Milestone Mo-Tel
Coordinates: 35°17′28.57″N 120°38′53.21″W / 35.2912694°N 120.6481139°W
The Motel Inn (originally known as the Milestone Mo-Tel), located in San Luis Obispo, California, is the first motel in the world. It opened on December 12, 1925.
The emergence and popularization of the automobile in the United States of the early 20th century inspired many car owners beyond commuting into town. The poor roads of the era combined with the vehicle speeds and reliability required two or more days of nearly all day driving for 400-mile trips such as Los Angeles to San Francisco. Nearby destinations of 40 miles or less could be visited in a day to include a return trip. Longer trips requiring an overnight stay often left travelers looking for places to pitch tent or to sleep in their automobile if arrangements hadn't been made ahead to destinations and stopovers that also happen to have hotels or inns.
The lack of niche accommodations to fill the need for automobile travelers who only needed an overnight stay to continue their trip inspired many entrepreneurs. The combination of the convenience of a campground with the comforts and respectability of a hotel or inn spurred the creation of the motel. The hotel's architect, Arthur S. Heineman (1878–1974), picked San Luis Obispo as a midpoint location between Los Angeles and San Francisco, which took two days of driving on the roads at the time.
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