4.
Palmer House Resort Motel, Manchester, Vermont
Palmer House has the kind of lawn other vintage motels pine for.
For one thing, it's huge - 22 acres. And it's manicured, slightly
rolling, so pristine that the white clapboard buildings could be
oddly shaped
golf balls on a giant's putting green. The lawn
invites strolling, perhaps to the
tennis courts for a game, to one
of the pools, to the nine-hole golf course, to the Ye Olde Tavern
restaurant, or to the North Shire Museum & History Center, all
of which are on the grounds. Obviously, this is no 1950s
kitsch-o-rama; it's the motel, old New England style. And it
happens to be in a town that's inexplicably full of well-preserved
relics of the grand automobile age, and which attracts leaf gazers
in autumn, skiers in winter, fly-fishermen in spring, and outlet
shoppers in summer. Rates start at $85. www
.palmerhouse.com, (800) 917-6245
If it's booked, try …
5.
Red Sled Resort Motel, with its own version of the
perfect motel lawn, plus a stocked trout pond. Weekend rates start
at $98.
www.redsled.com, (802)
362-2161
6.
Orbit In, Palm Springs, California Furnishings by
the likes of Eames, Noguchi, and Saarinen have earned this refabbed
1957 motel the moniker Modernist Heaven - and that in a town where
mid-century architecture is the chic magnet. This place manages to
make pink bathroom tile look cool. Lounge music floats over the
saltwater
swimming pool. The poolside bar sports requisite lava
lamps and martinis. Even the cups in the kitchenettes are vintage
Melmac. Weekend rates start at $229. www
.orbitin.com, (877) 996-7248
If it's booked, try …
7.
Caliente Tropics, where Polynesian-style digs
meet the Palm Springs desert. Weekend rates start at $79.
www.caliente
tropics.com, (888) 277-0999