tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/motels-31250/articlesMotels – The Conversation2020-06-11T12:24:40Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1402112020-06-11T12:24:40Z2020-06-11T12:24:40ZIs it safe to stay in a hotel, cabin or rental home yet?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341037/original/file-20200610-114066-xqdmu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=27%2C101%2C6123%2C3928&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Grandparents are eager to spend time with their grandchildren, and many are also eager to travel. There are many things to consider to ensure safety when going to hotels and overnight accommodations. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/grandparents-and-granddaughter-using-mobile-phone-royalty-free-image/1095071410?et=efq6hTGaR3RbRHdJ5kJ2sA&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gettyimages.com%2F">FG Trade/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>After nearly three months of quarantine, millions of Americans are ready to travel – an overnight trip, a weekend getaway, a summer sojourn. With states reopening, that’s now possible, with a caveat. Before coronavirus, few people likely thought twice about staying in a hotel room, rental home or cabin in the woods. But now, we have to factor in the potential for coronavirus exposure. Even if you’re OK with the <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-you-fly-yet-an-epidemiologist-and-an-exposure-scientist-walk-you-through-the-decision-process-138782">travel risks</a> taking you to your destination – plane, train or automobile – what about the risks of the destination spot itself? </p>
<p>We are both exposure scientists. <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=QaohB3kAAAAJ&hl=en">One of us</a> feels comfortable booking a “no-contact” stay; <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=zgJRA2EAAAAJ&hl=en">the other</a> still isn’t sure whether to take an overnight trip anytime soon. But we agree on two things: Traveling these days brings increased risk, yet ways exist to minimize that risk. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341029/original/file-20200610-34678-1iu52c9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341029/original/file-20200610-34678-1iu52c9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341029/original/file-20200610-34678-1iu52c9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341029/original/file-20200610-34678-1iu52c9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341029/original/file-20200610-34678-1iu52c9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341029/original/file-20200610-34678-1iu52c9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341029/original/file-20200610-34678-1iu52c9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wearing face masks is still important, especially when traveling.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/it-took-distance-to-connect-us-royalty-free-image/1216009023?adppopup=true">Getty Images / PeopleImages</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The issues</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/travel-in-the-us.html">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance</a> is clear that travel heightens your chance of getting or spreading COVID-19. The travel industry is taking this seriously. Both the <a href="https://www.ahla.com/safestay">American Hotel & Lodging Association</a> and <a href="https://www.vrma.org/page/vrhp/vrma-cleaning-guidelines-for-covid-19">Vacation Rental Management Association</a> have released best practice guidelines and standards. </p>
<p>No matter what type of stay you’re planning, the primary concern is coming into close contact (less than six feet) with an infected person. That probability is higher when you travel. Keep in mind a person with COVID-19 <a href="https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2607.201595">can spread the virus</a> before developing symptoms. From the start, you must assume that everyone around you may be infected. Including yourself.</p>
<p>Contact with contaminated surfaces is of less concern, but still something to consider. We are learning more about the <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2004973">potential for infections</a> from them, but we do know coronavirus has been detected on <a href="https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2609.201435">guest room surfaces</a>. Try to minimize your contact with surfaces – tabletops, chairs, bathroom sinks, duvet covers – that haven’t been cleaned or disinfected.</p>
<p>A further complication: The <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html">pattern and extent of COVID-19</a> can vary between communities, even in the same region. Laws and public health guidelines vary as well, so make sure you check for updates before traveling. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341034/original/file-20200610-34692-1dcq3uh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341034/original/file-20200610-34692-1dcq3uh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341034/original/file-20200610-34692-1dcq3uh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341034/original/file-20200610-34692-1dcq3uh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341034/original/file-20200610-34692-1dcq3uh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341034/original/file-20200610-34692-1dcq3uh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341034/original/file-20200610-34692-1dcq3uh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A tourist checks into a hotel in Savannah, Ga., on April 25, 2020, shortly after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp lifted some social distancing measures.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/tourist-wears-a-mask-amid-fears-over-the-spread-of-the-news-photo/1211025499?adppopup=true">Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Before you book</h2>
<p>There’s no way to make a stay 100% safe, but there are certainly ways to make a stay safer. Remember each lodging scenario is different; for example, unlike hotels or rental homes, campgrounds typically have only <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-goes-into-the-toilet-doesnt-always-stay-there-and-other-coronavirus-risks-in-public-bathrooms-139637">shared bathrooms</a>. But wherever you may stay, start by checking out the establishment’s website, or call to ask what management is doing to reduce transmission risk. </p>
<p>Make sure to ask about:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Air quality. Cleaning with <a href="https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/list-n-disinfectants-use-against-sars-cov-2-covid-19">approved products</a> should be frequent. Ask if hand washing or hand sanitizing stations are available in common areas. Engineering controls, like increasing air exchange or HEPA filters in the ventilation system, should be in place. If that’s not the case, consider bringing a portable air purifier with a HEPA filter. On the low-tech side: Can windows be opened for better air flow? A fan can help bring in more outdoor air and increase the mixing rate if used near an open window. </p></li>
<li><p>No-contact options, like digital keys.</p></li>
<li><p>Policies on masks and health screenings for guests and staff.</p></li>
<li><p>Is the rental business limiting capacity to promote distance? That is, are they booking only every other room? And are they preventing one-night stays, which would bring in more people and therefore introduce more risk? Avoid lodgings with same-day turnovers. </p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Strategies for a safer stay</h2>
<p>Once you’ve determined the management is doing all it can, you need to do all you can to minimize exposure. Wear a face covering and practice social distancing in common areas. Minimize time in enclosed, less ventilated spaces, like elevators. Avoid contact with “high-touch” surfaces in shared spaces, like the elevator call button, door handles, and dining tables and chairs; they are less likely to have been disinfected between each individual’s touch. Wash your hands or use hand sanitizer after spending time in common areas. If gyms and pools are open, remember to social distance, wear your mask, and wipe down equipment before and after use. </p>
<p>Use plastic zip bags for personal items that others may handle. That includes your driver’s license, credit card and key. Bring extra bags to put these things in after you disinfect them. Handle your own luggage, or arrange for no-contact delivery.</p>
<p>Disinfect surfaces following <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/disinfecting-your-home.html">CDC guidance</a>. If housekeeping is available, opt out. Request that decorative pillows and duvet covers be removed before your arrival. </p>
<p>Lowest-risk options for dining: bring your own food or do room service or no-contact delivery. Outdoor dining can be a reasonable option, but if you dine inside, make sure there’s reasonable ventilation and adequately spaced tables. </p>
<p>Bring enough masks or face coverings for each day, or bring detergent to wash between uses. You’ll also need hand sanitizer or hand wipes, a surface disinfectant, paper towels and disposable disinfectant wipes. </p>
<p>All this helps, but remember: Even doing everything on this substantial list still may not eliminate your chance of getting the virus. The bottom line is, we don’t recommend nonessential travel for everyone right now. You may need a vacation, but COVID-19 never takes one.</p>
<p>[<em>Get facts about coronavirus and the latest research.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=upper-coronavirus-facts">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.</a>]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/140211/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Marder is Chair of Communications and Outreach for the International Society of Exposure Science, a not-for-profit organization.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paloma Beamer is President of the International Society of Exposure Science, a not-for-profit organization and receives funding from NIH, EPA, Agricola Alta Pozo Manuel and the Pima County Health Department.</span></em></p>Taking a trip this summer? You can do a lot to prevent coronavirus exposure, but you cannot take away all risk. It is important to practice caution.Elizabeth Marder, Instructor, Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California, DavisPaloma Beamer, Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, University of ArizonaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1234012019-09-12T11:06:57Z2019-09-12T11:06:57ZHotels play vital roles in relief efforts when disaster such as the Maui wildfires strikes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542230/original/file-20230810-16-6db21d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=129%2C105%2C5262%2C3484&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lahaina, Hawaii, was a wasteland of burned-out homes and obliterated communities after wildfires ripped through the town.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/APTOPIXHawaiiFires/9d084f2d3a504d8f97b0d1cf6d3f8809/photo?Query=maui%20wildfire&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=35&currentItemNo=11">AP Photo/Rick Bowmer</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Hotels are more than a place to stay while on vacation. They are also critical for disaster relief and recovery. </p>
<p>When major hurricanes, wildfires or other disasters strike, relief <a href="https://www.fema.gov/es/news-release/20200220/fema-federal-agencies-ready-hurricane-dorian-heads-florida">organizations like Federal Emergency Management Agency</a> and the <a href="https://www.redcross.org/about-us/news-and-events/news/2019/red-cross-commits-initial-2m-to-help-bahamas-helps-evacuees-coming-to-us.html">Red Cross</a> are usually seen at the heart of the disaster response. Less publicized are the essential roles hotels play in aiding and supporting the efforts of first responders and residents. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://theconversation.com/maui-wildfires-extra-logistical-challenges-hinder-governments-initial-response-when-disasters-strike-islands-211384">wildfires rage on the island</a> of Maui, Hawaii, hotels hooked up to diesel generators <a href="https://lodgingmagazine.com/ahla-partners-with-hawaii-hotel-alliance-to-support-relief-efforts-in-west-maui/">are doing their best to support the needs</a> of not only their guests and employees but other residents of the community as well.</p>
<p>To better understand their role in relief efforts, my colleagues <a href="https://www.rit.edu/gis/academics/faculty/schneider">Jennifer L. Schneider</a>, <a href="https://www.rit.edu/directory/mxkism-muhammet-kesgin">Muhammet Kesgin</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=gNiId2AAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Sarah Dobie</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=o_ZBzNIAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">and I</a> interviewed over 40 hotel general managers in Florida in 2017 and collected online survey data on 156 more to study what they did during and after Hurricane Irma struck that year. </p>
<p>We were impressed by the range of roles hotels said they take on in a disaster, whether a massive storm in Florida or a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/08/10/us/wildfires-maui-hawaii">wildfire in Maui</a>. </p>
<h2>Preparing for the storm</h2>
<p>Hotels located in the vicinity of a disaster are in a unique position to help, because unlike other first responders, they are already physically there with large and fortified buildings. </p>
<p>Our interviews in Florida showed that hotels take steps every year to mitigate the impact of hurricane season. This annual preparedness involves continued education, planning and sharing of best practices through local hotel associations, such as the <a href="https://frla.org/hurricane-resources/">Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association</a> and <a href="https://www.keyslodging.org/hurricane-conference.htm">Lodging Association of the Florida Keys and Key West</a>. </p>
<p>“There is no way FEMA could set up temporary housing as fast as hotels in providing immediate places for people to stay in impacted areas,” one general manager told us. </p>
<p>Hotels mitigate the potential of being closed by signing advance contracts for diesel fuel to run generators in case electricity is lost. They also line up contractors ahead of time to repair any damage that might occur. </p>
<p>One manager even reported taking out US$5,000 in cash to make sure she was able to buy groceries for local residents in need, since the lack of electricity was forcing stores to accept cash only.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="an aerial view shows a patch of houses and busineses destroyed next to others that weren't damaged near the water" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292113/original/file-20190912-190031-3qcxiz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292113/original/file-20190912-190031-3qcxiz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292113/original/file-20190912-190031-3qcxiz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292113/original/file-20190912-190031-3qcxiz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292113/original/file-20190912-190031-3qcxiz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292113/original/file-20190912-190031-3qcxiz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292113/original/file-20190912-190031-3qcxiz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hurricane Irma was a Category 4 storm when it crossed the Florida Keys in 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/two-more-hurricane-irma-pix/bc989567ebb24b6abd84952a74c9fcb5/2/0">AP Photo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Offering shelter and aiding recovery</h2>
<p>During Hurricane Irma, residents and visitors were forced to evacuate certain parts of the state and sought shelter from the storm wherever they could, including at hotels, some of which <a href="https://www.hotel-online.com/press_releases/release/florida-cre-proves-resilient-in-face-of-hurricane-irma-due-to-long-term-pre/">are resilient to Category 5 hurricanes</a>. </p>
<p>How much a hotel can help with disaster response can depend on how severely its own infrastructure is damaged. But even when there is damage and no electricity, hoteliers reported that lodging was the key resource they were able to provide victims of Irma, whether they were local residents who fled homes or insurance adjusters and response teams trying to get things back up and running. </p>
<p>Managers told us they offered discounted room rates for people trying to get out of the way of the oncoming storm and waived their usual pet policies to help those fleeing the hurricane with animals. </p>
<p>Some managers said their hotels transformed from four-star resorts to simple shelters where first responders or power repair workers could find a safe and free place to sleep. One manager reported setting up dozens of cots in a ballroom for a National Guard command post.</p>
<p>Hotel employees who felt unsafe in their homes were allowed to ride out the storm with their families for free. And in some cases, they provided housing for months after the storm. </p>
<p>Beyond lodging, in some cases hotels sent out engineers to inspect employee homes to determine whether they were habitable while they waited for official inspections.</p>
<p>Beyond the humanitarian value of providing assistance, separate research I helped conduct also found that hotels that provide relief <a href="http://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2022.103360">may produce goodwill</a> through the shared vulnerability that employees and customers experience. When customers receive assistance during periods of vulnerability and recognize that employees are facing similar challenges, they become advocates for public support of the business, its workers and the broader industry and destination impacted by the disaster.</p>
<p>Whether in Florida or Maui, hotels serve as <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures3040046">critical hubs for disaster relief and recovery</a>. As such, policymakers should be aware of their dual role as both private sector businesses and community resources.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of an article originally published on Sept. 12, 2019.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123401/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rick Lagiewski received funding from the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Foundation (AHLEF) for this study. </span></em></p>Hotels are helping the Hawaiian island of Maui recover from the catastrophic impact of wildfires, just as they have in Florida following hurricanes.Rick Lagiewski, Principal Lecturer – Management, Rochester Institute of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/642122016-09-15T01:57:42Z2016-09-15T01:57:42ZThe twilight of the mom and pop motel<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137653/original/image-20160913-4980-1dj0vk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona, is one of the few remnants of America's mid-20th century motel boom. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Wigwam_Motel,_Holbrook,_AZ_04048u_edit.jpg">Library of Congress</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 1939, when John Steinbeck <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/01/0102_020104wir66.html">imagined Highway 66</a> as “the road of flight,” he evoked the crushing realities of Depression-era migrants who’d been pushed off their land by failing crops, relentless dust and heartless banks. </p>
<p>Struggling to find some sense of home on the road, these environmental and economic refugees searched for hope against a backdrop of unfathomable loss. On the road to California, they’d rest and recuperate in army surplus tents, hastily constructed Department of Transportation camps and <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/rosethornil/media/A%20A%20A%201%20Sears%20Homes/Hillrose%20in%20West%20Lafayette/p97b_SMH1916_Chicks1_zpsb237d905.jpg.html">Sears Roebuck chicken-coop cabins</a>.</p>
<p>They could hardly imagine the surreal indulgences of the tourist road that would begin to emerge after World War II: renting a room built to resemble a country cottage and adorned with plastic flowers; snapping photos of a neon cactus glowing through half-drawn window shades; sleeping in a concrete tepee appropriated from Native American culture. </p>
<p>They could, in short, never foresee the rise of the roadside motel. </p>
<p>But after its heyday in the mid-20th century, the traditional mom and pop motel – once ubiquitous along American highways and byways – has largely slipped from the public imagination.</p>
<p>Today’s road-tripper generally prefers lodging that boasts a professional website, guarantees a fast internet connection and promises easy-on-easy-off interstate access, leaving the older motels built along two-lane roads and numbered highways to go to seed. </p>
<p>As Mark Okrant writes in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/No-Vacancy-Demise-Reprise-Americas-ebook/dp/B008EFC3J4#nav-subnav">“No Vacancy: The Rise, Demise and Reprise of America’s Motels,”</a> approximately 16,000 motels were operating in 2012, a sharp drop from a peak of 61,000 in 1964. In subsequent years, that number has surely declined further. </p>
<p>Even so, <a href="https://savingplaces.org/stories/in-defense-of-historic-motels">efforts to preserve</a> mom and pop motor lodges – particularly along Route 66, “the highway that’s the best” – indicate a desire among many historians and motorists to reclaim something of the motel spirit not yet entirely lost. </p>
<h2>Before the motel…the farmer’s field?</h2>
<p>To understand America is to travel its highways. </p>
<p>In the first three decades of the 20th century, America cemented its love affair with the automobile. For the first time, most people – no matter their struggle or station in life – could hop in their cars, hit the road and escape from the places and circumstances that bound them. </p>
<p>Of course, there were few of the amenities available to today’s interstate traveler. West of the Mississippi, camping was the most common alternative to expensive hotels. For motorists who didn’t wish to traipse across stuffy lobbies in road-worn clothing, the convenience and anonymity of a field or lake shore was an attractive option. </p>
<p>Back east, tourist homes provided another alternative to hotels. If you look around in dusty attics or antique shops, you can still find cardboard signs that advertise “Rooms for Tourists.” For example, the Tarry-A-While tourist home in Ocean City, Maryland, advertised, “Rooms, Running Water, Bathing From Rooms. Apartments, Modern Conveniences. Special rates April, May, June and after Labor Day.” </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137796/original/image-20160914-4963-1sj2gho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137796/original/image-20160914-4963-1sj2gho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137796/original/image-20160914-4963-1sj2gho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137796/original/image-20160914-4963-1sj2gho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137796/original/image-20160914-4963-1sj2gho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137796/original/image-20160914-4963-1sj2gho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137796/original/image-20160914-4963-1sj2gho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137796/original/image-20160914-4963-1sj2gho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Tarry-A-While tourist home in Ocean City, Maryland.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Because tourist homes were frequently located in town, they differed from most contemporary motels, which are often found near highways, away from the city center. However, each tourist home was as unique as their owners. In this, they contributed to a central tradition of the American motel: mom and pop ownership.</p>
<h2>Fill up your tank and grab a bite to eat</h2>
<p>As the Depression wore on, it became profitable to offer more amenities than those available at campsites. Farmers or businessmen would contract with an oil company, put up a gas pump and throw up a few shacks. Some were prefabricated; others were handmade – rickety, but original. In the book <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Motel_in_America.html?id=CXzZikNoClsC">“The Motel in America,”</a> the authors illustrate the typical visit to a “cabin camp”: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“At the U-Smile Cabin Camp…arriving guests signed the registry and then paid their money. A cabin without a mattress rented for one dollar; a mattress for two people cost an extra twenty-five cents, and blankets, sheets, and pillows another fifty cents. The manager rode the running boards to show guests to their cabins. Each guest was given a bucket of water from an outside hydrant, along with a scuttle of firewood in the winter.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>By the 1930s and ‘40’s, cottage courts (also known as tourist courts) emerged as a classier alternative to dingy cabin camps. Each cottage was standardized along a theme, like “rustic or "ranch,” and most were built around a public lawn. As the English Village East in New Hampshire’s White Mountains advertised: “Modern and homelike, these bungalows accommodate thousands of tourists who visit this beauty spot in Franconia Notch.”</p>
<p>Unlike downtown hotels, courts were designed to be automobile-friendly. You could park next to your individual room or under a carport. Along with filling stations, restaurants and cafes began to appear at these roadside havens. </p>
<p><a href="http://nyx.uky.edu/dips/xt7x696zwx82/data/2008ms016/03/0367/0367.jpg">The Sanders Court & Cafe</a> in Corbin, Kentucky, advertised “complete accommodations with tile baths, (abundance of hot water), carpeted floors, 'Perfect Sleeper’ beds, air conditioned, steam heated, radio in every room, open all year, serving excellent food.” And yes, that food included the fried chicken developed by Harland Sanders, the Kentucky colonel of KFC fame. </p>
<h2>The rise of the motel</h2>
<p>During the 1930s and ‘40’s, individual cabin camp and cottage court owners, known as “courtiers,” dominated the roadside haven trade (with the exception of Lee Torrance and his fledgling <a href="http://amhistory.si.edu/onthemove/collection/object_582.html">Alamo Courts chain</a>). </p>
<p>For a time, courtiers lived one version of the American Dream: home and business combined under the same roof. Then, during World War II, almost everything road trip-related was rationed, with tires, gasoline and leisure time at a premium. But many troops traveling across the country to be deployed overseas saw parts of America that they would later want to revisit upon their return. </p>
<p>After the war, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, frustrated by the difficulty of moving tanks across the country, promoted a plan that mimicked the German autobahn: the <a href="https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/history.cfm">Federal Interstate Highway System</a>. But the first of these four-lane highways would take over a decade to build. Until then, families took to whatever highways were available – cruising over rolling roads that followed the curves and undulations of the countryside. Whenever it suited them, they could easily pull off to visit small towns and landmarks.</p>
<p>At night, they found motor courts – no longer isolated cottages, but fully integrated buildings under a single roof – lit by neon and designed with flair. They would soon be referred to as “motels,” <a href="http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/photos-from-the-vault/article39505317.html">a name coined</a> by the owner of the Milestone Mo-Tel (an abbreviation of “motor hotel”) in San Luis Obispo, California. </p>
<p>While motel rooms were plain and functional, the facades took advantage of regional styles (and, occasionally, stereotypes). Owners employed stucco, adobe, stone, brick – whatever was handy – to attract guests.</p>
<p>With families swarming to and from the rest stops that multiplied along the highways of postwar America, many of the owners settled in for a life’s work. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137665/original/image-20160913-4942-1rviuqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137665/original/image-20160913-4942-1rviuqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137665/original/image-20160913-4942-1rviuqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137665/original/image-20160913-4942-1rviuqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137665/original/image-20160913-4942-1rviuqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137665/original/image-20160913-4942-1rviuqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137665/original/image-20160913-4942-1rviuqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137665/original/image-20160913-4942-1rviuqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Roy’s Motel and Cafe in Amboy, California, along Route 66.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roy%27s_Motel_and_Cafe_under_a_full_Moon.jpg">Photographersnature/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The good times wouldn’t last. Limited-access interstates, built to bypass congested downtowns, began to snake across the nation in the 1950s and 1960s. Before long, small-time motor courts were rendered obsolete by chains like Holiday Inn that blurred the distinction between motels and hotels. Single-story structures gave way to double- and triple-deckers. The thrill of discovering the unique look and feel of a roadside motel was replaced by assurances of sameness by hosts from coast to coast.</p>
<p>Today, with most travelers using the Interstate Highway System, few people go out of their way to find roadside motels. Fewer still remember the traditions of autocamps and tourist courts. However, a growing number of <a href="http://sca-roadside.org/">preservation societies</a> and <a href="http://www.route66news.com/">intrepid cultural explorers</a> have begun to hit the exits and travel the original highways again – exploring remnants of Route 66, Highway 40, and U.S. 1 – searching for that one singular experience just around the bend.</p>
<h2>No place to escape</h2>
<p>You could argue that the decline of mom and pop motels signifies something else lost in contemporary American life: the loss of friction, of distance, of idiosyncrasy. In my book <a href="http://www.hamptonpress.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=978-1-57273-885-5">“City Ubiquitous: Place, Communication, and the Rise of Omnitopia,”</a> I write of a nation defined less by travel than by the illusion that one may gather up all the world – all the same and dependable parts of it, at least – and navigate its safe interiors without fear of surprise.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137663/original/image-20160913-4963-109xx54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137663/original/image-20160913-4963-109xx54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137663/original/image-20160913-4963-109xx54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137663/original/image-20160913-4963-109xx54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137663/original/image-20160913-4963-109xx54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137663/original/image-20160913-4963-109xx54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137663/original/image-20160913-4963-109xx54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The comfort of sameness: Thousands of Holiday Inns now dot the American landscape.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/meshal/356748316/in/photolist-xwqR3-8LGb2X-5cojEu-4z9Q9d-bnXZNN-4z5B84-8rVcyB-dkBvLJ-4z5uFp-4z9TrA-dMTuNu-afBLAm-dkBHQ2-nH6a4P-4z5vot-4z5ymX-4z5BRP-4M8Dhq-dkBudg-4z9P3Y-4z5yTe-2gGMbd-4z9TEf-4z9PtS-5LpKMj-fv9dc7-4vabVc-7FLvaF-6TFfww-5gPJSh-boDpdb-4tg9Da-7ZcYLa-dr6DX4-7GBhUK-bg4yyt-6uTcmR-boDtDh-a3GSe4-aCrRVS-8VLRj1-dm9UeG-f4gxiK-7gf2BY-dCWZMe-cVJuhu-67iULu-boDuoh-qpPvNm-85Q5N9">meshal alawadhi/flickr</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is pleasure – and some degree of satisfaction – in this fantasy. But there is something missing too. I don’t necessarily want to call it “authenticity.” But we might imagine motor lodges – those of the past and those that remain today – as representative of a pleasant and peculiar fantasy of freedom: a way to escape the global continuum of constant flow and effortless connection. They’re a departure from the script of everyday life, a place where travelers can still invent a new persona, a new past, a new destination.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64212/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Wood does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>What does the shuttering of traditional roadside motels say about America’s relationship with travel and freedom?Andrew Wood, Professor of Communication Studies, San José State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.