based in North Bethesda, Maryland. The company, which is one of the largest hotel chains in the world, owns various hotel brands ranging from upscale to economy. As of the third quarter 2023, Choice Hotels franchised nearly 7,500 hotels, representing nearly 630,000 rooms, in 46 countries and territories.
Holiday Inn Express is an American-based mid-priced hotel chain within the IHG Hotels & Resorts family of brands. Originally founded as an "express" hotel, their focus is on offering limited services at a reasonable price. Standard amenities lean toward the convenient and practical which cater to business travelers and short-term stays. As of September 2019, there are 2,826 Holiday Inn Express hotels featuring over 292,000 rooms worldwide. The chain's concept was intended to target the "upper economy" market segment.
Super 8 by Wyndham, commonly known as Super 8, is an American hotel brand, being the world's largest budget hotel chain with over 2,600 locations worldwide. The chain is a subsidiary of Wyndham Hotels and Resorts. The original room cost was $8.88 per night. As of December 2022, the brand website listed 2,691 hotels worldwide.
HotelF1, stylised as hotelF1 and branded Formule 1 until 2007, is a French budget hotel chain solely operating domestically. It its owned and had been created by Accor in 1984.
Econo Lodge is a budget motel chain based in the United States and Canada and one of the larger subsidiaries of Choice Hotels. The properties contain a minimum of 40 guest rooms and are often located near highways or highway access. All hotels provide a free breakfast. As of December 31, 2022, there are 759 Econo Lodge hotels open with 44,697 rooms. There are Econo Lodge motels in every US state and Canadian province.
Novotel is a French midscale hotel brand owned by Accor. Created in 1967 in France, the company grew into what became the Accor group in 1983, and Novotel remained a pillar brand of Accor's multi-brand strategy. Novotel manages 559 hotels in 65 countries (2021). Since 2010, Novotel also includes the apartment hotel brand Novotel Suites.
Baymont by Wyndham, formerly branded as Baymont Inn & Suites, is a hotel franchise owned by Wyndham Hotels & Resorts and based in the United States. As of December 31, 2023, it has 546 properties with 41,357 rooms.
An apartment hotel or aparthotel is a serviced apartment complex that uses a hotel-style booking system. It is similar to renting an apartment, but with no fixed contracts and occupants can "check out" whenever they wish, subject to the applicable minimum length of stay imposed by the company.
The Motel Inn, located in San Luis Obispo, California, United States, was the first "motel" in the world, and the origin of that word, from "Mo-Tel", which is a play on the word "hotel" by combining the words "motor hotel". It opened on December 12, 1925, and closed in 1991. The Apple Farm Inn, located next door, is expanding and incorporating parts of the original hotel that are still standing into additional rooms.
William Walter Becker was an American hotelier. He is best known for creating the Motel 6 concept of inexpensive motel rooms.
Motel 168 is a hotel brand of Home Inn. It used to belong to Shanghai Motel Management Co., Ltd. The company was owned by Shanghai Merrylin Restaurant Management Co., Ltd and Merrylin Hotel Management Co., Ltd. The Shanghai Merrylin company had its headquarters in Changning District, Shanghai.
OYO Rooms, also known as OYO Hotels & Homes, is an Indian multinational hospitality chain of leased and franchised hotels, homes, and living spaces. Founded in 2012 by Ritesh Agarwal, OYO initially consisted mainly of budget hotels. As of January 2020, it has more than 43,000 properties and 1 million rooms across 800 cities in 80 countries.
Motel One is a German hotel chain headquartered in Munich. It operates properties in eleven European countries as well as one hotel in New York City. Few of the company's hotels use their upscale subsidiary brand The Cloud One instead.
↑ "FAQ". www.motel6.com. Motel 6. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
1 2 3 4 5 Jakle, John A.; Sculle, Keith A.; Rogers, Jefferson S. (1996). The motel in America. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp.211–214. ISBN0801853834. OCLC34513125.
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