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Post by jonesie on Feb 17, 2023 21:10:17 GMT -5
This is dedicated to SimsFan....who was the inspiration for this build, which I did "way back when." Her vintage vending machines, and other items, were an excellent addition to my project. It honors the Motor/Auto Courts of the 40s and 50s. As a kid, my parents stayed in a few, and I thought they were really cool! Some places we stayed at had "themed" rooms...which were actually a bit tacky. But I give the owners credit for trying! I will leave you to figure out which cabins matched the following "themes:" "Home on the Range" "Paris Hideaway" "Breezy Palms" "Flowery Bower" "Family Economy Unit" "Skid Row Flophouse" Here's the link to the album: photos.app.goo.gl/9pXDJpgcXC5demXf6 |
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Post by SimsFan_1 on Feb 18, 2023 13:54:06 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing, Jonesie! Always loved what you did with this build, having the differently-themed rooms and all.💗
The interstates seemed to spell the end for these motels. Not only did they divert traffic away from the highways these motels sat along, but they also coincided with the rise of chain motels like Holiday Inn, Howard Johnson's, Econo-Lodge, and Ramada Inn, which were viewed as cleaner, safer, and more modern than the old roadside inns.
(Psycho came out around the exact time this shift was happening, and it portrayed the Bates Motel as a dark and seedy place where people got murdered. That was how the old motels were starting to be seen by the early 60s.)
This story is exactly what happened to the motel I based this build set on, the Edgehill Motel. It was built back in the late 40s when Route 301 (ie. the East Coast's Route 66) was a primary north-south highway. But, then, construction on I-95 began in the late 50s, and it ended up diverting traffic away from 301. Business at the motel collapsed, and it closed in the early 80s, sitting abandoned and forgotten ever since then. The motel stands as a sad and rotting time capsule to what roadside travel used to look like. |
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Post by ladyfiaran22 on Feb 18, 2023 15:01:34 GMT -5
That’s interesting about old hotels, we still have these kind of dodgy motels along the 1&9 route in Hudson County, NJ. They’re gross no-tell motels always in our local news for arrests with people busted for drugs, prostitution or even murder with occasional dead bodies found in the rooms. The pics at the link were creepy, like the setting for a horror movie. I understand why people prefer chain hotels, they have the same standards of cleanliness across all their properties and there won’t be any nasty surprises
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Post by damondamore on Feb 18, 2023 21:40:49 GMT -5
Just say Motel 6 and Extended Stay America lol.
Or, at least that's the ones here. They don't even report what goes on at the Red Carpet Inn and Best Value Inn anymore.
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Post by SimsFan_1 on Feb 19, 2023 2:27:57 GMT -5
That’s interesting about old hotels, we still have these kind of dodgy motels along the 1&9 route in Hudson County, NJ. They’re gross no-tell motels always in our local news for arrests with people busted for drugs, prostitution or even murder with occasional dead bodies found in the rooms. The pics at the link were creepy, like the setting for a horror movie. I understand why people prefer chain hotels, they have the same standards of cleanliness across all their properties and there won’t be any nasty surprises There's still a few hidden gems left, but sadly, this is what's befallen most of the old roadside motels. When travelers stopped staying there, they started getting more business from prostitutes and addicts. Anytime you see a motel that rents rooms by the hour or has a high number of people living there, you know exactly what's going on... Just say Motel 6 and Extended Stay America lol. Or, at least that's the ones here. They don't even report what goes on at the Red Carpet Inn and Best Value Inn anymore. When people say that chain motels are inherently better... I point to Motel 6.😣🤮 Every single one I've seen online is a run-down bedbug-infested dump. |
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Post by damondamore on Feb 19, 2023 14:09:50 GMT -5
Extended Stay America is where people go when they are unhappy with the Motel 6... Chains are only 'better' because you can all and complain to the main office who will pretend to care.
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Post by ladyfiaran22 on Feb 19, 2023 16:41:43 GMT -5
There’s actually a lot of these skeevy no-tell motels in my hometown of North Bergen, NJ. The stretch of Route 1 that runs through our town, Tonnelle Ave, has a string of them headed south towards Jersey City along with run-down convenience stores and fast food restaurants. When I went to college at night, the bus route passed by these places and often there’d be cop cars in the parking lot or prostitutes and dealers looking for clients. Those places are often in the local news for arrests involving drugs or prostitution with dead bodies occasionally found in the rooms. Isn’t New Jersey great? 🙄
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Post by damondamore on Feb 19, 2023 18:38:19 GMT -5
Well, you know, us in Eastern PA need something to feel superior to (:
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Post by SimsFan_1 on Feb 20, 2023 13:03:21 GMT -5
There’s actually a lot of these skeevy no-tell motels in my hometown of North Bergen, NJ. The stretch of Route 1 that runs through our town, Tonnelle Ave, has a string of them headed south towards Jersey City along with run-down convenience stores and fast food restaurants. When I went to college at night, the bus route passed by these places and often there’d be cop cars in the parking lot or prostitutes and dealers looking for clients. Those places are often in the local news for arrests involving drugs or prostitution with dead bodies occasionally found in the rooms. Isn’t New Jersey great? 🙄 I think pretty much the entirety of Route 1 is littered with motels like that, not just in NJ. It was a main travel highway for the East Coast before I-95 was built, so tons of motels were built alongside it. And, then, after the interstate diverted most travelers away, Route 1 became a popular highway for drug traffickers, hitchhikers, and the homeless, as it gave them a way to travel up and down the coast while being more shielded from the law.
Examples of Route 1 Motels in Other States....
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Post by damondamore on Feb 20, 2023 14:22:31 GMT -5
There's an Extended Stay in Bensalem that had a literal meth explosion. The General Manager was the person who trained me at my location when I started with the company. It was a lot on her and the only thing her boss cared about was how quickly they could get the room back into service.
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Post by SimsFan_1 on Feb 20, 2023 17:41:07 GMT -5
There's an Extended Stay in Bensalem that had a literal meth explosion. The General Manager was the person who trained me at my location when I started with the company. It was a lot on her and the only thing her boss cared about was how quickly they could get the room back into service. Damn...😳 Hard to believe that place wasn't shut down after happened. I guess the land isn't considered valuable enough for anything else to be built there, so nobody cares if the motel stays open. Seems like skeevy motels only get shut down whenever someone wants to build a gas station, a dollar store, or apartments...😒 |
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Post by clairecharming123 on Feb 20, 2023 21:53:20 GMT -5
I'm familiar with that stretch of Route 1 that runs through Bensalem. Skeevy AF. Although I remember one motel that looked like a holdover from the old days, I think it was called the Lincoln. Looked like it was half decent decades ago before the whole area went to crap.
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