This article from Travel + Leisure doesn't have any Route 66 content, but the stories about creative and driven owners who took over forlorn motels and turned them into unique attractions is required reading for anyone thinking about buying and rehabbing a vintage Route 66 motel. It's something that Bill Kinder at the Blue Swallow … Continue reading Rebirth of old motels
Category: Motels
Preservation — $2 at a time
There's been a lot of discussion on the Internet about the Associated Press story about neglected historic motels along Route 66. Yesterday came this plea on the Route 66 yahoogroup from Bob Kelley, owner of the Grand Motel in Williams, Ariz.: I have seen the same problems others have that own older Route 66 motels. … Continue reading Preservation — $2 at a time
Route 66 Motels
A Dallas-based CBS affiliate filed a nice report today on Oklahoma's Route 66 motels, which recently made Preservation Oklahoma's 2007 Most Endangered Places List. The piece -- which mentions the Riviera Courts in Miamia, the Chelsea Motel and Chelsea Motor Inn in Chelsea, Elm's Motel in Claremore, the Cotton Boll Motel in Canute, and the … Continue reading Route 66 Motels
El Vado owner, city go into negotiations
An article in the Albuquerque Journal says that the city and El Vado Motel owner Richard Gonzales have entered talks to settle their spat over the historic Route 66 property: City officials and the old Route 66 tourist court owner, Richard L. Gonzales, are pursuing "settlement negotiations," according to a letter from Planning Director Richard … Continue reading El Vado owner, city go into negotiations
La Posada’s savior runs for Congress
Allan Affeldt has accomplished a lot. He saved the run-down La Posada in the Route 66 town Winslow, Ariz., and transformed it into one of the best lodging and dining destinations in the Southwest. He was elected mayor of Winslow two years ago. He's guiding the restoration of another Harvey House, El Garces, in Needles, … Continue reading La Posada’s savior runs for Congress
Catching the VW bug
It's a complicated story -- which the Orange County Register can tell more completely -- but it's about Dave Torstenson's fascination with vintage Volkwagen minibuses, the generous VW community, and an improbable quest to drive a ramshackle 1972 minibus from Tulsa to Los Angeles while being filmed by a documentary crew. Route 66 connections? There … Continue reading Catching the VW bug
New lodging in Lincoln
Route 66 travelers soon will have a new option for overnight sleeping in Lincoln, Ill. It's the Windswept Manor bed-and-breakfast, and it opens for business on Friday, reports the Bloomington Pantagraph. The Windswept Manor is at 227 N. Logan in Lincoln (map here). It's on a 1926-40 alignment of Route 66, which goes more through … Continue reading New lodging in Lincoln
Tulsa’s Camelot Hotel to be razed
The Tulsa Industrial Authority agreed to a pact Wednesday that will likely tear down the long-closed Camelot Hotel, just off Interstate 44 and Peoria Avenue, reports the Associated Press. This landmark is more familiar to interstate drivers than Route 66 fans, although I-44 through that area also is Oklahoma 66. The hotel, which is known … Continue reading Tulsa’s Camelot Hotel to be razed
Roy’s should be back in business soon
Trevor Summons of the San Bernardino County Sun drove Route 66 deep into California's Mojave Desert to see whether he could find the hamlet of Bagdad. He didn't find much. "Blink, and you'll miss it" is the common description of what now is a ghost town. However, he motored on to the nearby Route 66 … Continue reading Roy’s should be back in business soon
Ruling leaves El Vado’s future in doubt
According to the first paragraph of the Albuquerque Tribune: Two rulings this week on the future of the Route 66-era El Vado motel either deal a huge setback to the city's efforts to preserve the historic structure or represent a minor bump in the road, depending on whom you talk to. First off, State District … Continue reading Ruling leaves El Vado’s future in doubt