Staying in a Teepee - sort of

I used to pass through Holbrook Arizona on business trips back in the 80's. They had a Wigwam Motel on old route 66 that was closed and a bit run down. I thought it would have been an interesting experience to stay there at least one night. That particular motel is back up and running but I've never had the time to stop there for a night. Then we move to Kentucky and found the only other Wigwam village motel still running is open and operating in Cave City, about 25 miles from us. My wife and I decided to book a teepee for one night just to see what they were like, so we stayed there Wednesday the 16th.

There are 15 of these arrayed in a half circle around a sunken lawn area with a playground in the middle. At the center near the road is the front office and gift shop, also a wigwam. It stands 52 feet high and faces highway 31, the Old Dixie Highway. Before Interstate 65 was completed and highway 31 was still a main north/south corridor there was a restaurant on the main floor of the front office, and the gift shop was in the basement. The basement is no longer open to the public and the restaurant hasn't been there for at least 30 years.

The teepee cabins were built in 1937, stand over 30 feet tall, and are made of concrete, stuccoed on the outside then painted.

Our teepee had a double bed, desk, two chairs, three stools, a stand with television, air conditioner, coffeepot, closet, a twin sized folding bed tucked into the closet, and a bathroom with stool, lavatory and shower. They aren't quite round, but like a sixteen or twenty sided room with a window in each side and a window in the door. It has a drop ceiling rather than being open to the top, with a light and ceiling fan in the center. It's done in a wagon wheel design on the ceiling with 16 or 20 spokes that run from the center to each of the many almost corners around the walls. The furniture is in a rustic style, varnished log and woven designs but the whole place needs more work. They've repainted and stuccoed four of the 15 structures but the exteriors of the other 11 are still to be done. Interestingly it is owned by an Indian. He just happens to be from India rather than being a Native American.

Of course it's not as spacious as many of today's motels, but would be comparable to or larger than the rooms of most motels and motorcourts of the 30's. I was surprised at just how roomy they were. Looking at the outside is deceptive. I probably won't do a return trip, but it is just a small part of Americana I wanted to experience at least once just because it's unique and has managed to survive these 70 years. Personally I get tired of the homogenized American culture of today. The same motel in every town, the same restaurants, truck stops, filling stations and the like. We much prefer searching out the mom and pop restaurants, the one of a kind motel or hotel. They're unique, different and interesting in their variety. Yes, sometimes the food isn't good, and the rooms are less than expected - but then I've also found that to be true in a Cracker Barrel or a Ramada as well. Knowing what to expect by eating in the chain restaurants or staying in chain lodging may well be the "safe" way to travel, but you miss the delightful little surprises of the unique and different.

The cheapest motel room I've ever rented was out in the middle of nowhere, quite an old motel and run by a young couple. They set and chatted with us in comfortable lounge chairs beneath the pine trees that evening. The room was spotless and comfortable and the next morning they brought coffee and sweet rolls to the room free of charge. On my many business trips to Sante Fe New Mexico I stayed in the same motel each time. Again it was one of a kind, old, done in the stuccoed style of the southwest with heavy plank doors and wrought iron latches and hinges, hand set mosaic tiled bathrooms and big comfortable beds. I think I stayed in about every room in that motel and no two were the same size or layout, each unique in one fashion or another.

There have been many of the one of a kind lodging experiences that lay fondly on my memory. French Lick Indiana, Panguitch Utah, Yuma Arizona, Eureka Nevada, Cedar Island North Carolina, the Amargosa hotel and opera house of Marta Beckett at Death Valley Junction California and a cabin by the creek in Sedona Arizona. I don't remember much of the Ramadas and Holiday Inns.