Motel

This documentary takes the viewer off the interstate highways and onto the back roads of the U.S., where a few strange and idiosyncratic motels still cling to existence. Before the advent of the interstates, and the resulting boom in big motel chains, such establishments were common.

The film focuses on three such motels - - The Silver Saddle in Santa Fe, New Mexico, The Blue Mist Hotel in Florence, Arizona, and the Amargosa Hotel and Opera in Death Valley Junction (California). The Blue Mist Hotel is located across the road from a state prison and serves mainly the friends and spouses of inmates.

The Amargosa is owned and operated by an aging ballerina and her husband, the only residents of the ghost town in which it's located. Other notably odd lodgings shown include the Movie Manor, whose rooms look out on a drive-in theater across the parking lot.