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Holiday Terrace Motel
Etowah, TN
Photo courtesy Tony Craig

The towering marquee at Holiday Terrace Motel gives motorists along U.S. 411 another reason to look around while passing through Etowah. Near the old Etowah Motel, the property preserves the familiar pairing of a prominent highway sign and rooms close to the parking area.

Built in 1957, the twenty-seven-room motel dates to the postwar expansion of automobile travel. Vintage postcards promoted its swimming pool, adding a recreational attraction to the overnight accommodations. The neighboring motels helped make this stretch of highway a convenient stopping place for travelers exploring eastern Tennessee.

UPDATE: Holiday Terrace Motel appears to remain open, and its large roadside marquee survives. The property was offered for sale in 2025, marking another possible ownership chapter for this longtime lodging business. Its sign remains a recognizable part of Etowah's older highway landscape. 11-26

Loveless Motel (Closed)
Nashville, TN
Photo courtesy Tony Craig

“Stay a Little While” remains a fitting invitation on the Loveless Motel and Cafe sign along Highway 100. The glowing marquee marks a Nashville roadside institution near the Natchez Trace Parkway, where the restaurant has long outlasted the overnight business.

Lon and Annie Loveless began serving fried chicken, biscuits, and preserves in 1951. Their home became a restaurant, and a fourteen-room motel followed as the business expanded. A smokehouse and prominent neon sign helped complete a stop where motorists could eat, rest, and continue their journey the next morning.

UPDATE: Motel operations ended in 1985, but the former guest rooms found new uses, including specialty shops and retail space. Loveless Cafe continues serving customers, and the familiar sign remains beside the highway. The motel name survives above a property that still gives travelers good reason to stay awhile. 11-26

Catalina Motel (Gone)
Lexington, KY
Photo courtesy Devil Doll

The Catalina Motel had an attraction that reached beyond its roadside marquee: a Roto-Sphere mounted above the building. Its neon-covered spikes and revolving sections created an elaborate display, while a star atop the separate freestanding sign echoed the same eye-catching design.

Roto-Spheres were manufactured by Warren Milks in Louisiana between 1960 and 1971. Their aluminum spikes and counter-rotating sections made them unusually complicated advertisements to maintain. The Catalina's example had stopped operating decades before its removal, but remained a favorite with roadside enthusiasts.

UPDATE: The Catalina's Roto-Sphere was sold to a collector in 2019 and moved to Whiteland, Indiana. It has since been restored and placed on public display among vintage gasoline signs. Although it no longer stands above the Lexington motel, this remarkable piece of roadside advertising survived. 11-26

Thunderbird Inn
Savannah, GA
Photo courtesy Paul Bauke

As you enter Savannah from I-95, you'll be greeted by the Thunderbird Motel. The Thunderbird Motel is conveniently located about a block from the Greyhound Bus Station. Many thanks to Paul Bauke for info.

Opened in 1964, the forty-two-room property served motorists traveling the coastal highway. Its guest history includes the young Jackson Five during their early touring years. Later renovations embraced the motel's origins, with MoonPies, RC Cola, and other playful touches complementing its mid-century appearance.

UPDATE: Thunderbird Inn remains open, with its familiar neon marquee continuing to identify the property. Restoration and remodeling have preserved its roadside personality while updating the accommodations. More than sixty years after opening, the motel still gives Savannah visitors a distinctly different alternative to a conventional hotel. 11-26

Breaux's Motel (Gone)
Boutte, LA
Photo courtesy Devil Doll

The weathered sign at Breaux's Motel recalled an earlier generation of accommodations along U.S. 90 in Boutte. Although its neon had disappeared, the older framework retained the proportions of a marquee built to attract motorists from the highway.

The motel belonged to the independent roadside businesses serving travelers across southern Louisiana. Its low buildings and prominent advertisement followed the practical motor-court formula: make the entrance visible and keep parking near the rooms. Later replacement panels simplified the sign without entirely disguising its older construction.

UPDATE: Breaux's Motel has closed, and the roadside sign was removed before 2016. Its disappearance took away the property's most recognizable highway feature. Earlier views preserve the altered marquee and a reminder of the smaller lodging businesses that once lined this stretch of U.S. 90. 11-26

Heartbreak Hotel (Demolished)
Memphis, TN
Photo courtesy Bob Jagendorf

The heart-shaped sign at Heartbreak Hotel made its connection to Elvis Presley clear before guests reached the entrance. Located beside Graceland's visitor facilities, the property turned a familiar song title into an overnight destination for fans exploring Memphis.

Opened in 1999, the hotel transformed an existing lodging property with Elvis-themed rooms and specialty suites. Its name borrowed from Presley's breakthrough 1956 hit, connecting the accommodations directly to his musical history. Although much newer than a classic motor court, the sign and themed setting supplied plenty of roadside personality.

UPDATE: Heartbreak Hotel closed in late October 2016 when The Guest House at Graceland opened. The older hotel was subsequently demolished during redevelopment of the Graceland visitor area. Its heart-shaped sign is gone, ending a relatively short but memorable chapter of Elvis-themed roadside lodging. 11-26

Coston Motel (Closed)
Malvern, AR
Photo courtesy Stewart Isbell

“Air Conditioned” was worth prominent space on the Coston Motel marquee in Malvern. The colorful sign advertised a welcome comfort for Arkansas motorists, recalling the years when independent motor courts listed their modern conveniences beside the highway.

Operating by the early 1950s, the Coston promoted itself as “A Home Away From Home.” Its brick buildings followed the familiar roadside lodging arrangement, with parking convenient to the rooms. The motel's name and neon display supplied an individual identity before later ownership and branding changes altered its presentation.

UPDATE: The property continues operating as Relax Inn, but the Coston name and vintage neon marquee are gone. Modern signage identifies the surviving accommodations. The motel buildings have continued their original purpose, even though the advertisement that once distinguished them has disappeared. 11-26

Motel
AR
Photo courtesy Stewart Isbell

The wall-mounted Motel sign needed only five letters to advertise this Arkansas lodging stop. Attached directly to the building, it offered a straightforward message without an oversized mascot or elaborate roadside structure. Its weathered appearance is what makes it worth a closer look.

Building-mounted signs were a practical choice for smaller accommodations, placing the advertisement above the business without requiring a separate pole. Here, the surviving lettering records the property's lodging use even though its name and location have not been identified. The modest scale distinguishes it from the towering marquees found at larger motor courts.

UPDATE: The motel's later history remains unknown. This view preserves a simple piece of roadside advertising from a property that might otherwise have left little record. Even without a name, the sign belongs to the story of Arkansas' smaller highway accommodations. 11-26