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Updated: June 12 2010
Motel Safari - A Route 66 Icon according to "The Route 66 Pulse"!
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Although the motel is over 50 years old it has had only three owners until Smalltown America acquired the motel as the fourth owner in late 2007. All the guestroom art work are all productions of original photo archives from the local area's history dating even before the Mother Road's existence. One of the photos was taken looking East down Route 66 in 1959, just before the motel was built. Most of the furniture in the guest rooms is original from the day the motel was built and was custom made on site during construction.
Two wall murals have been added by local artists Doug and Sharon Quarles. One of Elvis arriving to check in standing by a pink 1959 Cadillac complete with tail fins and the other of a 1950s Flxible Clipper Santa Fe Trailways tour bus with TUCUMCARI TONITE as its destination.
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Restored American motels keep popping up, a witness to the American need to preserve some of the more interesting parts of the American roadside, especially on Route 66.
Here, the Safari Motel in Tucumcari. Tell the kids it's the sort of roadside attraction from Pixar's Cars. The hotel
is apparently owned by Richard Talley, president of Smalltown America, a company he set up to buy and run motels along Route 66.
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Talley is president of Smalltown America, whose goal is to buy, renovate and reopen some of the motels along the route. His first project was the Motel Safari in Tucumari, NM, a 23-room structure built in the 1950s.
"There are still a lot of families and highway traffic that comes through town that love the old hotels but don't want to be on a 50-year-old mattress with the springs popping through it," he says.
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Richard Talley, owner of the Motel Safari on Route 66 in Tucumcari, N.M., sent along these photos of a new mural that's been painted on the motel's drive-up canopy.
"It's all good for Route 66 though, and will hopefully draw some new tourist enthusiasm for Tucumcari, NM. They've had murals around the old Main Street areas for some time, and a couple on some old retail buildings on Route 66, but this is the first (hopefully of many?) on the old motels here."
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Click here to see the pictures!
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In 1926, a road was established that would lead straight into the American psyche. It would become known as the Mother Road, and it would link small town America along its 2,400-mile path from Chicago to Los Angeles. That road was Route 66.
During the highway's heyday, hundreds of motels lined its path: the Wigwam Motel, the Blue Swallow, the El Vado. Neon was king, and the glow of the signs guided travelers as they drove through the night.
Over the years, many of the historic motels have fallen into disrepair. But if one Centennial man has his way, that will change.
Richard Talley is the president of Smalltown America, and his goal is to buy, renovate and reopen some of the motels along the old Route 66. His first project is the Motel Safari in Tucumcari, N.M., a 23-room structure built in the 1950s. Tucumcari is 175 miles east of Albuquerque near the New Mexico-Texas border.
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Smalltown America is set to open its first refurbished Route 66 motel, Motel Safari in Tucumcari, N.M., on Feb. 18. It bought the motel on Dec. 7 and extensively remodeled it.
"We try to reuse as much of the old furnishings as possible to maintain its original image in history, but we do not sacrifice on quality," Talley said of the 23-room motel, which dates to at least the 1950s. "For instance, Motel Safari will have 32-inch flat panel LCD TVs, high-speed Internet, Sealy Posturepedic pillow-top mattresses, and the works. But the desk furniture, the chairs, the vanities, will be the same. Everything that we can keep, we do."
The company seeks to revamp old Route 66 motels, boost their value, and use the equity to help buy another old motel. Talley said that by the end of 2009, he anticipates having four motels under Smalltown America ownership.
Talley said Smalltown America originally envisioned acquiring 100 old motel properties on historic highways all across America, not just on Route 66. But, over time, he decided that Route 66 was better because it had "more exposure." He considered old motels on Highway 101 on the West Coast, but decided it was too risky at this time to delve into "million-dollar properties." He decided there were better values in small towns on the Mother Road.
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I've stayed in a lot of motels. Some good, some ... not so good. For the most part, they all look the same. Same bedspread, same remote control, same individually wrapped plastic cups.
Of course, that's what you get when you stay almost exclusively at chain names. Problem is, when you don't, you really take your chances. I love a good independent motel, but too often the accommodations are less than agreeable.
I've often longed for the days that preceded me, when lodges with names like the Hiway Host and the Come On Inn could be counted on to provide a clean shower and a pleasant night's rest without the peeling ceilings and questionable sounds coming from the room next door.
Well, someone's finally turning back the clock. Smalltown America Inns, Lodges and Motels has launched an effort to buy up classic roadside motor courts and restore them to their former glory, with a few modern amenities thrown in.
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Built in 1959 and opened in 1962, the Motel Safari was recently renovated by entrepreneur Richard Talley, who started Smalltown America last year with the goal of preserving historic motels on Route 66. "Eventually we'd like to renovate one Route 66 motel from every state," Talley says. The Motel Safari, which reopened on Feb. 18, was updated with brand-new amenities while maintaining a retro feel, he says. Additionally, the renovation went green by incorporating low burning water heaters, reducing water use, and utilizing low voltage electrics. Up next: Talley is interested in restoring the 1930s Boots Motel in Carthage, Mo.
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Check it out!
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Do you remember driving Route 66? Wish you did? While some of the Mom and Pop motels are still in operation, many are not. Wish you could have stayed in some of the amazing motels along the way?
Actually, the Motel Safari was recently purchased by company called, yep, you guessed it, Smalltown America. And, it is set to open February 18, 2008. The company aims to restore vintage Route 66 motels.
They appear to be striking for the middle ground - between offering what the modern tourist wants with the quaintness of long ago. Richard Talley, President of Smalltown America, explains, "For instance, Motel Safari will have 32-inch flat panel LCD TVs, high-speed Internet, Sealy Posturepedic pillow-top mattresses, and the works. But the desk furniture, the chairs, the vanities, will be the same. Everything that we can keep, we do."
I give kudos to Smalltown America for trying to breathe new life into shells of the past. And, I sincerely hope they allow each motel to retains its own unique character. For me, that's the draw to old Mom and Pop's. And, I hope they keep old signage - especially neon - where feasible.
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