Motel Inn of San Luis Obispo

Created in 1925 by Arthur Heineman, the Motel Inn of San Luis Obispo (originally known as the Milestone Mo-Tel) is the first motel in the world.^[1] It is located in San Luis Obispo, California.

Concept

The emergence and popularization of the automobile in the United States of the early 20th century inspired many car owners beyond commuting into town. The poor roads of the era combined with the vehicle speeds and reliability required two or more days of nearly all day driving for 400 mile trips such as Los Angeles to San Francisco. Nearby destinations of 40 miles or less could be visited in a day to include a return trip. Longer trips requiring an over night stay often left travelers looking for places to pitch tent or to sleep in their automobile if arrangements hadn't been made ahead to destinations and stopovers that also happen to have hotels or inns.
The lack of niche accommodations to fill the need for automobile travelers who only needed an overnight stay to continue their trip inspired many entrepreneurs. The combination of the convenience of a campground with the comforts and respectability of a hotel or inn spurred the creation of the motel. Arthur S. Heineman picked San Luis Obispo for the first Milestone Mo-Tel as a mid-point location between Los Angeles and San Francisco which took two days of driving on the roads at the time.

Architecture

The original plan of the Milestone Mo-Tel was to include both bungalows and attached apartments with parking outside each unit, though some would have a private garage. Each location of the chain was to include laundry facilities, a grocery store, and a restaurant.
Each unit included an indoor bathroom with a shower, obviously a level of privacy not found at campgrounds. Heineman's first "Mo-Tel" sign garnered reports of an apparent misspelling. He added the hyphen to emphasize to compound nature of the word and the building's architecture and use.
The exterior of the buildings were modeled after the Spanish missions in California; the three-stage bell tower was a reflection of the Mission Santa Barbara.

Business

The motel cost $80,000 to build in 1925. It originally charged $1.25 per night per room. ^[2]

Incorporated as the Milestone Interstate Corporation. Capital was raised from investors to complete the chain. Heineman was unable to register the name as a trademark which allowed competitors to use the name. Severe competition in the market as well as competitors with lesser designs but lower pricing also hampered his chain from getting off the ground.

Today

The current name for the Milestone Mo-Tel is the Motor Inn. The motel closed in 1991 and is now owned by the Apple Farm, located next door. The motel is located at the end of Monterrey Street right next to the onramp to U.S. Route 101 in California.

References

^ Jackson, Kristin (25 April 1993). "The World's First Motel Rests Upon Its Memories". Seattle Times. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
^ Zorn, Eric (15 August 2006). "World's first motel a site worth saving". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved on 2008-09-19.

Roadside Dreamin' by Matthew W. Roth

External links

Chicago Tribune "Change of Subject" column
Public Radio - Savvy Traveler "The Very First Motel" by Rachel Anne Goodman

Love hotel

A love hotel (ラブホテル, rabu hoteru^?) is a type of short-stay hotel found in Japan operated primarily for the purpose of allowing couples privacy to have sexual intercourse. Similar establishments also exist in other East Asian countries and regions such as South Korea^[1], Taiwan and Hong Kong. The same concept also exists in Central America, particularly in Guatemala and Mexico, where they are called "autohotels".^[2]

Love hotels usually offer a room rate for a "rest" (休憩, kyūkei^?) as well as for an overnight stay. The period of a "rest" varies, typically ranging from one to three hours. Cheaper daytime off-peak rates are common. In general, reservations are not possible, leaving the hotel will forfeit access to the room, and overnight stay rates only become available after 10pm. These hotels may be used for prostitution or by budget-travellers sharing accommodation.

Entrances are discreet and interaction with staff is minimized, with rooms often selected from a panel of buttons and the bill settled by pneumatic tube, automatic cash machines, or a pair of hands behind a pane of frosted glass. While cheaper hotels are utilitarian, higher-end hotels may feature fanciful rooms decorated with anime characters, equipped with rotating beds, ceiling mirrors, or karaoke machines,^[3] strange lighting or styled similarly to dungeons, sometimes including S&M gear.^[4]

These hotels are typically either concentrated in city districts close to stations, near highways on the city outskirts, or in industrial districts. Love hotel architecture is sometimes garish, with buildings shaped like castles, boats or UFOs and lit with neon lighting. However, many love hotels are very ordinary looking buildings, distinguished mainly by having small, covered, or even no windows.

History

Love hotels developed from tea rooms chaya (茶屋, chaya^?), mostly used by prostitutes and their clients, but also by lovers. After World War II, the name tsurekomi yado (連れ込み宿, tsurekomi yado^?), literally "bring-along inn" was adopted, originally for simple lodgings run by families with a few rooms to spare. These establishments appeared first around Ueno, Tokyo in part due to demand from Occupation forces, and boomed after 1958 when legal prostitution was abolished and the trade moved underground. The introduction of the automobile in the 1960s brought with it the "motel" and further spread the concept.

The original term has since fallen into disuse within the industry itself thanks to the euphemism treadmill, and an ever-changing palette of terms is used by hotel operators keen on representing themselves as more fashionable than the competition. Alternative names include "romance hotel", "fashion hotel", "leisure hotel", "amusement hotel", "couples hotel", and "boutique hotel".^{[citation needed]}

Economic aspects

The annual turnover of the love hotel industry is more than ¥4 trillion, a figure double that of Japan's anime market. It is estimated that more than 500 million visits to love hotels take place each year, which means around 1.4 million couples, or 2 percent of Japan's population, visit a love hotel each day.^[5] In recent years, the love hotel business has drawn the interest of the structured finance industry.^[6] Several transactions have been completed where the cash flows from a number of hotels have been securitised and sold to international investors and buy-out funds.^[3]^[7]

References

^ http://web.archive.org/web/20050519030635/http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200505/17/200505172212067939900091009101.html
^ Guatemala : Tips on Accommodations
^ ^a ^b Aiko Wakao, "Developing a passion for love hotels", New Zealand Herald, June 9, 2007. Accessed 23 January 2008.
^ Blayne Haggart, "A night in a Japanese love hotel", The Globe and Mail, October 16, 2002. Accessed 23 January 2008.
^ Chaplin, 149.
^ Tim Kelly (May 6, 2006). "Love for Sale", Forbes. Retrieved on 15 June 2007.
^ Schreiber, Mark (July 18, 2004). "'Love hotels' juggle bedsheets and balance sheets", The Japan Times. Retrieved on 16 February 2007.

External links

www.japanslovehotels.com - An English guide to using love hotels.

Takahara, Kanako (October 16, 2007). "No-tell love hotels cash in catering to the carnal" (Newspaper article). Japan Times. Retrieved on 2008-01-02.
rabuho.com—"Love Hotel Information Site".
www.mistykeasler.com—Photographs of Japanese love hotels by photographer Misty Keasler, who published a book on the subject.
Japonismo.com—Traditional and modern Japanese culture, with an article about love hotels, included in the section "Japón y el sexo". (Spanish)