Regal Lodge Motel (Rem.)
Yuma, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The Regal Lodge Motel still stands along Yuma’s old Fourth Avenue motel strip. Its roadside sign has also survived, although the panels have changed slightly through the years. The unusual RegaLodge spelling gives this one a little extra roadside personality. 06-23
The single-story motel has the familiar park-near-your-room layout, along with a swimming pool and guest laundry. It continued welcoming travelers even as many neighboring motor courts closed, changed names, or lost their signs.
By the time of this photo, the property had become the OYO Hotel Yuma near Lutes Casino. Fortunately, the old Regal sign frame remained out front instead of being replaced entirely by a standard corporate box.
UPDATE: The motel has changed brands once again and now operates as the Rodeway Inn Yuma Downtown. The vintage RegaLodge sign survives with updated panels, although the status of its original lighting is uncertain. 08-26
Torch Lite Lodge
Yuma, AZ
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Here are a few more views of the Torch Lite Lodge along South Fourth Avenue in Yuma. The steep A-frame office gives the motel a great mid-century look, while the roadside marquee makes sure passing travelers know exactly where to turn. 06-23
The Torch Lite is a 39-room motor lodge from the days when Fourth Avenue was lined with independently owned motels. Its rooms wrap around a courtyard with a swimming pool, providing a welcome place to cool off after crossing the Arizona desert.
The motel has sometimes been advertised as Bubba’s Torch Lite Lodge, and its name also appears as both Torch Lite and Torchlite. Whatever spelling is used, the A-frame office and old roadside sign make the property easy to recognize.
UPDATE: The Torch Lite Lodge remains open and continues welcoming travelers along Yuma’s old motel strip. Its A-frame office and roadside marquee survive, although the current condition of the sign’s original neon is uncertain. 08-26
Vista Del Sol Motel (Demolished)
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Here is the neon-lit sign for the Vista Del Sol Motel, photographed back in 1999. The marquee advertised vacancy, color television, a swimming pool, and telephones to travelers along Tucson’s Miracle Mile. 06-23
The Vista Del Sol was a classic postwar motor court along old U.S. 80 and Arizona Highway 84. Advertisements from the 1950s also promoted air conditioning, kitchen facilities, and a heated courtyard pool. Ron and Marie Majors purchased the motel in 1959 and operated it for many years.
Like so many old roadside properties, the Vista Del Sol eventually closed and disappeared. The motel buildings were leveled, and the neon marquee was removed along with them sometime around 2001.
UPDATE: The Vista Del Sol Motel is now only a memory. A modern self-storage facility occupies the former motel property, with no trace of its colorful roadside sign remaining. 08-26
Western Motel (Closed)
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The Western Motel once welcomed travelers along Tucson’s old Benson Highway, one of the main routes through town before Interstate 10. Its tall roadside sign featured a huge neon star along with panels advertising kitchenettes and a swimming pool. Those were two amenities that could quickly get the attention of a family crossing the Arizona desert. 06-23
Benson Highway carried U.S. 80 traffic through southern Tucson and was once known as part of the Broadway of America. Motels, restaurants, gas stations, and glowing signs lined the roadway, all competing for travelers heading east or west. The Western was one of the many small motor courts that turned the old highway into a colorful strip after dark.
Old advertisements described the motel as offering sleeping rooms and efficiencies, while postcards identified it for a time as Ray Corbett’s Western Motel. Later operators included the Norfleet family. Kitchenettes made the rooms especially attractive to travelers staying for more than one night, while the swimming pool offered an inviting break from the desert heat.
Western Motel Closer Up
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
By the 1990s, the Western sign was already badly faded and weather-beaten. Even then, its western lettering, giant star, and old amenity panels made it one of the more interesting survivors along Benson Highway. It looked tired, but it was still unmistakably a roadside motel sign.
Interstate traffic, newer chain lodging, and changing travel habits eventually took their toll on the old motel strip. The Western closed, joining a long list of Benson Highway motor courts that either disappeared or were converted to other uses.
UPDATE: More than 25 years after the earlier photographs, the Western Motel sign is still standing. It is now even more faded and battered by the desert sun, and any remaining neon appears to be long out of service. Somehow, that giant star continues hanging on. 08-26
La Siesta Motel (Gone)
Tucson, AZ
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Check out the classic roadside sign for the La Siesta Motel along North Oracle Road in Tucson. Its sleepy traveler resting beneath a sombrero and cactus made a perfect mascot for a place named La Siesta. 06-23
The motel was built around 1940 or 1941, when Oracle Road was lined with tourist courts welcoming travelers into Tucson. Its old Southwestern marquee became one of the better-known signs along the Miracle Mile corridor.
La Siesta received a major restoration in 2008 as part of the city’s Oracle Area Revitalization Plan. The owners hoped to turn the little 13-room court into a hip and colorful retro motel. Unfortunately, the comeback did not last. La Siesta closed and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in July 2010. The rooms later returned to lodging use under different management, although online information about the motel has remained inconsistent. The old sign continued standing long after the bankruptcy and remained the most memorable part of the property.
UPDATE: Powerful monsoon winds snapped the deteriorated sign pole in July 2024, sending the landmark marquee to the ground. The sign was removed and preservationists discussed repairing it, but there is no confirmation that it has been restored and returned to the property. 08-26
No-Tel Motel
Tucson, ,AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The No-Tel Motel became a Tucson landmark partly because of its sign and partly because of that wonderfully suspicious name. It was still operating when these photos were taken in 2020, but what happened inside was probably none of our business. No tell! 11-20
The Spanish Colonial Revival motor court was built in the early 1940s as the Dobson Motel. It later became the De Anza and Holiday Motel before receiving the No-Tel name in 1975. By then, Interstate 10 had pulled much of the tourist traffic away from Oracle Road and the old Miracle Mile strip was changing.
The No-Tel adapted to its new surroundings by offering weekly, daily, and even hourly rentals. Rooms reportedly featured waterbeds, ceiling mirrors, coin-operated massage beds, and nonstop adult movies. Well, that explains the name.
The City of Tucson purchased the motel in 2022 and demolished the old buildings. The property was combined with neighboring land and redeveloped as Milagro on Oracle, a 63-unit affordable housing community for seniors.
The No-Tel sign had one final adventure. Just before it was scheduled to be moved to the Ignite Sign Art Museum in December 2024, a man wearing a safety vest removed the sign faces and disappeared with them. He apparently believed he was saving the sign from destruction and returned the pieces to the museum six days later. Really!
UPDATE : The No-Tel Motel was purchased in the fall of 2022 by the city with the intent to turn the historic motel into a homeless shelter and affordable housing for older adults. 06-23
UPDATE: The restored No-Tel sign was relit at the Ignite Sign Art Museum on March 22, 2025. The motel is gone, but its wonderfully suggestive marquee now glows safely inside the museum. 08-26
Se-Tay Motel (Rem.)
Casa Grande, AZ
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Check out the brightly lit neon sign for the Se-Tay Motel in Casa Grande. The motel has an unusual name, but there is a simple explanation behind it.
The little 13-room motor court was built in 1949 by an owner named Yates. Spell Yates backward and it becomes Setay. Really! The motel was also proud to advertise that its rooms were “cooled by refrigeration,” an important selling point to anyone crossing the Arizona desert.
The Se-Tay remains one of Casa Grande’s older surviving roadside motels. Unfortunately, its neon did not fare quite as well as the buildings.
UPDATE: The sign has been painted over completely as seen in Fall 2020. It was a shame to see this vintage sign gone, especially after the City of Casa Grande has been making efforts on a neon sign park recently. 11-20
UPDATE : The sign was painted blue with palm trees and an American flag and is stillon site. 06-23
UPDATE: The motel remains open, but its vintage sign was stripped of neon and painted over around 2020. The old frame now carries a blue scene with palm trees and an American flag, leaving only the shape of the original marquee behind. 08-26
