Cinema News: It’s the summer of the motel

May 17, 2025 | View in browser

By Christopher Reynolds

Staff Writer

Good morning. Here's what you need to know to start your day:

California invented the motel a hundred years ago.
The Menendez brothers move closer to freedom.
The 18 summer movies we're most excited about.
And here's today's e-newspaper

The motel turns 100

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

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.

This week's must reads

For your weekend

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.

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