Motel Inn of San Luis Obispo (San Luis Obispo, California)

 administrative building, motel, historic landmark

Site of first motel to be named as such, built in 1925-1926, the Motel Inn was originally named the Milestone Mo-Tel.

Generally, in the 1920s and 1930s, such accommodations were called "motor courts."
At first the owner, Arthur Heineman, was going to call it a "motor hotel," but it wouldn't all fit on the sign, so he shortened it to "mo-tel." Authorities ranging from the Automobile Club of Southern California to the Smithsonian Institution recognize the Motel Inn as the world's first motel.

The Motel Inn's origins go back to Pasadena, where developer and architect Arthur S. Heineman was building a series of bungalow courts in the teens and 1920s. Then Heineman and his brother, Alfred, decided to adapt the concept to the travel industry.

They envisioned a series of motels from San Diego to Seattle, with each a day's drive from the next. The mission theme was chosen to remind travelers of the historic California oases, also a day's travel apart, but only the prototype San Luis Obispo motel was built.

www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/article151452537.html
blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2006/08/...
articles.latimes.com/2000/sep/17/news/mn-22552