Log Cabin Motel
Phoenix, AZ Photo courtesy Scott Broadhurst
One of the most well known motels along Van Buren in Phoenix was the Log Cabin Motel. With its log cabin themed lodging rooms, the motel was once a nice stop to spend a night while visiting the city. Who could reside lodging in a themed motel with a name like log cabin.
UPDATE, the Log Cabin Motel met its fate with a bulldozer this past July. Another of the old Phoenix motor courts has now become just a memory. 11-10
Airport Central Motel (Demolished)
Phoenix
, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The Airport Central Motel looked like it had seen much better days by the time these photographs were taken. Even in decline, however, the sprawling complex offered a glimpse of what must have been quite a place during the glory years of Van Buren Street. 11-20
This was more than a simple row of rooms. The motel was designed as a large mid-century motor resort, with several lodging wings arranged around a central courtyard and swimming pool. Palm trees, a restaurant, and a cocktail lounge allowed travelers to spend the evening without leaving the property.
Its location near Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport helped the Airport Central attract airline passengers and flight crews as well as motorists following U.S. Routes 60, 70, and 80. A huge multi-panel sign stood beside Van Buren to guide them into the complex.
Airport Central Motel building
Phoenix, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
After the freeways redirected travelers away from the old strip, the Airport Central began a long decline. The resort atmosphere disappeared, the property shifted toward low-cost rentals, and the once-busy buildings became increasingly worn.
UPDATE: The Airport Central Motel eventually closed and the entire complex was demolished. Its enormous roadside sign was removed as well, and the former motel property was cleared for industrial buildings and parking. 08-26
Airporter Inn (Demolished)
Phoenix
, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Van Buren Street once had enough towering motel signs to keep a roadside photographer busy all afternoon. One of the more unusual was the Airporter Inn, where a massive marquee rose above the property with a curious Mission-style top. At first glance, it looked almost like a little desert church had been placed high above the motel entrance.11-20
The Airporter Inn stood at 2501 East Van Buren Street, not far from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Before the freeways took over, Van Buren carried travelers following U.S. Routes 60, 70, and 80 through Phoenix. Motels lined the road, each one trying to outshine the next with swimming pools, air conditioning, restaurants, and enormous neon signs.
The “Airporter” name was a natural choice for a motel hoping to attract airline passengers, flight crews, and motorists passing near Sky Harbor. At different times the property operated as the Airporter Inn, Flamingo Airporter Inn, and Airport Inn Downtown. The changing names were part of the long decline along Van Buren, where many once-busy motels repeatedly changed owners and identities while trying to remain open.
Whatever name happened to be on the office, the giant roadside sign remained the most interesting part of the property. Its wide base, oversized panels, arrow, and Mission Revival crown made it very different from the sleek arrows and starbursts found at many neighboring motels. It was the kind of sign that made you look twice while traveling down the strip.
Airporter Inn (Closed)
Phoenix
, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The motel was later associated with the Paradise Motel name, adding another identity to an already complicated history. By then, the glory days of Van Buren motel travel were long gone. Interstate highways had pulled away much of the passing traffic, and several properties along the corridor had become known more for crime complaints and building problems than roadside vacations.
The Airport Inn Downtown eventually closed as city officials increased enforcement against troubled motels near 24th Street and Van Buren. The old buildings were subsequently cleared, and the oversized Mission-style marquee disappeared with them. No record has surfaced showing that any part of the sign was saved.
UPDATE: The Airporter Inn, its later motel identities, and the unusual roadside marquee are all gone. The property was demolished and the land cleared, leaving another empty spot along a stretch of Van Buren Street once crowded with neon motor courts. Only photographs remain of that big Mission-topped sign watching over the highway. 08-26
Arizona Motel (Closed)
Phoenix, AZ
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The Arizona Motel featured one of the more unusual roadside signs along East Van Buren Street. Rather than relying only on neon lettering and arrows, its marquee had a colorful, mural-like design that looked almost like a painted desert scene standing beside the highway. 11-20
The motel opened during the 1940s, when Van Buren carried travelers following U.S. Routes 60, 70, and 80 through Phoenix. It was part of a crowded strip of tourist courts and motor lodges competing for attention with swimming pools, air conditioning, and increasingly elaborate signs.
Like many of its neighbors, the Arizona Motel declined after the freeways pulled cross-country traffic away from Van Buren. During a pass through town in 2019, the motel buildings were still standing, but the property was surrounded by fencing and the room windows had been boarded up.
UPDATE: The Arizona Motel remains closed and no longer accepts travelers. Its faded mural-style marquee has survived beside the vacant property, standing as another weathered reminder of the days when Van Buren was Phoenix’s great neon motel row. 08-26
American Lodge (Gone)
Phoenix, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The American Lodge at 965 Van Buren began life as a Travelodge, complete with the familiar sleepy bear and a large roadside marquee. Its location near downtown Phoenix made it convenient for travelers following the old highway into the center of town. 11-20
The motel later dropped the Travelodge identity and became the American Lodge. Although the name changed, the recognizable roadside sign and classic exterior-corridor motel layout remained for a time.
The property was eventually remodeled and converted into a Super 8. Much of the original motel footprint appears to have been incorporated into the newer operation, but the American Lodge appearance and old Travelodge-style sign were completely removed.
UPDATE: The American Lodge name and marquee are gone. The property continued operating for a time as the Super 8 by Wyndham Phoenix Downtown, with little of its earlier Van Buren roadside character remaining. 08-26
Budget Inn Motel (Closed)
Phoenix, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The Budget Inn Motel featured an old roadside sign with a curious three-leaf clover perched on top. The plain Budget Inn panel appeared to have been fitted into a much older sign frame, leaving the clover behind from an earlier identity. 11-20
Exactly what the shamrock once advertised is uncertain. The property may have operated under an Irish-themed name before becoming the Budget Inn, or the symbol may simply have been retained because replacing the entire sign would have cost more money. Either way, it gave an otherwise ordinary motel sign a little extra roadside mystery.
The Budget Inn was part of the long line of motor courts that served travelers following U.S. Routes 60, 70, and 80 along Van Buren Street. Its single-story rooms and parking-at-the-door arrangement followed the familiar postwar motel plan.
UPDATE: The Budget Inn is closed and no longer accepts travelers. The old roadside sign is gone. 08-26
Airporter Inn (Demolished)
Airporter Inn (Closed)
Arizona Motel (Closed)
American Lodge (Gone)
Budget Inn Motel (Closed)
