In Phoenix, The Egyptian Motor Hotel, which first opened in 1952 and operated for decades as the Las Palmas Inn, has been transformed into a boutique hotel with a midcentury vibe. With its large neon sign now restored, the two-story, open-air hotel features Egyptian-themed murals and other artwork.
The design by EDI International repurposed the hotel’s triangular parking lot into a 400-person live entertainment venue that includes a music stage and bar, while keeping most of the original parking spaces. The hotel’s first-floor cabana areas and second-floor balconies all have views of the stage. An onsite Mexican restaurant, Chilte, now serves as the permanent home of a former pop-up.
The Egyptian includes 48 guest rooms adorned with retro furnishings, including Bluetooth speakers that look like Marshall amplifiers, pillows resembling VHS tapes, egg chairs, Magic 8 Balls, refrigerators, and coolers. The rooms’ wallpapers take inspiration from classic drink labels. The guest rooms have a king bed or bunk bed, dinette table, and smart TVs. In one room, the names of The Doors’ songs and album titles form the face of late lead singer Jim Morrison. And a fully remodeled 1960s Airstream serves as a private guestroom.
The Egyptian Motel Hotel, which opened earlier this year, operates under Best Western’s BW Signature Collection.
On the Building Team:
Design architect and architect of record: EDI International
MEP engineer: IMEG Corp.
Structural engineer: PVE, LLC
General contractor: Western States General Contracting, LLC
Construction manager: PDL Enterprises
Related Stories
Hotel Facilities | Feb 12, 2018
Circular hotel will be world’s first energy positive hotel concept above the Arctic Circle
The hotel will provide 360-degree views of the Svartisen glacier and the surrounding arctic nature.
Hotel Facilities | Feb 8, 2018
Nashville hotel takes authenticity to the extreme with dedicated recording studio, performance spaces
Music City has experienced a hotel construction boom in recent years, making for a more competitive market.
Hotel Facilities | Jan 24, 2018
U.S. hotel markets with the largest construction pipelines
Dallas, Houston, and New York lead the way, with more than 460 hotel projects in the works.
Hotel Facilities | Nov 10, 2017
The hotel of the future has just the right amount of tech
CallisonRTKL’s recent survey helps shed some light on how the hotel of the future might strike a balance between tech and the human touch.
Hotel Facilities | Oct 6, 2017
This year’s Radical Innovation Award winners showcase portable and flexible hotel designs
The grand prize hotel concept gives new meaning to “back to nature.”
Adaptive Reuse | Oct 5, 2017
Wexford’s latest innovation center breaks ground in Providence
The campus is expected to include an Aloft hotel.
Giants 400 | Sep 22, 2017
Welcome home: Hotels want guests to feel more like residents than visitors
Because hotels can take as long as six years to complete, spotting trends—and differentiating them from fads—is tough when tastes and systems change so rapidly.
Giants 400 | Sep 22, 2017
Top 80 hotel construction firms
Turner Construction Co., Swinerton, and The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. top BD+C’s ranking of the nation’s largest hotel sector contractor and construction management firms, as reported in the 2017 Giants 300 Report.
Giants 400 | Sep 22, 2017
Top 30 hotel engineering firms
NV5 Global, WSP, and DeSimone Consulting Engineers top BD+C’s ranking of the nation’s largest hotel sector engineering and EA firms, as reported in the 2017 Giants 300 Report.
