motel
motel, type of affordable lodging originally catering to motorists. They typically offer rooms arranged along exterior corridors with direct access to an adjacent parking area and are regarded as having a more informal atmosphere compared to hotels; often the guest rather than a porter transports his or her own luggage to and from the room. The word motel is a portmanteau of motor and hotel and was coined in the mid-1920s to reflect the establishment’s focus on motorists. As cars became the principal mode of travel by 1950 in the United States and by the 1960s in Europe and Japan, the motel was one of the key roadside businesses that took shape.
The world’s first motel opened in San Luis Obispo, California, on December 12, 1925. The Milestone Mo-Tel, which was located between San Francisco and Los Angeles, was advertised as the “most delightful and complete motorist’s hotel in the world.” Featuring 15 bungalows and a bell tower, the motel eventually closed in 1991.
Motels originated as a series of separate or attached roadside cabins, independently operated. They were built as near as possible to interstate highways, just as hotels had been built as near as possible to railroad stations in the previous century.
Toward the 1930s the chain concept became popular. Franchising operations, in which an individual goes into business for him or herself under the widely advertised name of a chain of motels with relatively modest investment, achieved remarkable growth for several chains in the mid-century. In the pinnacle of their popularity, motels often offered restaurant facilities, gas-filling stations, and swimming pools. They also advertised such amenities as air conditioning, a TV, and hot showers.