Cool Hotels

The Wigwam Motel

Admit it; you’ve always wanted to live in a tepee or a wigwam, haven’t you? Well, living in one may not be all that practical, but you can stay in a wigwam if you are traveling through Arizona on the famous Old Route 66.

The Wigwam Motel, in Holbrook, Arizona, was built during the mid-twentieth century heyday of the road trip by a man named Chester E. Lewis. Mr. Lewis, whose family still owns the motel, has seen similar Wigwam villages built in Kentucky and conceived a similar village along Route 66 as a family attraction and an example of architectural innovation. Today, the stucco, wood and chicken wire wigwams stand as a proud monument to cool hotels everywhere. In 2002, The Wigwam Motel was put on the National Register of Historic Places.

The wigwams themselves are cozy (14 feet at the base) and comfortable, with their own bathrooms, televisions and window air-conditioning.

The Arizona Inn

The Arizona Inn, a pink Adobe complex tucked away in a lovely residential neighborhood not far from The University of Arizona, manages to be the place to stay in Tucson. I know this because, everyone I know who has ever stayed at a hotel in Tucson has stayed at the Inn.

Best of all, the Arizona Inn seems to have earned its cache by being quintessentially southwestern. Cactus and flower gardens plus Mexican tile, furniture and local art, all create color palette that says “Hey, you’re in Arizona.” I especially like the library-sitting area and its Spanish-style leather and wood chairs, which are just about as comfortable as you would expect to find in an old Hacienda. Or maybe a monastery. Okay, there are sofas that don’t dig into your back, but you can find that kind of seating everywhere.

The place is also teeming with resort-style amenities like a pretty swimming pool, tennis courts and a shaded ping pong table in the center of a courtyard (right by some sort of Madonna shrine). Yes, ping pong and catholic iconography do mix well. However, since I stayed at the Arizona Inn in June, I was only able to enjoy the outdoor activities until about 8:30am. After which, the hotel was best enjoyed from the air-conditioned inside. Rooms are lovely, and each one that I saw had a little seating area as well as a bed.

If you don’t mind getting up at 5:30am to play tennis, which isn’t so hard if you remain on Eastern time, The Arizona Inn does offer great room rates in the summer time (under $200 for a room) that include a gourmet breakfast and ice cream by the pool in the evenings.