El Trovatore Motel
Kingman, AZ
Photo courtesy Tony Craig

It is hard to miss the El Trovatore Motel while cruising along Andy Devine Avenue in Kingman. Its huge tower rises about 100 feet above the highway, with red and green neon letters that flash on and off after dark. You can spot this one long before reaching the driveway, which is exactly what a good roadside sign is supposed to do.

The story began in 1937 when John F. Miller opened a service station on the property. A tourist court followed in 1939 with 30 rooms, making the El Trovatore one of Kingman’s few surviving motels from before World War II. Rooms originally rented for around $3 a night.

The motel also claimed to be the first in Arizona with air-conditioned rooms. That was quite a selling point in 1939, especially for travelers who had just crossed the desert on Route 66. Forget the television and swimming pool. A cool room was the real luxury.

El Trovatore Motel
Kingman, AZ
Photo courtesy Tony Craig

John F. Miller already knew something about attracting travelers. He had also built the Hotel Nevada in Las Vegas, which opened in 1906 and later became part of today’s Golden Gate Hotel and Casino. That gives this Kingman motor court a rather unexpected connection to early Las Vegas.

The tower on the hill
Kingman, AZ
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

The giant tower sign may have been added sometime after the motel opened, possibly during the 1950s. Whenever it arrived, it turned the El Trovatore into one of Kingman’s most recognizable roadside landmarks. The steel framework, flashing neon and rows of incandescent bulbs must have been quite a show when everything was working.

The El Trovatore was built in 1939 and was known by a slightly different name as the El Trovatore Court. The motel and signs were painstakingly restored in 2012. The walls around the motel were painted with really cool graphics.

Unfortunately, the tower went dark and remained unlit for more than half a century. The sign was finally restored and relit in 2012, bringing its red and green glow back to Route 66. Seeing a sign this large wake up again after so many years is something to celebrate.

The El Trovatore Motel lobby at dusk before the neon lit up
Kingman, AZ
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

The motel eventually expanded beyond its original 30 rooms and has pick360ed up plenty of stories along the way. Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, James Dean and Jane Russell are among the Hollywood names associated with the place, although some of the celebrity tales are difficult to confirm. Today, several rooms carry movie-star themes, so the legends are still having a little fun here.

The outside walls have become part of the attraction too. Colorful murals wrap around the motel, including a long hand-painted map tracing Route 66 across the country. Add the themed rooms, vintage buildings and towering neon sign, and there is plenty to look at before even reaching the lobby.

The El Trovatore Motel sign in 1998
Kingman, AZ
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

The name is another interesting little detail. “Trovatore” is Italian for troubadour, although old directories and travel listings have managed to spell it several different ways. Early motor court guides even treated El Trovatore as the name of the small area east of Kingman before it became part of the city.

UPDATE: The El Trovatore remains open as a classic Route 66 motel. Its Hollywood-themed rooms and colorful murals continue to welcome travelers, while the restored tower sign once again flashes above Andy Devine Avenue. 09-26

Whiting Brothers Motel
Yucca, AZ
Photo courtesy Tony Craig

Here’s all that was left of the Whiting Brothers Motel in Yucca. The motel and service station buildings were already gone, but the tall signs still stood beside the empty lot. Out in the Arizona desert, a lonely MOTEL sign can say quite a bit without saying much at all. The old gas station sign was also hanging on when this photo was taken. 06-06

The Whiting Brothers complex opened after the 1952 Yucca Cutoff brought Route 66 through this part of the desert. The new alignment avoided the steep and winding road through Oatman, sending a steady stream of travelers past Yucca instead. Whiting Brothers was ready for them with a motel, filling station, cafe, and swimming pool all gathered into one roadside stop.

Motel sign
Yucca, AZ
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

That pool was reportedly the only in-ground swimming pool in Yucca, which must have sounded pretty inviting after a long summer drive across western Arizona. The tall MOTEL and POOL signs made sure passing motorists knew exactly what was waiting for them.

The business survived the arrival of Interstate 40 and reportedly remained open into the late 1980s. By the mid-1990s, the complex was abandoned and falling apart. The motel rooms and service garage were finally demolished in 1997, leaving the signs to mark where this Whiting Brothers outpost once stood.

Here is a photo of the Whiting Bros Motel taken in 2021. See how the bottom panels of the sign are now gone.

The motel and car
Yucca, AZ
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

UPDATE: The Whiting Brothers Motel is now home to just the old Motel sign. In fact, parts of the sign are now disappearing and the "pool" panel disappeared a few years ago. The gas station and the motel building itself were demolished in the late 1990s. 09-21

UPDATE: The property remains a vacant roadside lot used occasionally for truck parking. The weathered MOTEL and POOL sign pylons continue to stand above the site. 09-26