Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona Review

Last time we were in Arizona we got this fun idea to stay the night in the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook. I had always wanted to see the Wigwam Village along Route 66 where guests are stay in concrete teepees. So we slept a night in teepee number 2, and here is our review of the place.

After visiting Walnut Canyon and Meteor Crater we drove to Holbrook. We had booked a room, or actually a teepee from Wigwam Village, and our plan was to visit Petrified Forest National Park the next day. The drive from Holbrook to Petrified Forest is only about 20 minutes so the location of the motel is really great.

WIGWAM VILLAGES AROUND THE COUNTRY

The very first Wigwam Village was built in 1933 by Frank A. Redford in Kentucky. No one is sure where he got the teepee idea, but after a while several other villages were built in various locations. There used to be a total of seven Wigwam Motels: two in Kentucky, one in Alabama, Florida, Arizona and California. Today only three of them are still up and running. They have all been listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The word wigwam is actually from the Ojibwe language and means a domed, round shelter that Native Americans used to have. So it doesn’t really refer to the shape of a teepee, even though the name is used in wigwam motels. Wigwams were usually semi-permanent when teepees on the other hand could be disassembled and packed away when needed.

Wigwam Motels were extremely popular in 1930’s and 40’s. The one in Holbrook was built by Chester E. Lewis, who had seen a Wigwam Village in Kentucky. He quickly bought a licence to use the idea and opened his own village in 1950. When a new freeway, I-40 was built to bypass Route 66 in 1974, he closed the Wigwam Motel. It stayed closed for years until Chester E. Lewis passed away and his kids decided to renovate and open the village again. They are still running it today.

If you are road tripping in California, consider checking out the Wigwam Village there. It is right on the border of Rialto and the city of San Bernardino, on Route 66. This wigwam was built by Frank A. Redford. but it is a little bit different from the other villages. First, it has a double row of wigwams and a pool surrounded by palm trees. And second, it was renovated in 2005 and it should be in fairly good condition. Even though we regularly visit Southern California, we have been able to stay with the family at their house.

The third Wigwam Village still is open, is in Kentucky.

WIGWAM MOTEL ARIZONA REVIEW

We arrived to Holbrook just in time before it got dark. The Wigwam Motel was very easy to find as it is right by Route 66, on Hopi Drive. We quickly got our key from reception and headed to our room. The nice thing about the village is that the cars are parked right out front of the wigwams, so it is easy to bring in all the bags.

The rooms are fairly small and round, so they only have the very necessary of things. Our room had two double beds, a small desk and a chair. We also had a small flat screen TV and a mirror. Each wigwam has an A/C unit and a small heater under the TV. We ended up using the heater all night since the November in Holbrook was already quite chilly. Because the rooms are built from concrete, they are pretty cold and especially the floor felt freezing. But I’m sure the concrete will stay cool longer during the hot summer months when the temperatures can rise up to 95F (+35 Celsius).

You could say that the room was a little ascetic, but it had everything we needed, and it was clean. At the end of the room we had a tiny bathroom and a shower. We were also pleasantly surprised that the wifi was working fine, as I had read earlier in some reviews that claimed otherwise. There were two little windows and by looking out we could see that most other guests were also families with kids. Each wigwam had a porch light so the area was nicely lit in the evening.

One special thing about the Wigwam Villages is that there are vintage cars parked in front of the teepees. Many people seemed to stop by just to take photos of the cars. This particular motel also had petrified trees all over the parking lot as it is very close to Petrified Forest National Park. Small pieces of trees were sold in the reception which was built into an old Texaco station. They also had a small museum there.

Staying in a wigwam hotel is not luxury for sure, but we had fun and our kids loved it! There were two major things though that could be improved. First, they didn’t really seem to follow any king of Covid protocol. It was not mentioned anywhere and the receptionist was not even wearing a mask. Second, making a reservation was a drag. Their website was difficult to find and they didn’t offer any online reservation option. It states on their website that you can book a room by emailing or calling them. In reality, their reply to my email just said that I have to call. And since we were on the move all day long without cell service, and the reception was only open from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., for a moment I considered forgetting the whole idea. I honestly think that they would get more customers by doing better marketing and making reserving a room easier.

Check out the video from inside the wigwam on my Instagram!

✻✻✻

If you are driving through Route 66, especially with kids, the Wigwam Motel is actually a pretty fun place to stay. Yes, the wigwams are tiny and they don’t have all the amenities, but they were clean and we got a good night sleep. We took it as a once in a lifetime experience and it added a great memory to our trip. And if you are not that adventurous, you can still stop to take a couple photos of the village if you pass by.

WIGWAM VILLAGE
Address: 811 W Hopi Dr, Holbrook, AZ 86025
Prices: Two Double Beds $89, One Queen Bed $79 (2020).

What kind of fun and special places have you stayed in on your trips?