For our last post this month we are taking you away to my new favorite place to stay. I recently traveled up to Prescott, AZ. I had read about The Motor Lodge awhile back and have wanted to stay there for quite some time. The place had a lot to live up to as everything I read about the design or hotel to the service you receive had been outstanding. Not only did this place live up to everything I had already read, but they greatly exceeded it and have become my absolute favorite place to stay!
To give you a little history The Motor lodge was originally built as summer cabins around 1910 and has had many different owners over the years. You can check out the website to see photos of the hotel over the years. In 2008 Joe Livingston and Brian Spear took over, changed the name to The Motor Lodge and started the long journey creating what you will see when you visit today.
This place began to impress the second we drove up. Each individual cabin is cute and inviting with its own front porch and unique vintage patio furniture. When we went inside to check in we met the owners who were absolutely fantastic. We had put in the notes when booking the room that I was a designer so we started talking design the second we got there. You will love the wallpaper in the office. They put us in cabin 6. After chatting in the office we were also offered a drink upon check in to enjoy on the community patio or our own. We had people to meet so we declined, but they told us to come on back by a little later and get our drink (which we definitely did).
We were walked to our room and taken inside and then we got to hear the history of our room. In our particular room the bed and nightstands were won in an online auction. They were originally in the honeymoon suite of the Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas in the 1960’s. We even found an old room service menu and show schedule in the nightstands. The other furniture in our room along with the other rooms from the hotel were all found in a mix of ways. Some were won at auction, some found in thrift stores and vintage stores all around the state, but a lot of things were actually in the family and passed down from parents and grandparents. We even had a painting in the bathroom area that was a paint by number done by the owners’ grandfather in the 70’s. So much fantastic stuff!
The room impressed us and after spending the day walking around town, checking out the local arts and crafts fair, and grabbing a lunch at Murphy’s (which we highly recommend checking out while you are there, you must try the tortilla soup) we headed back to the hotel. It is just a short walk from the main area of town around the courthouse and Whiskey Row. We collected our drink and went and hung out on the patio. Other guests do this as well and you end up talking to really interesting people and having a really good time with everyone else who loves this place as much as you most certainly will.
If you are looking for some nightlife you will find most of it on a weekend. We went on a Sunday, which was a lot slower than a Saturday night would be, but still just as fun. We walked down to the Prescott Brewing Company for dinner. This is another place we highly recommend, it’s a great place to visit for the beer, but they have great food and a great atmosphere as well. After that we started wandering down Whiskey Row ducking into about 3 different bars over the course of the night. There is a lot of history, great design, and great architectural elements to the bars along Whiskey Row.
After spending the night and getting some extra sleep in the morning it was time to head home. We were some of the last people to check out that morning so most the rooms were empty. The owners were kind enough to show us some of the other rooms and tell us all about the design of each of them. Each and every room was unique and just as fantastic as the next. I really could not tell you which one was my favorite. Maybe I will have to go sleep in them all to decide. I do know the bed in our room was amazing and felt like you were sleeping on a cloud, but I’m pretty sure all the rooms are like that as we heard people asking about the amazing beds when we checked in. After our tour we were given a bag of cookies for the road and sent on our way with a smile and something sweet to remember The Motor Lodge by.
I would highly recommend checking this place out if you are ever in Prescott, Arizona and if you are not you really should plan a trip here. I cannot wait to go back and spend some more time at this fantastic hotel and talk more with its owners. They have done a fantastic job with this place!
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