[ad_1]
A Hill Country motel and Austin lodging company were just loved by none other than the New York Times.
The Times recently quoted the Stonewall Motor Lodge east of Fredericksburg on US Highway 290 and the Austin-based bunkhouse hotel company in a recent article on the growing attraction of Americans to modernized motels.
The newspaper notes that when Stonewall Motor Lodge, founded in 1964 west of what is now Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site, was redesigned in 2019, “stone walls turned to cedarwood, carpets to hardwood, and custom headboards and bedspreads.” were sourced from independent designers. “
The Times reports that Stonewall Motor Lodge has been fully booked since last summer with nice bedding, live music and free meats.
“We have a lot of people who say they’ve never stayed in a roadside motel,” manager Tim Henke told the Times. “It’s a stigma that motels are holes in the walls, but we’re a high-end motel.”
Another high-end motel owner mentioned by The Times is the Austin-based Bunkhouse, founded by local hospitality entrepreneur Liz Lambert. New York City-based Standard International bought a majority stake in Bunkhouse in 2015.
According to The Times, Lambert is credited with the “motel makeover trend” after converting “the once filthy” Hotel San José in South Austin into a posh property. Bunkhouse now owns eight properties, nearly all of which are mid-century renovated motels, as well as Jo’s Coffee.
“It was the perfect kind of hotel during the pandemic,” Amar Lalvani, CEO of Bunkhouse, told the Times. “COVID has given certain things a boost. And motels are one of them. “
[ad_2]
