Fun with Friends in the Southwest

Best Bet Motor Lodge

Reno, NV

Renovated into a Midtown boutique with a lobby bar and individual room entrances, its 1958 frame still visible in the bones. The Reno Sauna Club on the property has two cedar saunas, one inside a converted 1950s teardrop trailer.

Canyons Lodge

Kanab, UT

A western log-cabin lodge under the red cliffs on Highway 89, where evenings bring live music on the deck and a fire pit under the stars, and mornings bring muffins still warm from the oven and parfaits made that day. Cruiser bikes wait by the office for the flat ride into town.

Hotel Dryce

Fort Worth, TX

A former dry-ice factory converted in 2021 by two Fort Worth locals, with art on every wall by local BIPOC artists and furniture built by a local woodworker. A bar with a local mixologist on the formula completes it.

Hotel Lucine

Galveston, TX

Built in 1963 and brought back in 2023 by people who grew up on the island, with original pink bathroom tile and Gulf access two steps away. A rooftop bar with nowhere better to be at that hour.

Hotel San Jose

Austin, TX

A 1936 Spanish colonial bungalow court reborn as a garden-wrapped retreat of polished concrete and shade, where a hush holds inside the courtyard while South Congress hums just past the walls. It is the quiet, design-forward stay that helped bring the whole strip back to life.

Ranch Motel

San Antonio, TX

A 1948 frame restored with D'Hanis brick outside and quality beds and bath products inside. A native Texas garden where the parking lot used to be.

The Monterey Motel

Albuquerque, NM

A 1946 Route 66 motor court two blocks from Old Town, restored into a chic desert stay where you check in at a craft-cocktail lounge instead of a front desk. A heated pool in the courtyard and a welcome drink in hand make arrival feel like the start of something, not the end of a drive.

The Mystic Santa Fe

Santa Fe, NM

The old Silver Saddle motor court on the Route 66 stretch of Cerrillos, reborn in pastels and global folk art with a cafe and bar out front. A made-to-order breakfast on real plates and a room that feels individually dreamed up make it a hangout, not just a place to sleep.