Five Best: American Retro Motels

Lazy Meadow New York State

This motel, in New York's Catskill Mountains, was bought and redesigned by B-52's singer Kate Pierson, aided by Phillip Maberry and Scott Walker, who made the "Love Shack" in the band's video. Each room has 1950s furnishings, from 3-D murals to psychedelic mushroom ottomans, and General Electric fitted kitchens. It comprises seven motel rooms, four vintage Airstream Trailers and two tepees.

Lazy Meadow Motel, 5191 Route 28, Mount Tremper, New York (001 845 688 7200; www.lazymeadow.com). Doubles from $169 (£99), room only.

Thunderbird Motel Texas

Marfa, a teeny town in western Texas has an impressive celebrity-to-civilian ratio. The artsy community claims Tommy Lee Jones among its 2,000 population and sees visits from Julia Roberts and Ian Schrager - the starry interest initiated by minimalist artist Donald Judd, who fled here from New York in the 1960s. This redesigned 1959 motor court sports "Cowboy Zen" decor: the 24 minimalist rooms come with cowhide rugs, slick concrete floors, and they are surrounded by cacti and trellises made of pipe salvaged from oil fields. Add to this a pool and outdoor fire-pit and this is a desert oasis where only the most refined cowboy hangs up his spurs.

Thunderbird Motel, 601 West San Antonio Street, Marfa, Texas (001 432 729 1984; www.thunderbird marfa.com). Double rooms start at $158 (£93), room only.

Aqua Hotel, Florida

The slab-concrete Seadeck began life in 1952 as a motel, then became a retirement home before Miami's Collins Avenue began its hip gentrification. That's when local surfer Eric Gabriel took over and renovated the Seadeck's 45 rooms with mid-20th-century furnishings and renamed it the Aqua Hotel. Now more hotel than motel, the place retains some original motor inn features: it's two storeys high and rooms run off a courtyard centred around a pool-size hot tub. And with very reasonable rates for South Beach, this cheap chic billet stays true to its motel roots.

Aqua Hotel, 1530 Collins Avenue, Miami, Florida (001 305 538 4361; www.aquamiami.com). Double rooms start at $99 (£58), room only.

The Orbit Inn, California

This modern desert retreat has two addresses - the Oasis and the Hideaway - located a block from one another in the posh Tennis Club district of Palm Springs, at the base of the dramatic San Jacinto Mountains. Designed by Herb Burns, who first brought the "ultra-modern motor-court inn" to Palm Springs, both units are built in a classic mid-century courtyard style around salt-water swimming pools. The motel also comes with pool-side spa and "desert lounge" with flagstone fireplace, library, and a gallery of 1948 photos of the hotel.

The Orbit Inn, 562 W. Arenas, Palm Springs, California (001 760 323 3585; www.orbitin.com). Doubles start at $188 (£111), including breakfast

The Shady Dell Arizona

This hotel in the "mile-high" copper mining town of Bisbee is the purest form of "motor inn", comprising a sleek fleet of vintage aluminium travel trailers. All come with original 1950s decor and reproduction vintage radios that play archive music radio shows. Shady Dell began life in 1927, providing trailer sites for travellers making the journey between San Diego, California and Savannah, Georgia, on Highway 80. Today there are still RV hook-ups and the site comes with its own roadside inn: Dot's Diner, an authentic 1950s eatery.

The Shady Dell, 1 Old Douglas Road, Bisbee, Arizona (001 520 432 3567; www.theshadydell.com). Double trailers start at $40 (£24), room only.

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