Turns Out Motel 6 Does Not Leave The Light On For You

Posted by Mike Richard
Filed under: Odds + Ends, Sidelines

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Upgrade: Travel Better points us to an Adage.com story as proof that:

To conserve energy, the ultra-budget chain doesn’t really leave lights on. So says their folksy pitchman Tom Bodett. So you know it’s true.

Good to know. It’s interesting to note that Bodett seems happy to promote budget, no-frills travel at all [ahem] costs:

The podcast at motel6.com is pure Mr. Bodett, full of down-to-earth truisms such as, “I’m happy to report you still get nothing you don’t need at Motel 6, and, therefore, you don’t have to pay for it. I don’t need valet parking. If I can drive the old crate 300 miles to the hotel all by myself, I can certainly handle the last nine feet to the parking space.”

I’ll drink to that. He goes on:

Ad Age: For many people part of the joy of going away is having an experience that they cannot have at home — whether it’s fresh towels every morning or turndown service at night. What is it about not receiving extra amenities that you believe will appeal to the public?

Mr. Bodett: Americans are generally very self-sufficient and I think generally averse to pretension just as I am. When you point out that you don’t need to have art on your motel room walls because your eyes are closed anyway, or that you can take the money you save from not having avocado body balm in the bathroom swag basket and go buy some real chips and dip — avocado body balm, by the way, tastes just like soap — people respond. People feel vulnerable when they travel. Nobody wants to be taken advantage of or talked into something they don’t want. Staying at Motel 6 makes you feel smarter. In fact, I think it actually means you are smarter, but I have no hard data to support that.

I’m not sure about people staying at Motel 6 being smarter; perhaps just less vain. But I certainly agree with his general point.

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Vagabondish editor, Mike Richard, lives in Rhode Island - a spit of land in the northeastern U.S. He is a professional web designer and travel junkie with an unhealthy addiction to backpacking, camping, hiking and seeing the world. He enjoys knit hats, small, declarative sentences and speaking in the third person.



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