Living Lodge: A look back at Phoenix’s iconic hotels, motels and resorts

When Vic Linoff flips through his motel and hotel postcard stash, it feels like a tour through Valley history. The local historian and president of the Mesa Preservation Foundation has been collecting these paper souvenirs for 20 years and he’s accumulated more than 100, each a time capsule.

Some postcards depict neon midcentury motor courts glowing along Phoenix highways back when car culture reigned supreme. Many leaned into kitsch to lure travelers. Most are gone now, bulldozed into memory with only postcards remaining.

Naturally, almost half of Linoff’s postcards showcase Mesa motels, from the Western-themed Buckhorn Baths and Circle RB Lodge to the Kiva Lodge. There are also iconic Phoenix motels, like the Rose Bowl Motor Hotel and the Polynesian-themed Cocanut Grove on Van Buren Street. Each is a piece of the Valley’s history as a tourist destination.

Linoff sees the postcards as more than pretty pictures. Many were designed as advertising to lure travelers to the desert.

“Their primary means of communication for places like the Buckhorn Baths was through postcards. It was their connection to the outside world,” Linoff says. “Celebrities stayed there. Baseball teams during spring training would stay there.”

These days, the postcards are surviving traces of some of metro Phoenix’s most storied lodges. The Valley has been a tourist destination for more than a century, luring visitors with its dry desert air, wide-open spaces and Wild West allure.

Early Phoenix hotels like the Adams and the Ford promised big-city comfort in a booming frontier town. Scottsdale joined the scene in 1909 with the Ingleside Inn, its first resort. Chandler’s lush Hotel San Marcos opened in 1913, just in time for Arizona’s statehood. Dude ranches also sprouted on the Valley’s edges, offering cowboy grit, a draw that brought many out-of-towners our way.

“People had images of Arizona early in the 20th century,” Linoff says. “There were all of these dime-store novels about cowboys or Zane Grey writing about experiences in Arizona and a lot of people wanted to see it for themselves.”

Back in Phoenix, the Hotel San Carlos and Arizona Biltmore both debuted in the late 1920s, bringing high-style digs and sparkling pools that offered modern luxury. Posh spots like the Jokake Inn and Camelback Inn later followed.

“What really opened Arizona up to tourism was the creation of the federal highway system in the 1920s,” Linoff says.

The postwar boom gave metro Phoenix tourism a boost, bringing midcentury gems like Scottsdale’s iconic Valley Ho and the now-demolished Safari Hotel. Stars like Bing Crosby and Janet Leigh checked in, helping the Valley earn a reputation as a Hollywood hideout.

Meanwhile, Valley highways glowed with neon-drenched motels beckoning road-weary travelers. Thoroughfares like Van Buren Street and Grand Avenue in Phoenix and Mesa’s Main Street were lined with hundreds of these roadside spots, each promising a night of rest and a heavy dose of kitsch.

Freeways eventually killed motels’ dominance in the latter half of the century. But Phoenix’s lodging scene didn’t slow down. Local hotels and resorts kept springing up into the 1980s and 1990s.

Some of these landmark lodgings are still standing, serving cocktails by the pool with a chaser of style or hosting weddings in ballrooms with history soaked into the walls. Others are long gone, with only nostalgic photos remaining.

In celebration of this year’s Best of Phoenix issue, here’s a look back at the Valley’s history a roadside stop, celebrity hangout and desert escape captured in vintage shots of its most iconic hotels, motels and resorts.