This motel is a classic Route 66 experience … but that said, DEAR LORD!!! What a dump!! That said I am SO glad that my first experience with WigWam Motels (all three of which are registered on the National Register of Historic Places) was in San Bernardino, CA and not this one in Holbrook. That one made me very happy, this one pissed me off so badly by comparison that after I inspected the room and checked the wifi, I asked for a refund and a found a MUCH nicer room for $10 less someplace else in town.

I’m willing to bet this owner spends on classic cars to park on his property what the other owner in California spends on repair and upkeep of the rooms.

In a way I got lucky. Normally I would check in, unpack my stuff, get into the bed, fire up my computer and THEN check into the wifi. This time, just as I was checking in a nice Chinese guy (I ran into him again at a restaurant) who was booked into one of the other TeePee’s came into the office complaining that he couldn’t connect to the wifi. He said it worked fine in the office — the woman had told him to connect there first, THEN go back to the room… but counter to what she’d told him… not in the room. So I logged in, walked outside and towards my room… and sure enough the wifi died. She said “well you need to go INTO the teepee cause those are concrete and we have extenders in each room.” Ok fine… I go into my room and see there is in fact a wifi modem there… try to log in and get “wrong password” — even checked the bottom of the thing to see if listed a different one… but no… that and I looked around the room and it clearly had NOT been kept up with the same loving care I’d seen in San Bernardino.

While I didn’t take any photos in the bathroom, the tile was cracked, the shower had a dinky curtain (the CA one had installed a class door) and compared to the one in CA looked worn (exact same layout as you can see) AND, of course, the WiFi if it did work was inaccessible and WORST of all, the woman working the desk didn’t seem to care.

I met my neighbors and they too were all complaining about the WiFi. You could connect in the office but when you tried to connect in the rooms either it said wrong password OR, from the one woman who HAD been able to log in, it was insanely slow.

Like I said the woman running the joint didn’t care so since I’d not unpacked or even sat on the bed, I asked for a refund and booked at the local Travel Lodge which had unusually high reviews for $10 a night less… got there to find it was clean, no bed bugs and 34 Mbps downloads and 20 Mbps uploads… (a bit small and cramped, but like I said, well-kept up, blazing fast wifi, and nice caring people working the front desk).

I did however come back the next day for more pictures because the BEST part of this hotel is the experience you have OUTSIDE of the rooms… which is free. And just like the other Wigwam, this one was reflexive of the Disney/Pixar Movie “Cars”  — a cartoon you SHOULD know if only because it was nominated for two Academy Awards including Best Animated Feature and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film. Anyone who’s seen it KNOWS that it’s animators were clearly influenced by many of the iconic Route 66 locations in the Southwest, which include either this motel, or the one other Teepee motel located in Holbrook, Arizona (where I’m also going to be sleeping in about a week) in the creation of the Cozy Cone Motel in the movie

From what I read, because the Radiator Springs in the movie is supposedly limited to Route 66 locations from Kansas to Arizona, THIS WigWam lays claim to being the inspiration for the Cozy Cone Motel in the movie and at Disneyland.

P.S…..

Normally I don’t do post scripts but this was too funny. When I was in Santa Fe visiting with an old friend from grade school who lives there, I was talking about my trip and mentioned my two WigWam bookings… how much I loved the one in San Bernardino and then as I mentioned this one in Holbrook my friend’s girlfriend jumped in with, “That place is a DUMP!” to which I agreed whole heartedly. She’s never stayed in the CA one, but went on at length about how much she’d hated her stay here.