Road Warriors

They seemed like a novelty in the nineties, but refurbished motels have gone from kitsch to cutting-edge, and play a key role in the future of hospitality.

Near the end of the last century, a trend emerged. Forgotten old motels and motor lodges were being transformed into well-run, hip little hotels. At first it was surprising to see the rebirth of these run-down structures happening alongside the high-design, big-city glamour of the boutique hotel boom. Their utility quickly became clear: sleek and slick isn’t for everyone; it’s even less appropriate when you’re on the road.

20+ years on, restored motels have proven to be for more than just passing through. The modern motel is now a destination in its own right — an appealing target at which to aim your front bumper. And in recent years the appeal has only grown.

One of the effects of COVID is that it sent a lot of people back to nature, to spaces with plenty of space. A peculiar thing has happened where I live, in New York City. Rents are through the roof, and so is car ownership. The pandemic pushed people out of town — for a while. Now they’re back, and they’re having to offer well above asking for apartment rentals. (Bidding wars! For rentals! We thought that only happened to tech bros in San Fran.) Meanwhile, the number of cars registered in the city has skyrocketed — the highways jammed with more broken heroes than ever.

All these new cars need somewhere to go, and now that everyone wants their own Walden, the cars are going upstate, out east, down the shore, set on a path of highways and parkways and byways and back streets. And boy howdy there are a lot of renovated, remodeled, refurbished, and restored motels on those roads, none of them terribly content to give you just a bed and a roof for the night. They want to give you entertainment, cuisine, cutting-edge design, and — appropriate for these times — doors that open right up to the outside air, maybe even right to your car.

For all of its influence, the pandemic merely accelerated what was already in progress. With environmental sensitivity more important than ever, repurposing a roadside inn is a great way to reuse existing materials — especially when they come pre-loaded with a visual character this clearly defined. In an age where authenticity trumps excess, little reimagining is required to bring motels back to relevance in the current century. In fact, the format itself is back in full fashion: brand new, purpose-built motels and motor courts are becoming a serious thing.

We’ve collected here some of our favorite restored motels in America — evidence that the craze is showing no signs of slowing, and that the road to a sustainable future goes through a discarded past.

Jupiter Hotel

Portland, Oregon

It’s hard to imagine feeling underdressed in the Jupiter, or anywhere in Portland, a deeply casual city. It’s an unprepossessing sort of hotel, a renovated Sixties motor inn attached to the Doug Fir Lounge, one of Portland’s top bars and live music venues. This makes for a lively atmosphere. Rooms are handsomely minimalist with bold wallpaper — photorealistic forest scenes, or vibrant cartoony florals.

Tourists

North Adams, Massachusetts

The Berkshires are undergoing the sort of revival that travel trend pieces are made of. Thanks in part to the redevelopment that’s accompanied MASS MoCA, the formerly industrial town of North Adams is living a second life as a booming cultural destination. Outside the town center you’ll find TOURISTS, a Sixties motor lodge reborn as a very modern, very hip little country boutique hotel.

Brentwood Hotel

Saratoga Springs, New York

Saratoga Springs is undergoing a bit of a renaissance as city folk rediscover the charms of small-town life. It’s also famous for the Saratoga Race Course, which hosts horse races in the summer months. And just across the road from the racecourse’s paddock and stables is the reason we’re here: the Brentwood Hotel, designed and also owned by Studio Tack, a Brooklyn-based design firm.

Austin Motel

Austin, Texas

Now that Liz Lambert, the boutique-hotel queen of Texas, has taken over the Austin Motel, all is again right with the world. The Austin’s distinctive sign has been drawing double-takes along South Congress since 1938, and now it’s backed up by some equally distinctive retro-themed interiors. It’s joins the Saint Cecilia and the Hotel San José as part of South Austin’s trifecta of exceptional lodgings.

The Green Room

Oceanside, California

In its new life, the masterfully reimagined 1940s motor in that’s now the Green Room Hotel is miles more attractive than the word “motel” implies. It’s decked out in a very photogenic bohemian-minimalist style, with low-frills but high-impact comforts and an eclectic approach to decoration that combines Moroccan rugs, mid-century modern furniture, and vibrant, well-chosen artworks.

Anvil Hotel

Jackson, Wyoming

Jackson Hole has all the ingredients for outdoor adventure, and it’s got the infrastructure to support it (the valley’s most notable lodgings tend toward the upscale end of things). The Anvil Hotel, in the town of Jackson proper, goes another way. This is a no-frills motel upgraded into something stylish, but rather than high gloss it aims for a retro unpretentiousness, and hits the nail right on the head.

The Longleaf Hotel

Raleigh, North Carolina

In Raleigh, North Carolina, an undistinguished corporate chain hotel was found to have, beneath a layer of stucco, the bones of a fossilized Sixties Travelodge — and after an archaeological-grade restoration and a modernist-inspired redesign it’s back in business, this time as the Longleaf Hotel. Named, fittingly, for a classic-but-endangered emblem of North Carolina’s forests.

Cuyama Buckhorn

New Cuyama, California

Set deep in the desert of Santa Barbara County, the Cuyama Buckhorn isn’t just any old motel — this mid-century classic was designed by the architect George Vernon Russell, who was responsible for a number of Los Angeles landmarks. It took a thorough restoration, but today’s Buckhorn features 21 guest rooms in a hybrid cowboy-Modernist style, while the restaurant, the self-titled Buckhorn, is pure cowboy.

High Country Motor Lodge

Flagstaff, Arizona

A classic mid-century motor inn on Route 66 in Flagstaff, Arizona has found new life as the High Country Motor Lodge, and as motel restorations go, it’s a very thorough one. Inside you’ll find swanky beds with vintage-style blankets, modern bathrooms with quality products, and, in a quirky retro touch, tape decks complete with mix tapes.

El Rey Court

Santa Fe, New Mexico

A 1936-vintage motor inn on the legendary stretch of road once known as Route 66 is now El Rey Court, a beautifully reimagined boutique hotel that is, in its new incarnation, one of Santa Fe’s most stylish lodgings. Its original architecture remains intact, and its adobe-and-timber construction is memorable, to say the least; inside, it’s a very hip, very contemporary mix of local Southwestern color and modern art and design.

Vagabond Hotel

Miami, Florida

The Vagabond was one of many family-friendly motels that popped up in Miami to cater to the postwar surge of road-trip tourists, and in short order, it was hosting the likes of Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr. But like many vintage landmarks, the motel fell into disrepair. After sitting empty for years, the MiMO icon got the star treatment, reopening in 2014 to considerable fanfare among the design set.

Ace Hotel & Swim Club

Palm Springs, California

One struggles to find a better word than “funky” to describe the sensibility at Ace Hotel & Swim Club: vintage but not retro, with a celebratory respect paid to the past rather than an ironic arched eyebrow. And sustainability here is not a slogan or a mission statement but an organic side effect of the use of second-hand furniture and surplus hardware.

Skyview Los Alamos

Los Alamos, California

A burgeoning wine culture has led to a substantial uptick in tourism in the Santa Ynez Valley. Hence the need for a hotel of Skyview’s caliber. The original Skyview was a late-Fifties example of a style that perhaps erred a bit on the utilitarian side — but given today’s taste for rehabilitated spaces and salvaged décor, it’s the perfect skeleton for something like the new Skyview.

Sound View Greenport

Greenport, New York

The North Fork is the less traveled side of eastern Long Island, and it’s here that you’ll find Sound View Greenport, a Fifties motel that’s been restored, rehabilitated, and given the boutique-hotel treatment by Brooklyn’s Studio Tack. The inspiration for the style in this case was New England’s homegrown modernist heritage, which lends Sound View’s visual identity an extra measure of authenticity.

The Dive Motel & Swim Club

Nashville, Tennessee

Yes, Dive Motel’s name is a play on words: on one level it’s a reference a certain no-frills approach to hospitality, along with a beautifully realized retro sensibility that’s a perfect corrective for an increasingly polished Nashville scene. But the only thing that’s truly divey about it is the Swim Club that makes up the second part of its name.

Camptown Catskills

Leeds, New York

Not every modern-day Catskills escape begins with raw material as promising as the 1930s motel that now serves as Camptown’s main lodge — this building is full of character, and not in a euphemistic way. The nearly century-old bones of the place have been preserved, but it’s been refinished in a style that’s not excessively true to any one era — there’s a bit of modernism, a healthy dose of Shaker simplicity, and plenty of rustic rough edge.

Modern Hotel

Boise, Idaho

The Modern Hotel, which revises a former Travelodge motel into a mod micro-oasis, is a sign that Boise is ready to assert itself as a cool modern city. Rooms and suites at the Modern Hotel are tastefully retro with teak furnishings. A landscaped courtyard doubles as a gathering space for guests and spill-over for the hotel’s Modern Bar, surely one of the slickest martini spots in the state.

Amigo Motor Lodge

Salida, Colorado

With America’s seemingly limitless supply of mid-century motels transforming themselves one by one into boutique hotels, the average small town is suddenly many times more likely to offer a stylish and thoughtfully designed place to stay. Salida, in south central Colorado, was just waiting for the arrival of a hotel like the Amigo, a 60-year-old structure redesigned in a minimalist modern-rustic style and a Southwestern accent.

Rye Motor Inn & Swim Shop

Rye, New Hampshire

Rye Motor Inn & Swim Shop begins with a beautifully restored 1950s motor inn — but rather than leave it in its minimally serviced state of nature, its proprietors have turned each unit into a proper apartment, complete with a full kitchen (and Smeg fridge, naturally). The hospitality is low-touch, meals are self-catered, and there’s not just a hotel pool but the beach as well — there’s one just across Ocean Boulevard from the hotel.

Verb Hotel

Boston, Massachusetts

To find a mid-century motel in the shadow of legendary Fenway Park is rare luck. The obvious thing to do might have been to turn it into another place of Red Sox worship, but Boston has plenty of those. Instead the proprietors of the Verb chose to pay homage to the Fenway/Kenmore neighborhood’s role in rock history — and the result is something it’s safe to say you can’t get anywhere else.

The Starlite Motel

Kerhonkson, New York

With road trips and local travel on the rise, the Catskills, with their plentiful supply of mid-century hotels, motels, and resorts, are enjoying a second life. And while plenty of modern-day Catskills hoteliers are embracing the region’s hospitality history, few are quite as unashamedly retro as Kerhonkson’s beautifully restored Starlite Motel.