Name me a US film that doesn't contain a single shot of a motel with annexed neon-lit, softly flickering road signage, and I will perhaps reconsider my conviction that American pop culture and the local hospitality scene are far more intertwined than you'd think at first sight. From the falls-facing Rainbow Cabins of Henry Hathaway's Marilyn Monroe-starring, psychological thriller Niagara (1953) to the eerie Bates Motel of Alfred Hitchcock's cult horror film Psycho (1960), the saturated Portland hotels of Gus Van Sant's electrifying road movie My Own Private Idaho (1991), and the instantly recognizable lilac façade of the now-defunct Magic Castle Inn & Suites, which served as the backdrop to Sean Baker's emotional rollercoaster The Florida Project (2017), vintage motels and hotel rooms are ubiquitous in American cinematography. But their allure doesn't just belong on the small — or the big — screen. Not anymore, at least.
Over the past ten years, a renovated interest in America's mid-century heritage and holiday destinations has seen many of these iconic institutions, including some of the best Los Angeles hotels, come back to life after thorough restorations that blend a technicolored feel with the comfort of contemporary amenities.
