Space age lodge gila bend az 1970s full#

In addition to having kitsch and quirky space age humor, the hotel is very clean and spacious. However, that doesn't make the Best Western Space Age Lodge scrimp on giving their guests a good value. There is a reason people of discriminating taste stay here. We stayed at the Best Western Space Age Lodge after research into other locations in the area. The Space Age is really a nice place!! More Show less Forget about staying in Ajo, the motels there are horrible. I never though I would eat in a coffee shop with a HUGE painting of the starship Enterprise in front of me! This is by far the best place in Gila Bend and a good choice for a side trip to Organ Pipe Cactus, which takes a day if you are serious about the cactus like I am. I spent about $2.00 on both days (anything over the $10, you pay). I could deal with it, but you have been warned! They give you a $10 voucher for breakfast in the adjoining restaurant, which is enough for most orders, unless you start ordering a bunch of extra stuff. However, a main rail line runs behind the motel and trains come through 24/7. The rooms are pretty quiet, I couldn't hear my neighbors at all. In fact, my plans were to just stay here one night on my way to Organ Pipe Cactus, but I decided to stay an additional night on my way out of the monument. Large TV, really good mattress, great WiFi, etc. But I was pleasantly surprised! The rooms are really nice! They have been MAJORLY upgraded. In fact, who knows, I may have even stayed here in 1970! So my expectations were not that high when I checked in. The Space Age Lodge looks just like 100 other motels that I stayed in with my parents when we traveled around the country in the 1960s and 1970s. This is by far the best place in Gila Bend and a good choice for a side trip to Organ Pipe Cactus, which takes a day if. I never though I would eat in a coffee shop with a HUGE painting of the starship Enterprise in front of me! They give you a $10 voucher for breakfast in the adjoining restaurant, which is enough for most orders, unless you start ordering a bunch of extra stuff. I could deal with it, but you have been warned! So my expectations were not that high when I checked in. In fact, who knows, I may have even stayed here in 1970! O’Connell sees the hotel staying open for years to come, especially as the Space Age Lodge becomes more nostalgic as it preserves the increasingly distant era of moon landings, space races and road trip attractions.The Space Age Lodge looks just like 100 other motels that I stayed in with my parents when we traveled around the country in the 1960s and 1970s. The hotel is still doing good business and standing strong after 50 years. “When you’re standing in the lobby and you look up, it almost makes you feel like you’re in outer space,” O’Connell says.

In 1998, a fire sparked by a malfunctioning neon light destroyed parts of the lobby and restaurant the owners took it in stride, stretching a banner outside the burned building that read, “Attacked by Aliens!” A UFO on the lobby roof, and murals of shuttles, satellites and spacemen were added throughout the lobby and restaurant in the remodel. Outer space was what “everyone was talking about” in the ‘60s, and the Space Age Lodge remains committed to the theme.

Every futuristic detail at the Space Age Lodge, from the lamps to room dividers, was hand-designed by Stovall, O’Connell says: “It was all his imagination and creativity that they used to build the hotel.” The lodge is now in the care of Bill O’Connell, who first began working with Al Stovall as a 21-year-old in the boss’ hotels in Anaheim, Calif.

The retro hotel was one of five special “space age” destinations the late Stovall designed in the early to mid-’60s. Al Stovall’s Best Western Space Age Lodge opened in the town, a natural stopping point for travelers on the way to or from California and Rocky Point.

Space age lodge gila bend az 1970s full#

While Buzz and Neil wouldn’t take their first steps on lunar soil for four more years, space exploration was in full force in Gila Bend. Kennedy’s promise three years earlier to land on the moon within the decade. The Space Age is in full swing in the United States following President John F.