Yuma, Arizona - The Yuma Cabana Motel is a very well known location in Yuma due to the huge sign out front. The neon lettering and flashing lights are a can't miss destination for travelers to Yuma. 11-20
Yuma Cabana Motel
Yuma, Arizona Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Cruising down South Fourth Avenue, it was hard to miss the Yuma Cabana Motel and its great big roadside sign. The name stretched across the middle in friendly script, with “Motel” running down the side and an arrow pointing toward the entrance. Apparently, the owners did not want anyone driving past and claiming they could not find the place.
The Cabana dates to the 1960s, when this stretch of old Highway 80 was lined with motels competing for desert travelers. The nearby Hacienda and El Rancho added their own colorful signs to the scenery. Between the neon, vacancy panels, and promises of swimming pools, Fourth Avenue offered plenty of reasons to put off driving another hundred miles.
Yuma Cabana Motel at night
Yuma, Arizona Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The motel followed the familiar motor-court arrangement, with low-rise buildings, exterior room entrances, and parking close to the doors. Air conditioning and a swimming pool helped complete the package. After crossing the desert in the summer, that pool probably did more to sell a room than any fancy description in a travel brochure.
This motel also brings back some great memories from when RoadsidePeek was first getting started. I still remember traveling down the main drag and seeing the Yuma Cabana and that wonderful sign for the first time. The website was still fairly new when Casey, the motel manager, discovered RoadsidePeek.com and sent me an email inviting me to stop by for a visit.
Seeing the sign back in 1998 was amazing and an inspiration for taking over a million photos of the roadside across the country later.
Yuma Cabana at night
Yuma, AZ Photo courtesy Bill Herzog
I remember being contacted by the owner of the Yuma Cabana back when the web was somewhat newer and corresponding about his business. In corresponding with Casey Crawford, it was evident that this family run business took great pride at providing a nice accommodation in Yuma and a nice alternative to the chain motels.
Today the Yuma Motel is gone. Well the motel is still there and a version of the large sign still stands. However the location is now home to an Econo Lodge Inn & Suites. So while I have nothing against Econo Lodge motels, yet another remnant of roadside americana has now left the roadside.
The Yuma Cabana Motel still illuminates its huge neon sign along the main strip in Yuma. 12-06
UPDATE: The former Yuma Cabana Motel remains open as an Econo Lodge, although the name and original sign are gone. The surviving motel still recalls the days when South 4th Avenue was lined with independent motor courts competing for the attention of passing travelers. For RoadsidePeek, the Yuma Cabana will always bring back those early road trips, a newly launched website, a camera that made people wonder, and an unexpected invitation from Casey to come take a closer look. Good times and good memories. 08-26
Yuma Cabana Motel
Yuma, Arizona Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Yuma Cabana Motel
Yuma, Arizona Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Yuma Cabana Motel neon close up
Yuma, Arizona Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Yuma Cabana Motel
Yuma Cabana Motel at night
Yuma Cabana at night
