I have a thing for American vintage motels. Give me a flickering neon sign, a low-slung row of rooms and a parking space outside the door and I get just as excited as I would checking into one as I would a luxurious five-star hotel with a great history.
There’s something about them that sums up the romance of an American road trip: throwing a bag in the back of the car, heading somewhere you’ve never been and pulling off the highway when an interesting sign appears. The older, stranger or more cinematic the place looks, the better.
The motel itself was born in California in 1925, and by 1964 there were more than 60,000 of them across America. Then came the interstate highways, hotel chains and a long period when the word motel became shorthand for somewhere you probably didn’t want to spend the night.
That has changed. Across the USA, vintage and retro motels are being restored and brought back to life. Some still have their original neon signs, pools and mid-century architecture; others now come with beautifully designed rooms, excellent restaurants and bars worth staying in for.
I’ve spent years travelling around America as a writer and seeking these places out – an obsession that eventually became my book, Vintage Motels. These are 11 vintage motels in the USA I think are particularly worth taking the exit for.
1 Madonna Inn, San Luis Obispo, California
This is the most flamboyant motel on this list – and probably in the world. The decor is like no other you’ve ever seen. It’s a giant, kitsch Apline chalet fit for Barbie. Think: handcarved pine, bold carpets. Even thetennis courts outside are pink.
It opened in 1958 with 12 rooms; today there are 110, each with a different theme, from Swiss chalet to Wild West – some of rock walls and waterfall showers! It’s public spaces are increible too, so it’s just as fun for a stop off as it is an overnight stay. It sits on California’s Central Coast, roughly halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
I love stopping for a slice of the famous pink champagne cake in the Copper Café and a nose around the wonderfully excessive gift shop. It also looks fun to sink into one of the padded pink booths in the steakhouse.
Book your stay at the Madonna Inn here.
2 El Rey Court, Santa Fe, New Mexico
I would happily move into El Rey Court. This 1936 Route 66 motor court spreads across five acres on the edge of the artistic city of Santa Fe, with low adobe buildings, courtyards and gardens that feel far more atmospheric than your average motel stop.
The rooms are the real draw for me. No two are quite alike, but expect traditional softly rounded fireplaces, chunky timber, colourful woven textiles, vintage furniture and art that feels properly rooted in New Mexico. Some rooms also have private patios.
There’s La Reina, the onsite bar, serving mezcal and cocktails in a suitably low-lit setting, plus a pool for hot Santa Fe afternoons.
For me, this is exactly how to revive an old motel: keep the bones, keep the sense of place, and make the interiors somewhere you genuinely want to live in.
Book your stay at El Rey Court.
3 Blue Swallow Motel, Tucumcari, New Mexico
For the motel purist, this is the best. The Blue Swallow was built in 1939 on Route 66 and remains one of the great survivors of the Mother Road.
Its glorious original neon sign is reason enough to pull over after dark, while the rooms lean proudly into the past with chenille bedspreads, vintage lamps, rotary phones and tiled bathrooms.
There are even individual garages between some of the rooms – a reminder of the era when motels were designed quite literally around the freedom of travelling by car.
Its influence stretches beyond Route 66 geekery too: elements of the Blue Swallow helped inspire the Cozy Cone Motel in Pixar’s Cars.
Book your stay at the Blue Swallow Motel.
4 Ojai Rancho Inn, Ojai, California
Ojai Rancho Inn is a 17-room 1950s ranch-style motel at the edge of town, given a bohemian makeover that fits Ojai perfectly. Rooms mix wood-panelled walls and log bedframes with handmade ceramic lamps, shibori-dyed curtains, woven textiles and artwork by local makers, while little porches outside have vintage-style chairs.
One detail I remember especially is the scent of palo santo — sticks are left in the rooms to burn, which somehow feels completely at home in a town known for its spiritual, arty streak.
There’s also a pool, fire pit and Chief’s Peak, the tiny onsite bar, plus complimentary bikes for the five-minute ride into central Ojai.
Book your stay at Ojai Rancho Inn.
5 Hotel Wren, Twentynine Palms, California
Hotel Wren shows the other side of the motel revival: taking an unremarkable old roadside property and turning it into somewhere you actively want to linger.
This 12-room hideaway began life as a 1940s motel and sits about ten minutes from the quieter north entrance to Joshua Tree National Park. Its latest incarnation is all earthy colours, natural materials, vintage furniture, books and desert calm.
Every room has a kitchenette, which immediately makes holing up here for a few days tempting, while the little Windsong shop sells pieces from local makers and suitably beautiful desert objects.
It’s far removed from the flashing neon of Route 66, but that’s partly what makes the modern American motel scene interesting: there isn’t just one kind anymore.
Book your stay at Hotel Wren.
6 Silver Sands Motel & Beach Bungalows, Greenport, New York
Not all great American motels involve desert highways and neon. Silver Sands sits at the tip of Long Island’s North Fork, surrounded by acres of landscaped grounds and looking out across its own sandy beach.
It first opened in the late 1950s but has since been reimagined as a stylish waterfront retreat without erasing its mid-century roots. Pastel colours and unfussy retro details keep a little of the analogue mood alive, while the accommodation now ranges from motel rooms to beach shacks, bungalows and sizeable beach houses.
Then there is the setting. This is less Thelma & Louise, more disappearing from New York City for a few days to swim, read and eat oysters beside the water.
Book your stay at Silversands Motel and Beach Bungalows.
7 The Pearl Hotel, San Diego, California
The Pearl began life in 1959 as the Sportsman’s Lodge in San Diego’s Point Loma neighbourhood, and its current incarnation makes clever use of the original mid-century architecture.
Just 23 rooms surround an oyster-shaped saltwater pool, with cane, warm wood, vintage pieces and work by local artists and makers giving the interiors a relaxed California feel. The open-air restaurant and cocktail bar, Ponyboy, spills onto the pool deck.
My favourite detail is the weekly Dive-In Movie Night, when films are screened beside the pool. It’s playful without turning itself into a pastiche of the 1950s, which is probably why the original building still feels so convincing.
Book your stay at The Pearl.
8 EL RANCHO, GALLUP, NEW MEXICO
Pull into El Rancho and the first thing you encounter is a soaring timber lobby filled with old photographs, movie memorabilia and enough Western atmosphere to make you half expect John Wayne to appear at the top of the stairs.
The hotel opened in 1937 and became a base for actors making Westerns in the surrounding New Mexico landscape. Rooms still bear the names of former Hollywood guests, while Southwestern textiles, carved furniture and colourful local art stop it feeling like a preserved film set.
I like it because it isn’t polished into blandness. There is history everywhere you look.
Stop for huevos rancheros or a quesadilla in the Silver Screen restaurant, then browse the pottery, jewellery and paintings in the shop before heading back onto Route 66.
Book your stay at El Rancho.
9 Gulf Hills Hotel & Resort, Ocean Springs, Mississippi
Gulf Hills has a notorious past. The resort opened in 1927 beside Fort Bayou and later became a favourite hideaway of Elvis Presley, who stayed in Villa No. 9 when he wanted some privacy away from life in Memphis. And legend has it Al Capone came here to xxxx.
After new owners arrived in 2021, a major renovation brought the place back to life, with the first phase completed in 2023.
Today its mid-century coastal look feels playful rather than precious. Head to the Sunset Lounge for a drink overlooking the pool and Fort Bayou and you can still imagine why Elvis liked disappearing down here.
Book your stay at Gulf Hills Hotel and Resort.
10 Hotel Lucine, Galveston, Texas
You can still see the bones of the old Treasure Isle Motel at Hotel Lucine – and that’s precisely why I like it.
The original beachfront motel opened in 1963 before being completely reworked and reopening as the 61-room Hotel Lucine in 2023. Its zigzag roofline and two-storey courtyard layout remain, framing the original-style pool, but inside the mood is cleaner and more contemporary: warm wood, palms and a suitably breezy Gulf Coast palette.
There is now a rooftop bar overlooking the water, The Den for drinks and lighter food and The Fancy restaurant.
Book your stay at Hotel Lucine.
11 Starlight Motor Inn, North Charleston, South Carolina
The Starlight is another motel that came perilously close to disappearing. Dating from 1961, it spent years abandoned before being restored and reopened in 2022 by two school friends.
Its peachy tones, breezeblocks, checkerboard pool deck and vintage-style signage make it exactly the sort of place that causes me to slow the car down for a second look.
The rooms are cheerful rather than over-designed, while next door are a handful of restored cottages for longer stays.
But the detail I like most is upstairs. The Burgundy Lounge has been part of the property since 1966 and is once again pouring drinks and hosting live music, DJs and karaoke.
Book your stay at the Starlight Motor Inn.
12 Scribner’s Catskill Lodge, Catskills, New York
Finally, proof that a great motel doesn’t need palm trees, cactus or a neon arrow pointing towards reception to be popular.
Scribner’s is a 1960s Catskills classic that was reinvented in 2016, its dark timber façade giving the old motor-lodge form a distinctly mountain feel.
Inside, white walls, dark maple floors, pine furniture, kilim cushions and big windows looking towards the mountains make everything feel a little more grown-up than the average roadside stop. Prospect, the in-house restaurant, gives you another reason not to get back in the car immediately.
More recently, a collection of architect-designed cabins called The Rounds has extended the property into the surrounding landscape.
Book your stay at Scribner’s Catskill Lodge.
You can find many more of the motels I’ve sought out across the country in my book, Vintage Motels: America’s Most Iconic Motels, Beautifully Restored. Have a browse here.
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