Motel Lobby

About

A motel is a hotel designed for motorists, to an open parking area. Entering dictionaries after World War II, the word motel, a portmanteau of motor and hotel or motorists hotel, referred initially 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. As the United States highway system began to develop in the 1920s, long distance road journeys became more and the need for inexpensive, easily accessible overnight accommodation sited close to the main routes, led to the growth of the motel concept. Auto camps predated motels by a few years. Unlike motels, auto camps and tourist courts typically provided bed and breakfast or hotel style service, usually with stand-alone cabins. After the invention of the motel, auto camps continued in popularity through the Depression years and after World War II, their popularity finally starting to diminish with the construction of freeways and changes in consumer demands. Examples include the Rising Sun Auto Camp in Glacier National Park and Blue Bonnet Court in Texas. Such facilities were 'mom-and-pop' facilities on the outskirts of a town that were as quirky as their owners. They attracted the first 'road warriors' as they crossed North America in their new automobiles. The 1935 City Directory for San Diego, CA lists 'motel' type accommodations under Tourist Camps. Arthur Heineman(s) Motel Inn of San Luis Obispo In contrast, though they remained 'Mom and Pop' operations, motels quickly adopted a homogenized appearance and were designed from the start to cater purely for motorists. The motel concept originated with the Motel Inn of San Luis Obispo, constructed in 1925 by Arthur Heineman. In conceiving of a name for his hotel Heineman abbreviated motor hotel to mo-tel. Motels are typically constructed in an (I)- or (L)- or (U)-shaped layout that includes guest rooms, an attached manager's office, a small reception and, in some cases, a small diner. Post-war motels sought more visual distinction, often featuring eye-catching neon signs which employed themes from popular culture, ranging from Western imagery of cowboys and Indians to contemporary images of spaceships and atomic era iconography. Motels differ from hotels in their common location along highways, as opposed to the urban cores favored by hotels, and their orientation to the outside (in contrast to hotels whose doors typically face an interior hallway). Motels almost by definition include a parking lot, while older hotels were not built with automobile parking in mind. With the 1952 introduction of Kemmons Wilson's Holiday Inn, the mom-and-pop motels of that era went into decline. Eventually, the emergence of the interstate highway system, along with other factors, led to a blurring of the motel and the hotel, though family-owned motels with as few as five rooms may still be found, especially along older highways.

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