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Mid-Century Modern: Motel & Hotel Chains

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former Imperial 400 Motel
Rockford, IL		 Imperial Inn Motel
Albuquerque, NM
former Imperial 400 Motel
Kingman, AZ		 former
Imperial 400 Motel
Las Cruces, NM		 former Imperial 400 Motel
Vineland, NJ
former Imperial 400 Motel
Cortland, NY		 former Imperial 400 Motel
Valdosta, GA
This former Imperial 400 Motel has an altered sign but still retains its unique shape which mimics the office's roofline.

The Imperial Inn Motel in Rockford is another former Imperial 400 Motel.

The Kingman and Cortland Imperial 400 Motels are now known simply as Imperial Motels.

The Las Cruces Imperial 400 Motel is now the Imperial Sky Motel. For more, see this website.

The Vineland Imperial 400 Motel is now known as the Travel Inn.

The Valdosta Imperial 400 Motel is now a Budget Inn.

This nationwide chain bragged of building a new location every ten days in its first year. Their first motel was designed by Palmer & Krisel and built in Los Angeles, CA in 1959. The company ran into financial trouble from overexpansion and were bought out in 1987. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, 3, and 4.

former Holiday Inn
Raleigh, NC		 former Holiday Inn
Mobile, AL		 Radisson Hotel
Cincinnati Riverfront
Covington, KY		 Best Western
Landmark Hotel
Metairie, LA
The former Raleigh Holiday Inn was built in 1969 and renovated in 1996. It is now a Clarion Hotel. [photo thanks Robby Delius]

The former Mobile Holiday Inn was built in 1975. It is now the Lafayette Plaza Hotel.

The Covington Radisson Hotel was built in 1972. It looks very similar to the Holiday Inns and might have been one originally. The top floor is a revolving restaurant.

The Best Western Landmark Hotel was built in 1972. The annex building was added in 1984. It has always been the Landmark Hotel and became part of the Best Western chain around 1998. For more, see this website.

I believe the essential design of these buildings is from the late 1960s (somebody correct me if I'm wrong!). Here's a 1970s postcard of one from Jefferson City, MO that is still there but remodeled. The cylindrical "corncob" design was once common and there are at least several left that I know of: Long Beach, CA, Brentwood, CA, Tallahassee, FL, Syracuse, NY, and Saddle Brook, NJ. What's nice about this location is not only how well it has been preserved by Lafayette Plaza but also the way it continues to dominate the Mobile skyline. For more, see their website.

The design of these Holiday Inn buildings bears a strong resemblance to the Capital Records Tower. They also resemble a somewhat truncated version of Marina City in Chicago, IL from 1964.