Highlander Motel
Williams, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Here’s a nighttime view of the brightly lit Highlander Motel Route 66 in Williams. The glowing office facade and colorful neon sign add another nice splash of light to the town’s famous Route 66 strip.
The Highlander is a classic single-story roadside motel where travelers can still park close to their rooms. Its location near downtown Williams places guests within walking distance of restaurants, shops, the Williams Depot, and the Grand Canyon Railway.
The motel continues serving Route 66 travelers and visitors making the drive toward the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Rooms have been updated with modern conveniences, but the exterior still carries the straightforward look of an old highway motor court.
UPDATE: The Highlander Motel Route 66 remains open at 533 W. Route 66. Its neon sign and brightly illuminated facade continue glowing along the Mother Road after dark. 08-26
Hiway Host Motel
Mesa, AZ Photo courtesy Jay Villa
Here’s the big neon marquee for the Hiway Host Motel along Main Street in Mesa. With its tall frame, glowing script, and old-fashioned spelling of “Hiway,” the sign leaves little doubt that this place belongs to an earlier age of roadside travel.
The Hiway Host opened during the 1950s or early 1960s, when Mesa’s Main Street carried several major highways into the Phoenix area. A long string of motels competed for motorists along this stretch, each using colorful neon and oversized signs to catch the next tired traveler.
The sign was painted light blue for a period of time before being returned to a brighter red color closer to its earlier appearance. Its neon script and original steel framework remain beside Main Street, even as Valley Metro trains now pass the old motor court.
UPDATE: The Hiway Host Motel remains open and now caters largely to extended-stay and weekly-rate guests. Its restored red marquee continues glowing along Mesa’s former motel row. 08-26
Relax Inn Motel
Phoenix, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The glowing sign for the Relax Inn Motel lights up another dark stretch of Van Buren Street in Phoenix. Its unusual shape and bright neon are a reminder of when this old boulevard was crowded with motel signs competing for the attention of passing travelers.
The 18-room motor court opened in 1951 as the Sun & Sand Motel. Its single-story rooms surrounded a central parking area, allowing guests to pull off the highway and park directly outside their doors.
Van Buren Street once carried US 60, 70, 80, and 89 through Phoenix. At its peak, the corridor had well over 100 motels and enough neon to put on quite a show after sunset. Travelers could choose between swimming pools, kitchenettes, televisions, and rooms proudly advertised as “refrigerated.”
Relax Inn Motel
Phoenix, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Interstate 10 eventually pulled most of the cross-country traffic away from Van Buren. Many of its motels were demolished, converted to apartments, or left dark and abandoned. The Sun & Sand survived by becoming the Relax Inn and gradually shifting toward weekly and extended-stay guests.
UPDATE: The Relax Inn remains open. Its restored neon marquee continues lighting the old highway, one of the few surviving reminders of the boulevard’s colorful motel era. 08-26
Sun Land Motel (Rem.)
Mesa, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Here’s the 1960s marquee for the Sun Land Motel caught against an Arizona sunset. The tall sign, faded panels, and old neon tubing are a fine match for Mesa’s former motel row.
The Sun Land stands along East Main Street, which once carried several highways and a steady flow of motorists into the Phoenix area. During the mid-century travel boom, motels stretched for miles along this corridor, each using a colorful sign to attract the next family coming down the road.
The property has about 40 rooms, some equipped with kitchenettes, microwaves, and refrigerators. Like several surviving Main Street motor courts, it has continued operating by offering simple budget accommodations while much of the surrounding motel strip has disappeared.
UPDATE: This eye-catching neon sign is now gone, replaced by a plastic sign in 2016. 04-17
UPDATE: The Sun Land Motel remains open. Its vintage roadside sign is gone. 08-26
Apache Tears Motel (Removed)
Tucson, AZ Photo courtesy Aaron Repath
Here’s a neon view of the old Apache Tears Motel sign along Tucson’s Benson Highway. The towering marquee combined colorful lettering with a large roadside figure seated at its base, giving motorists plenty to look at as they passed.
The motel stood along the old US 80 approach into Tucson, where neon signs once competed for snowbirds and cross-country travelers. The figure beneath the sign wore a feathered headdress and had a rather solemn expression. Both the marquee and statue were photographed for books and collections documenting the disappearing roadside sights of the Sonoran Desert.
The old sign was eventually removed and replaced with an ordinary backlit plastic box. Even worse, the statue was separated from its base and found dumped unceremoniously dumped up the street without its head. Its final whereabouts remain unknown. Apparently this was someone’s idea of an improvement.
UPDATE: The Apache Tears Motel remains at 4603 E. Benson Highway, but its original neon sign and roadside figure are gone. A much plainer plastic sign now identifies the property. 08-26
See more of this Apache Tears Motel at Roadside Peek'sWhere Are They Now?
Frontier Motel (Demolished)
Flagstaff, AZ Photo courtesy Paul Bauke
Here’s the blue and pink neon sign for the Frontier Motel glowing beside Route 66 in Flagstaff. The marquee was a bright spot along the highway and looked especially good after the northern Arizona sky went dark. 12-05
The Frontier began as a 31-room motor court and was once affiliated with Best Western. Vintage advertising promoted “de-luxe” rooms with telephones, televisions, radios, refrigeration, and a heated swimming pool. Those were some impressive comforts during the early days of highway travel.
By the time of the 1992 photo, the sign had been updated for a different generation of travelers. Free local calls, coffee, clean rooms, and free HBO filled the reader board. Nothing said a good night on Route 66 in the 1990s quite like a clean room and a few complimentary cable movies.
Frontier Motel - 1992
Flagstaff, AZ Photo courtesy Paul Bauke
The motel eventually closed and the buildings were torn down. Its name sometimes gets confused with the unrelated Frontier Motel in Truxton, which remains standing farther west along Route 66.
UPDATE: The Flagstaff Frontier Motel and its colorful neon sign are gone. The former motel property is now an empty lot between a Culver’s restaurant and a Starbucks along old Route 66. 08-26
Highlander Motel
Sun Land Motel (Rem.)
