A motel is sorta like a hotel, but smaller, and they don't always leave mints on your pillow to make you feel homey. Motels are generally single or two-story buildings with connecting rooms or may even be a series of small cabins placed within close proximity to one another. Common amenities of a motel may include cable television, free wi-fi, laundry services, a common area with complimentary coffee and maybe even a continental breakfast, and in some cases, a swimming pool. Some motel rooms even have that funky machine that you drop a quarter into and it makes the bed vibrate. Motels are ideal for guests who are traveling on business or for young couples who are looking for a cheap one-night stand. If one is extremely lucky, they might end up staying at a place where the motel manager is NOT a cross-dressing weirdo with a penchant for spying on women through peep-holes, though this is not always a guarantee.
In film[]
- Psycho: In horror fiction, the most famous motel in the world is without question the Bates Motel, located just off the beaten path near Phoenix, Arizona. The motel was owned and operated by Norma Bates and her husband up until his demise, as well as her own passing some years later. When Norma died, ownership of the motel went to her son, Norman Bates. Norman had a peep-hole drilled into the bathroom of the one of the cabins so he could spy on people as they took a shower. The Bates Motel gained some measure of infamy in 1960 when Norman Bates murdered a woman Marion Crane in the bathroom of her cabin.
- Psycho IV: The Beginning: Following Norman's arrest, the Bates Motel was left in trust to him until such time as he was deemed mentally fit to re-enter society. In 1990, Norman Bates returned to the motel once again. He realized that the only way he could ever truly be free of the horrors that took place there was to burn down the entire building as well as the Bates' family home.
- Bates Motel: In an alternate timeline, Norman Bates passed away and left the motel to a young man he had befriended while in the mental hospital named Alex West. With Alex as manager of the infamous establishment, the motel became a haven for various ghosts of people who had died there over the years. This was featured in the 1987 television movie Bates Motel and it is not considered part of the official Psycho canon.
- Motel Hell: Another motel of lesser renown is Motel Hello from the 1980 horror film Motel Hell. It's uncomplimentary nickname is derived from the fact that the neon "O" in "Hello" was broken, making the word appear to say "Hell" instead. The motel was owned by Vincent Smith and his younger sister Ida and also boasted it's own sordid history of macabre murders.
- Vacation: In National Lampoon's Vacation, the Griswold family stop at a motel and campground in Colorado after picking up some unexpected family on their way to California to visit the Wally World theme park. By this point in their journey, the family are already frustrated and are less than impressed with the motel accommodations, particularly the swans floating about in the swimming pool.
Motels of note[]
| Name | Film/Series |
|---|---|
| Bates Motel | Psycho |
| Kahiki Palms Motel | The Devil's Rejects |