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Part of 6 pointers on neon sign restoration that hold up
Where to stay near neon sign restoration: pick the base town first
Where to stay near neon sign restoration: three tests for a base town, which named Route 66 places offer rooms and which are stops, and what to ask first.
What to take away
- Choose the base town by its evening, not by its best room.
- A town passes with signs within walking distance, food after dark and an operating motel of the period.
- Some named places offer rooms, some are stops to see, and one is a fallback.
- Ask the property whether its sign is lit before you book.
- Neon is an evening activity, and walking beats driving after dark.
Neon trips go wrong when they are planned like ordinary travel: find the best hotel, then drive to the signs. Neon works the other way round. You want to be inside the concentration when the lights come on, because that hour is the whole point and you do not want to spend it driving.
Three tests for a base town
A base town needs three things, and a missing one is a reason to look elsewhere. Apply the tests in order, starting with the signs and ending with the room.
- Several surviving signs within walking distance.
- At least one place to eat that stays open after dark.
- An operating motel of the right era.
A place with one famous sign and nothing else means a long drive at dusk for a single photograph. A place with five ordinary ones is a far better evening, and Tucumcari places to stay shows one such town in depth. Small towns on bypassed stretches frequently kept their signs, while towns that stayed prosperous replaced them.
Places to stay and places to see
Not every named place offers a bed. Some are rooms to book, some are stops to see, and one is a fallback. Sort them first, so a plan never promises a bed where the record names only a sign or a storefront.
| Town | Place named | What is on record | Use it to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tucumcari, New Mexico | Blue Swallow Motel | Opened in 1939; restored neon | Stay |
| Holbrook, Arizona | Wigwam Motel | 1950 concrete teepee court with neon | Stay |
| Cuba, Missouri | Wagon Wheel Motel | Open since the 1930s; oldest continuously operating motel on Route 66 | Stay |
| Kingman, Arizona | El Trovatore Motel | 1930s court with neon | Stay |
| Carthage, Missouri | Boots Court Motel | Dates to 1939; restored neon | Stay |
| Lebanon, Missouri | Munger Moss Motel | 1946 neon sign | Stay |
| Albuquerque, New Mexico | El Vado Motel | Reopened after restoration with rooms, a pool and neon on Central Avenue | Stay |
| Shamrock, Texas | U-Drop Inn | 1936 restored Conoco tower with neon | See |
| Baxter Springs and Galena, Kansas | Storefronts and gas station signs | Restored | See |
| Winslow, Arizona | La Posada Hotel | Restored 1930 Harvey House with rooms | Fallback |
Where an operating motel of the period exists, stay in it, because the money goes directly into maintenance of exactly the thing you came to see. The Blue Swallow Motel anchors Tucumcari.
El Vado Motel in Albuquerque shows what a finished restoration offers a guest. The row labels are a planning aid. They sort what the sources above describe and say nothing about availability.
Let the corridor accounts choose the town
Bypassed corridors are the reason any of this survives. Where the interstate took the traffic, the buildings and their signs were left standing because nobody could afford to replace them. Reading a corridor's history tells you which towns to look at before you search for rooms.
The National Park Service's account of Route 66 in Texas covers a stretch of exactly this kind. Shamrock, Texas, has the U-Drop Inn, a 1936 restored Conoco tower with neon, which makes it a stop rather than a bed.
Route 66 through Kansas is a short section, easily driven in an evening. A few miles of old alignment can hold more surviving commercial frontage than a hundred miles of replacement highway. Baxter Springs and Galena have restored storefronts and gas station signs.
Ask the property before you book
A restored sign is only worth the room if it is lit while you are there. Ask the property directly before you commit. The booking questions for a neon visit go further. This list covers the sign, the room and the arrival.
- Is the sign currently lit, or is it awaiting work?
- What time does it go off? Many are on timers or switched off at closing.
- Which rooms face the sign, and does that mean light through the curtains all night?
- Is parking on site and is the surface firm?
- Is the office staffed in the evening or is check-in by code?
When the good town has no rooms
Stay in the nearest place with a room and drive in for the evening. If Holbrook is full, La Posada Hotel in Winslow, Arizona, is a restored 1930 Harvey House with rooms. Twenty minutes each way after dark is fine. An hour is not.
The trip shape that gets the most from an evening base is in the two-day itinerary. Read what first-time visitors miss before the first evening, not after.
