America’s coolest motels include these California spots
Hotel. Motel. Holiday Inn?
Of the options famously offered by hip-hop group The Sugarhill Gang, motels are often the cheapest. They also poke a soft spot in the heart of nostalgia-lovers. Some might look down upon them, but a road trip wouldn’t be complete without these bastions of terrible coffee and neon splendor.
Last year marked the 100th anniversary of the first motor hotel in the world – the Milestone Mo-Tel in San Luis Obispo. To mark the occasion, Vogue has published a selection of “11 Best in the U.S. to Visit Now.”
Motels are enjoying a boost, the magazine asserts, thanks to COVID steering people away from planes and toward car travel: “Their cheerful, pastel-hued mid-century designs and vintage aesthetics also speak to an increasing longing for simplicity and authenticity — motels remind us of a time when travel felt less polished and more spontaneous, filled with possibilities.”
Here are some magazine named the coolest ones to visit in 2026.
Vogue’s best motels in the U.S. to visit now
1 Austin Motel: Austin
2 Skyview Los Alamos: Los Alamos, Calif.
3 Silver Sands Motel & Beach Bungalows: Greenport, N.Y.
4 The Dive Motel: Nashville, Tenn.
5 The Vagabond Hotel: Miami
6 Hotel Lucine: Galveston, Texas
7 The Longleaf Hotel: Raleigh, N.C.
8 The Starlight Motor Inn: Charleston, S.C.
9 The Ace Hotel & Swim Club: Palm Springs, Calif.
10 Rhode’s Motor Lodge: Boone, N.C.