SLO North Location

Location #8

The Motel Inn. This is the icon for this project, and you can see it in the background of all of the pages. Built in 1925, it was the first business of this type to coin the word "Motel". Before then, they were referred to as "auto parks" mostly, and it took about 15 years for the motel name to completely catch on. This is a beautiful adobe cabin-style motel, and there was a swimming pool in the center. At one time it also had a full bar, and banquet rooms. Many functions were held here over the years. It is located at the very northern end of Monterey Rd., and the original 101 route went right in front. Plans are under way to destroy most of the old motel and build a new hotel in it's place, but I have heard that the front part of the main office with the tower, and one of the old cabins will be preserved.

Update-2/18/05.... The current owners of the property went ahead with their plans to convert to a new hotel, and in late 2004, all of the cabins, grounds, and most of the bar and banquet room buildings were demolished. Only the front office building, and the lemon trees remain now.

	This plaque marks the historical significance of this location, and is located near the front office.
	View looking northeast of the drive-thru office with the tower.
	View looking south. The rooms to the left of the main office were the resaurant, bar, and banquet rooms.
	The swimming pool in the center of the property. The deep end was quite deep, and had a diving board. Note that the cabins used letters instead of numbers.
	The original vacancy sign, although this one looks like it just said either "sorry" or "welcome".
	A view of the Motel Inn with one of the El Camino Real bells in the foreground.
	Close-up of the bell. These unfortunately get ripped off a lot, so they started making them out of cement.

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