6 of the perfect motels alongside Route 66

As America’s most iconic street turns 100, Route 66’s motels are stepping again into the highlight. Neon indicators are flickering again to life outdoors basic motels as a brand new technology lovingly restores their mid-century bones, whereas additionally including a couple of modern upgrades into the combo. Oozing retro cool, these characterful motels are the antithesis of the generic, cookie-cutter lodge keep — and infrequently simpler on the pockets, too.

Cruise alongside Route 66 lengthy sufficient and the neon indicators begin to sing an analogous music: Elvis carried out right here, Elvis dined there. This classic motor lodge, a 10-minute drive from the coffeeshops and concrete breweries of Flagstaff city, provides a contemporary riff. Not solely did it host the King of Rock and Roll, nevertheless it additionally welcomed NASA astronauts, who skilled for moon landings in northern Arizona’s lunar-like panorama. It reopened after a full revamp in 2023, however a life-sized cosmonaut statue within the foyer hints at its space-age legacy. The mid-century nods proceed within the 89 rooms, the place disco balls scatter mild throughout wood-panelled partitions, and shag pile carpets swirl in burnt orange and midnight blue. At the motel’s coronary heart is a pool, round which friends play garden video games throughout the day and gaze on the sky via telescopes as night time falls (in 2001, Flagstaff grew to become the world’s first International Dark Sky City). The bang-for-your-buck room charges really feel caught within the 60s, too. From $101 (£79).

This 137-room hideaway on Central Avenue — the part of Route 66 that cuts via Albuquerque’s coronary heart — provides a completely trendy tackle the city motel. Built in 1965 because the Downtowner Motor Inn, it handed via numerous chains earlier than reopening in 2025 below California-based Palisociety, recognized for reimagining boutique accommodations throughout the US. It’s its most profitable pairing to this point. The interiors’ clear strains and geometric prints nod to the constructing’s unique International Style design, and the rooms are accessed through mid-century-style open-air walkways. But there are trendy comforts, too, from the Grown Alchemist tub facilities to the Peloton bikes within the 24-hour health club. In the swish cocktail lounge, boozy slushies and ‘disco fries’ smothered in cheese are served to friends reclining below poolside parasols; in any other case, downtown’s breweries and cafés are mere steps away. From $109 (£86).

3. Classen Inn, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Minimalists, divert your eyes: this Oklahoma City roadside motel, courting to 1963 and reopened in 2020, has been given a fabulously camp makeover. Local new homeowners Steve Mason and Aimee Ahpeatone noticed potential in one of many state’s most interesting examples of futuristic Googie structure, and after a flamboyant revamp, the swoon-worthy neon signal glows proudly out entrance as soon as extra. The 17 guestrooms pop with tropical palm wallpaper and playful ’60s-style murals of pouting lips and racing stripes. There’s even a dinky Superette minimarket, promoting ice-cold beers and kitschy trinkets, like classic lodge keychains. Guests can borrow bikes to discover the encompassing Midtown space — there’s a diner simply down the road — then collect for sundowners on the rainbow-hued patio, the place a swell previous time is nearly assured. From $102 (£81).

4. El Rey Court, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Originally inbuilt 1936, throughout the golden age of the all-American street journey, this low-slung motel has returned in 2018 for a classy second act. Californian creatives Jay and Alison Carroll have taken the reins, changing the whitewashed Pueblo Revival property into the hippest desert hangout in Santa Fe, New Mexico’s state capital. The 86 rooms, some with kitchenettes, others with patios, all function modish interiors. No two are fairly alike, however many embody woven wall hangings, potted cacti and criss-cross rattan chairs. Daily happenings vary from poolside yoga and reside music units to vibrant queer nights, drawing a full of life mixture of locals and road-trippers alike; outdoors, sights like The Cathedral Basilica of St Francis of Assisi and Georgia O’Keeffe Museum are inside a three-mile radius. Fuel up on the on-site La Reina Mesita meals truck, which serves a killer breakfast burrito, to energy via one other sun-bleached stretch of Route 66. From $183 (£145).

5. Motel Safari, Tucumcari, New Mexico

Behind practically each surviving mom-and-pop motel on Route 66 is a passionate preservationist, somebody protecting the neon glowing lengthy after most travellers sped off onto sooner interstates. At this deal with in Tucamari, a former railroad city in japanese New Mexico, that somebody is proprietor Rich Havlik, who reopened this lodge in 2024. Posted behind the welcome desk, beside a life-sized mannequin camel, he’s a Minnesota-native Route 66 aficionado who needs friends to fall in love with the Mother Road simply as he did. The motel was inbuilt 1959 within the Googie model and nonetheless flaunts its unique options: an asymmetrical butterfly roof, cinder block partitions and 11 rooms decked out with jet-age furnishings, together with Tivoli radios enjoying rockabilly music on the bedside. As nightfall settles, friends collect by the hearth pit, close to a mural of Elvis standing by and a stretch Cadillac. A keep right here is proof they simply don’t make them like they used to. From $109 (£86).

One of Route 66’s most photogenic landmarks, the plucky Blue Swallow Motel has defied the percentages, protecting its neon signal glowing even because the fortunes of Tucumcari light. Do as James Dean as soon as did and examine in for the night time. Built in 1939, the motor-court motel is a shining instance of Southwest Vernacular design, with blush-pink stucco partitions dotted with seashells and storage bays tucked between rooms. The homeowners are doing a significant revamp, and it seems in nice form. Inside, 12 guestrooms are a imaginative and prescient of chintz-chic attraction. Vintage chenille bedspreads, atomic chalkware lamps and rotary telephones nod to its unique period, whereas plush mattresses cater to trendy travellers. Twilight is when this motel really shines: the swallow-shaped neon signal sparkles on, its glowing cursive promise of ‘100% Refrigerated Air’ casting a cinematic mild throughout the forecourt. From $120 (£95).