The Motor Lodge

About The Motor Lodge

The Motor Lodge has stood on Montezuma Street in downtown Prescott, Arizona since 1937, when it was built as a motor court on what was then the edge of a territorial town. Joe Livingston and Brian Spear transformed it in 2008: each room given its own identity, different palette, different furniture, different point of view, while keeping the bones of the original motor court intact. Sara and Nick Medina purchased it in 2020 and have carried the vision forward. Prescott is one of the most underrated small cities in the American West: ponderosa pines at 5,400 feet, Victorian architecture, Whiskey Row, and more than 450 miles of hiking trails in the surrounding national forest. The Motor Lodge sits on Montezuma Street, one block from Courthouse Plaza and the Whiskey Row saloons and restaurants.

What The Motor Lodge Is Known For

The Motor Lodge has earned its standing in Prescott through a consistent design philosophy, a position earned through a consistent design philosophy: each room was given its own identity, from bold vintage wallpaper and color to quiet minimalist palettes, in a 1937 motor court that kept its carport parking and drive-up access intact. The owners did not renovate toward a theme or a brand. They designed each room independently and let the building be exactly what it was. In a category where "individually designed" often means minor variations on the same aesthetic, the Motor Lodge is the rarer version: rooms where the design choices are actually different.

Amenities

• WiFi
• Carport parking at most room doors
• Individual room designs, no two alike
• Tuft & Needle mattresses and high-count linens
• Gas fireplaces (select rooms)
• Complimentary drinks and house-made cookies
• Complimentary bicycles

The Room

Each room is individually designed, no two alike. The range runs from bright and vintage-inspired rooms with patterned wallpaper and bold color to more minimal arrangements with clean lines and muted palettes. Most rooms have carport parking directly outside the door; the rest face the shared courtyard. Select rooms have gas fireplaces. All include quality mattresses, high-count linen sheets, free WiFi, and access to the complimentary drinks, house-made cookies, and fleet of bicycles for guest use.

The Grounds

The Motor Lodge occupies its 1937 motor court bones on Montezuma Street in downtown Prescott: single-story, drive-up, with carport parking at most doors and a quiet shared courtyard. Walk out any door and you are already in downtown Prescott, one block from Courthouse Plaza and Whiskey Row. Complimentary bikes are available for guest use, making it easy to explore the surrounding streets without moving the car. Ponderosa pines start where the city ends; the Prescott National Forest trail network begins a few miles out.

The Experience

Check in, park in the carport outside your door, and by evening you are on Whiskey Row without having moved the car. The Motor Lodge provides bikes, cookies, and complimentary drinks, small gestures that collectively signal what kind of place this is. Prescott does not overpromise: Victorian architecture, ponderosa pine, and 450 miles of trails in the national forest are the backdrop. The Motor Lodge sits at the center of it, in a building that has been on Montezuma Street since 1937, each room looking completely different.

Details

Frequently Asked Questions

Things to Do Near Prescott, Arizona

Whiskey Row

0.1 miles, about a 5 minute drive, or you can walk.

The block of Montezuma Street facing Courthouse Plaza: a row of saloons, restaurants, and shops that has been Prescott's social center since the 1860s. Walk outside the motor lodge and you're already there.

Sharlot Hall Museum

0.4 miles, about a 5 minute drive, or you can walk.

Arizona's oldest and most significant history museum, housed in a collection of territorial-era buildings on three acres of downtown Prescott. The reconstructed Governor's Mansion dates to 1864.

Watson Lake Park

5 miles, about a 10 minute drive, or you can bike there.

A reservoir set among the Granite Dells, one of the most dramatic rock formations in Arizona: a jumble of rounded pink granite boulders rising from the water. Kayaking, paddleboarding, and hiking on the Peavine Trail loop the shoreline.