The motel turns 100. Here are California’s best motels to check out this summer

California invented the motel. More specifically: As automobile ownership skyrocketed in the 1920s and entrepreneurs rushed to open tourist camps and motor courts to house traveling families, a Pasadena architect named Arthur Heineman came up with the word motel — motor plus hotel, right? — and put up a mission-style lodging in San Luis Obispo, midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. He did this in late 1925.

From these facts, The Times hatched a project to help California travelers plan their next road trip and recognize the motel centennial as an anniversary that resounds throughout pop culture.

After driving 2,500 miles and checking out dozens of places, I’ve come up with 34 lodgings to recommend at various price points. (These days, many prefer to call themselves inns or boutique hotels. Still, if their guest room doors open to the great outdoors and there’s a highway handy, I count them as part of the extended motel family.)

We’re also hoping to help all readers appreciate the up-and-down story of motels — how they soared in the midcentury years, then seeped into pop culture as hotbeds of sex and crime, slumped in the late 20th century and lately have entered a new era.

Today many are going luxurious or doubling down on nostalgia. Some are charging $1,000 a night. Others are sticking to their frugal roots and charging $100 a night. Several have been repurposed by government agencies to house people at risk of homelessness. And some don’t even take overnight guests anymore — they make their way by housing retail and restaurants and supplying all-American scenery for selfies and videos.

Among the overnight destinations we cover in our motel centennial special:

• In Paso Robles, the River Lodge’s MOTEL sign rises high above the 101 like a rocket about to be launched from wine country.
  
• In Palm Springs, the Trixie Motel has added new oomph to the phrase “over the top.”
• In San Bernardino, the Wigwam Motel and its concrete teepees endure, now owned by a family with roots in India and the Inland Empire.
• In San Francisco’s Castro District, a new generation runs Beck’s Motor Lodge for an audience the founders never imagined.
• In Malibu, the Surfrider staff is standing by to lend you a surfboard or a Mini Cooper to cruise along PCH.

For travelers and admirers of midcentury design, the most welcome news may be that just about every week, another revived California roadside lodging reopens, many of them sporting the bold, space-age shapes and signage that midcentury design geeks know as Googie.

We’re also hoping these stories will help with your next road trip:

• An illustrated essay tracing motel history and the many variations of the species found in California.
• A guide to 34 notable motels (and inns and hotels) from San Diego to San Francisco, with details on their history, evolution, design and price.
• A list of favorite roadside restaurants statewide, chosen by the experts on our Food team.
• A selection of eight prime California roadside attractions, from concrete dinosaurs to actual ostriches.
• An introduction to a man who turned his love for roadside Americana into a brand called Merch Motel.
• We’ve even got a photo feature showing 10 vintage motel matchbooks.

Happy traveling.

The week’s biggest stories

Lyle Menendez, right, and brother Erik listen to a charge of murder conspiracy against them with Leslie Abramson, far left, attorney for Erik, Dec. 29, 1992, in Los Angeles.

(Chris Martinez / Associated Press)

Menendez brothers move closer to freedom

• When a Los Angeles County judge resentenced Erik and Lyle on Tuesday, he offered the brothers a path to freedom for the first time since they were given life in prison for killing their parents with shotguns in 1989.
• The brothers may be another step closer to freedom after Gov. Gavin Newsom withdrew his request for clemency investigations into their case, turning a hearing scheduled in June before the parole board into an opportunity for them to be granted early release.

L.A. council backs $30 minimum wage for hotels

• The council voted this week to approve a sweeping package of minimum wage increases for workers in the tourism industry, despite objections from business leaders who warned that the region is already facing a slowdown in international travel.
• The proposal is billed by labor leaders as the highest minimum wage in the country.

Smokey Robinson under criminal investigation

• The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has opened a criminal investigation into the Motown singer after four of his former staffers accused him of sexual assault and wage theft.
• Robinson, 85, was sued earlier this month by three former housekeepers and a former personal assistant who allege that the singer forced them to have sex with him and also failed to pay minimum wage or overtime pay.

More big stories

• A California “teacher of the year” sexually assaulted elementary school boys. She got a 30-year term.
• Walmart, Mattel and other retailers will boost prices as the trade war hits shoppers.
• One of L.A.’s best French restaurants is temporarily closing and plans to reopen with a new look and menu.
• An Asian American professor who teaches history of racism was attacked in a possible hate crime.
• The Big Bear eaglets are getting ready to fly. See how they’ve grown.
• Seventeen members of a cartel kingpin’s family were escorted into California from Mexico. Why?
• A blood feud rocks O.C. law enforcement with claims of “dirty cop” and “corrupt” D.A.
• A DoorDash driver helped cheat the company out of $2.5 million using phantom deliveries.
• Pomp, circumstance and a drone show: USC shook up its graduation a year after turmoil.

This week’s must reads

Climate & Environment

A new fantasy film offers a vision for how Californians can coexist with other large mammals

A new A24 fantasy film helmed by a California native preaches reconciliation between man and beast. It hits home in a state beset by wildlife conflict.

May 14, 2025

More must reads

• Improving these five social skills can help you make new friends as an adult.
• The network evening news is in flux: Why an American TV institution is under pressure.
• A woman’s grisly death inflames a debate over how California manages problem black bears.
• OC’s original punks describe the birth of the world-famous “Orange County sound.”

For your weekend

The new “World of Color Happiness!” begins with a charming pre-show featuring the Muppets.

(Sean Teegarden / Disneyland Resort)

Going out

• Amusement Parks: Disneyland’s new water show: “Inside Out’s” “Be happy” message irks, while the Muppets charm.
• Movies: The 18 summer movies we’re most excited about.
• Hiking: This coastal L.A. hike offers ocean views, wildflowers and an exit to the beach.

Staying in

• Television: Meet 5 local Black artists whose work is featured in Netflix’s new series “Forever.”
• Books: 30 must-read books for summer.
• Recipes: Here’s a recipe for tofu bowls with avocado, cabbage and turmeric tahini.
• ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.

Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team

Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com. Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com.