Retro Motor Lodge.
Retro Motor Lodge is the preserved-and-played-up mid-century motel tier. Where Scandi Catskills hotels keep the motel *shape* but clean the interiors into something quiet, the retro tier leans into the saturated color and side-by-side-door quirk. Starlite is the obvious one. These are the affordable, photogenic entries in the region — small rooms, small prices, big personality.
Dunes on the Waterfront
Twenty-one redesigned 1930s cottages on the Ogunquit River — evocative of the Maine summer that used to be.
East Rock Inn
Eighteen-room boutique motel at the base of East Rock Mountain, minutes from downtown Great Barrington.
Rivertown Lodge
A 1920s Hudson cinema reborn as the town's most quietly confident hotel, via Workstead.
Scribner's Catskill Lodge
The original Catskills Scandi motor-lodge revival. On a hillside in Hunter.
The Graham & Co.
The Catskills design-motel that started the whole thing.
L'Horizon Resort & Spa
A 1952 William F. Cody motor court restored to mid-century purity — 25 adults-only bungalows.
Pioneertown Motel
The 1946 movie-set hotel where Roy Rogers stayed — 20 rooms, Pappy & Harriet's next door.
Caravan Outpost
An eleven-Airstream village in downtown Ojai — bocce court, fire ring, communal breakfast.
El Cosmico
Liz Lambert's nomadic hotel — tents, trailers, yurts, and the occasional teepee, 18 acres outside town.
Hotel Dylan
A Woodstock native's Novogratz-designed revival of a '70s bi-level motel. Turntables in every room.
The Asbury Hotel
A 1962 Salvation Army building reimagined in 2016 — rooftop bar, live music, bowling alley downstairs.
The Parker Palm Springs
Jonathan Adler's design tour-de-force — 144 rooms on 13 acres, Mister Parker's restaurant.
The Sands Hotel & Spa
A 1940s motor court reimagined as a Moroccan oasis — 46 rooms, mint-tea-on-arrival, hookah lounge.
Ace Hotel & Swim Club
A 1965 Howard Johnson reimagined — 180 rooms, two pools, Kings Highway diner, the Palm Springs scene.
Atlantic Sands Hotel
Family-owned for three generations — 120 rooms directly on the boardwalk, oceanfront pool.
AutoCamp Joshua Tree
Fifty-five Airstreams and Acorn cabins on the park's north edge — clubhouse, pool, Brightland olive oil tastings.
Avalon Hotel & Bungalows
A 1958 Movie Colony hotel — 70 rooms, three pools, Kelly Wearstler-designed bungalows.
Coachman Hotel
A 1972 motor lodge reimagined — 41 design-forward rooms, sauna, walking distance to Heavenly.
Dockside Inn
Twenty-two rooms on Oak Bluffs Harbor. Nautical without doing the too-much anchor thing.
Earthbox Inn & Spa
A 1960s motor lodge reimagined — 18 rooms, indoor pool, family-owned.
El Bonita Motel
A 1930s Art Deco motor lodge on the highway — 41 rooms, the only motel left in St. Helena.
El Rey Court
A 1936 motor court on old Route 66, reimagined 2018 — La Reina bar, saltwater pool, mezcal-scene.
Greenporter Hotel
An airy reworked motor inn in central Greenport — cheap, charming, walkable to the wineries.
Hangar Hotel
A WWII-era airfield hangar reimagined — 50 art-deco rooms, Officers' Club bar, runway-side balconies.
Holiday House Palm Springs
A 1951 Herbert Burns mid-century motel restored 2016 — 28 adults-only rooms, palms and a pool.
Hotel Tybee
Oceanfront on Tybee — 209 rooms, family-owned, the largest independent on the island.
Mourelatos Lakeshore Resort
Family-owned since 1958 — 32 rooms on the North Shore, private beach, the old-Tahoe vibe.
Ojai Rancho Inn
A turquoise-and-adobe 1940s motor lodge — 19 rooms, outdoor fireplace, cruiser bikes free to borrow.
Silver Sands
A rejuvenated beachfront motel with 1,400 feet of private sand. Condé Nast Readers' Choice 2024.
Skyview Los Alamos
A 1959 motor lodge reimagined 2018 — 33 design-forward rooms above the Santa Ynez Valley.
Sound View Greenport
A 1950s roadside motel on the Long Island Sound, redone with a Halfcall-meets-Scandi sensibility.
Starlite Motel
Wes Anderson energy, Shaker bones, pink and turquoise doors.
The Rabbit Ears Motel
Steamboat's neon-pink 1952 motor lodge — 45 rooms, family-owned, the original Steamboat motel.
The Surfjack Hotel & Swim Club
A 1960s Waikiki motel reimagined — 112 rooms, Mahina & Sun's restaurant, the design-set's Honolulu pick.
Thunderbird Hotel
A 1959 motor court reimagined by Liz Lambert — 24 rooms, courtyard pool, Marfa's original design hotel.
Wall Street Suites
A 1960s motor court reimagined — 33 suites, hot tub, dog-friendly, walking distance to Drake Park.
Retro Motor Lodge is the preserved-and-played-up mid-century motel tier. Where Scandi Catskills hotels keep the motel shape but clean the interiors into something quiet, the retro tier leans into the saturated color and side-by-side-door quirk. Starlite is the obvious one. These are the affordable, photogenic entries on the list — small rooms, small prices, big personality.
What this looks like
Long single-story buildings with exterior-facing doors. Saturated color — mustard, turquoise, terracotta, orange. Original signage often kept and re-lit in neon. Pools that look like the hotel was built around them, because they were. Inside the rooms: paneled walls, period-correct or close-to-it furniture, a bar fridge, a record player on a few rooms. The breakfast move, when there is one, is a continental on the office porch.
The aesthetic is intentional in a way that the original 1960s motels weren't. The owners have preserved the shape and quirks while quietly upgrading the bed, the AC, the wifi, and the bathroom. The result reads as period without being uncomfortable. You see your car from your door. The pool is shared and small. There's almost always a fire pit.
The standouts
- Scribner's Catskill Lodge (Hunter, NY) — the Catskills original. A 1960s motor lodge on a hillside, blueprint for the rest.
- Rivertown Lodge (Hudson, NY) — a 1920s Hudson cinema reborn through Workstead. Cleaner end of the genre.
- Silver Sands (Greenport, NY) — a beachfront motel rejuvenated with 1,400 feet of private sand, North Fork accent.
- Dunes on the Waterfront (Ogunquit, ME) — twenty-one redesigned 1930s cottages on the Ogunquit River.
- The Asbury Hotel (Asbury Park, NJ) — a 1962 Salvation Army building reimagined in 2016. Rooftop, bowling, live music.
- East Rock Inn (Great Barrington, MA) — eighteen-room boutique motel at the base of East Rock Mountain.
- Caravan Outpost (Ojai, CA) — eleven Airstreams in downtown Ojai. The retro register pushed to its conclusion.
- Mojave Sands (Joshua Tree, CA) — a five-room former 1950s motel reimagined with a courtyard pool and cacti.
When to come / who it's for
Spring through fall is the obvious window — these properties were built for car-trip season and they read flatter in winter. The Catskills retro lodges (Scribner's, Eastwind) work in winter because the snow does the lifting. Coastal retros (Silver Sands, Dunes, The Asbury) close or thin out November–March.
Who likes it: travelers who want the photogenic entry on the list. Couples doing a 3-day weekend who don't need square footage. Friend groups booking three rooms in a row. Anyone allergic to corporate hospitality. The price point is the most accessible on the boutique tier — many properties sit under $250 mid-week, $300–$400 weekends in season.
Who'd hate it: anyone who wants quiet. These are courtyard properties; you hear neighbors. The rooms are also small by design — original motel footprints, usually 250–300 square feet. Bring less luggage.
Adjacent vibes
Retro Motor Lodge shares structural origin with Reimagined Motor Lodge (origin tag) and with Scandi Catskills (same buildings, different interior register — Scandi clears the room, Retro keeps the saturation). It sits opposite Country Estate in scale, formality, and price. It's adjacent to but distinct from Architectural Minimalist — same building type, opposite philosophy of restoration.