the.com/motel
a roadside promise that you'll leave by morning and nobody will ask why
means a roadside hotel designed for motorists, typically with rooms opening directly onto a parking lot.
from A blend word, born in 1920s America: "motor" + "hotel," coined as cars filled the highways and travelers needed somewhere to stop for the night without venturing into a city. The first is said to be the Milestone Mo-Tel in San Luis Obispo, California (1925), whose owner reportedly mashed the two words together for his sign — and the portmanteau stuck to the whole roadside breed that followed.
- name origin
- blend of 'motor' and 'hotel' from 1925
- first one
- Milestone Mo-Tel opened in San Luis Obispo
- parking design
- doors face cars, not lobbies, by intent
- vacancy sign
- the 'no' lights up to crush hope
- crime lore
- film's favorite scene of a bad night
bates motel — fictional motel from psycho (1960), inspired real motel cecil in los angeles and countless horror references
el rancho hotel — historic motel on route 66 in gallup, new mexico, opened 1937, famous landmark
wigwam motel — route 66 motel in san bernardino, california with teepee-shaped rooms, built 1950