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Motel 6 isn’t like this by happenstance. It didn’t just become the beautiful, luxurious sanctuary that you know and have come to trust for all of your nights away from home. Before Motel 6, there was a Motel 5, and before that Motels 4, 3, 2, and 1. They crawled so Motel 6 could not have flies. Let us pay tribute to those who were here before.
Motel 1
Motel 1 was never set up to succeed. Sometimes the business model demands you beat a competitor to market, and that’s the role Motel 1 played. Motel 1 was purposely unspectacular in every way. The four walls were deliberate, but nothing else was planned. They didn’t even get a ribbon for the ribbon cutting, just a pair of office scissors held by a man in a suit and cowboy hat.
The great great grandaddy of the Motel 6 legacy didn’t even have a bed, it was merely a room for rent. Motel 1 wasn’t concerned with the modern elegance of ADA compliance and free HBO. It prided itself on “no frills” except that slogans like “no frills” were one frill too many. Sometimes you need to get it right and sometimes you need to get it right now, and Motel 1 was the latter.
Motel 2
Understandably Motel 1 was not a critical success. If the Motel 1 proprietors had thought to put a comment box at the front desk, which it also did not have, it would have been filled with plenty of helpful suggestions. Instead, as guests checked out, the Motel 1 employees were hounded with blunt reviews and frustrated demands.
Who knew room renting necessitated so many bells and whistles?
Originally a nuisance, Motel 2 renovations turned into a win for its owners, who could now charge much more. And motel guests appreciated those most basic amenities. That’s how Motel 2 became the first motel chain to have beds, door locks, and a King James Bible. God created the world in 6 days, so the businessmen behind Motel 2 reassured themselves that getting a motel perfected in two attempts was commendable.
Motel 3
Little did they know how much work they would put in over the next couple of decades. Motel 2 cracked open up a Pandora’s box of luxuries that could not be closed. Once the toothpaste was out of the tube, Motel 3 realized they needed bathrooms, so that the detubed toothpaste had a place to go. Spitting out of the windows created an unsanitary and unsustainable situation, according to corporate memos leaked during a civil lawsuit, Housekeeping v. Motel 3.
After adding bathrooms, Motel 3, which was now getting a deal on plumbing, promised guests an in-ground pool at every facility. And by the time Motel 6s were popping up, those pools had finally begun being installed.
The other Motel 3 upgrades included carpeting, a desk and chair, nightstand, and a frequently unused pool towel.
Motel 4
Each evolution of Motels 1, 2 and 3 was significant.
Yet, the only difference between Motel 3 and Motel 4 was a corporate partnership with USA Today to provide a daily newspaper to guests.
Motel 5
The men who had graduated to the corporate positions by the time Motel 5 was unveiled were far more interested in the aesthetics than the continued functional advancements. They hung art in every room! The taupe and grey utilitarian color scheme was transformed into the red, white, and blue motif you have come to love. Carpets and bedspreads became colorful intricacies that occasionally produced headaches! Motel 5 was really a sight to see.
Motel 6
Which brings us back to the current day and the modern wonder that is Motel 6. Each room has embraced the technology needs of the modern traveler. Alarm clocks with iPod docks are a nightstand staple, every television has a built-in DVD player, and within the next 3 to 5 years, desks will have a modem, just in time for the debut of the Motel 6 webpage.
Motel 6 also set up a loyalty program, which unfortunately, has not been used yet.
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