Historic Motels & Inns in the Midwest

Birch Lodge & Motel

Trout Lake, MI

Original mid-century furniture, panoramic lake windows, a private beach, and free kayaks and rowboats on a property with roots going back to 1911. The 1964 frame is the newest part of what is here.

Boots Court Motel

Carthage, MO

Streamline Moderne architecture from 1939 with covered carports where guests park directly beside the door, saved from demolition in 2022 and fully restored. Clark Gable stayed in Room 6.

Bridge Inn

Michigan City, IN

A family-run cluster of waterfront guest houses on twelve acres along Trail Creek, where Adirondack chairs line the dock and Washington Park Beach is a short walk away. The rooms are spotless kitchenette suites built around the water and the view of the historic railroad turn bridge.

Historic Randles Court

Eldon, MO

Built from stone in the 1930s, restored after a fire and a tornado, with the 1947 neon sign back in service. An original cigar box found in the wall during restoration held Helen Randles' driver's license.

Colo Motel

Colo, IA

A tiny restored motor court at the historic Reed/Niland Corner, where the transcontinental Lincoln Highway once crossed the old north-south route through the heart of Iowa. It sits shoulder to shoulder with a preserved 1950s cafe and glowing neon, so a night here feels like pulling off the road eighty years ago.

Hotel Manning

Keosauqua, IA

A community-owned riverfront landmark in Keosauqua, pairing an 1890s Steamboat Gothic hotel with a classic exterior-door motor lodge beside it. The motor-lodge rooms are simple, comfortable, and honest, with park-at-your-door entrances and the wandering Villages of Van Buren just outside.

Wagon Wheel Motel

Cuba, MO

Founded in 1936 with rooms in original Ozark sandstone cabins and on the National Register of Historic Places. The oldest continuously operating property on Route 66.