No-Tel Motel

Researching a last-minute revision to a chapter on hotels in the omnitopia book, I came across an article in Tucson Weekly by Saxon Burns about that city's aptly named "No-Tel Motel." I can't say that I like this article. Most of it seems focused on Burns's growing paranoia at staying in a skanky place, the realization that the romantic fantasy of staying at a "No-Tel Motel" is, shockingly, undercut by the folks who actually rent rooms there. Throughout the piece I wanted to yell, "Buck up, Dude! What did you expect?" That being said, if you want to live vicariously through one man's four days in Motel Hell (he wussed out from his original plan of a week), this is the article for you: My Stay at the No-Tel Motel.

By the way, you can visit Motel Americana to check out some other cool images of Arizona motels.

(Photographs by Andrew Wood)