@immioti - Tumblr Blog

You asked for more motel revivals so I'll share one of my current favorites: the Starlight Motor Inn of Charleston, South Carolina.

Originally opened as the Host of America Motel in 1961, this two-story modular motel is comprised of stackable, pre-built, and fully furnished units originally produced on an assembly line in Thomson, Georgia, likely making it the first of its kind in the country. The motel survived for decades and went through a name change to the Star of America Motel. In 2007, it was on the verge of death. The city of Charleston deemed it hazardous due to fire and building code violations. It reopened briefly before closing down again in 2018.

Now called the Starlight Motor Inn, this motel was been lovingly restored with help of lead architectural historian Brittany Lavelle Tulla, who in 2019 was able to convince the city to take the property off of its list of condemned sites. In 2020, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Today, the motel features 51 retro vintage-style guest rooms, a pool and cocktail lounge. The infrastructure and original midcentury design remain intact with minimal alteration.