What's In A Name?

     Driving to school and noticing signs, the kids asked me why the motel was called “Motel 6”….and then why the “Super 8” was super so many times over.

     I explained that when both of those motels originated, the cost was reflective in their names: “Motel 6” rooms were all $6 in 1960-something, and “Super 8” offered rooms for $8.88 ten years later.

     Their eyebrows raised and mouths agape, I could see their little brains calculating the cost of a movie and popcorn these days. Skeptical, and probably thinking that I must have just fabricated my response to avoid admitting ignorance, my daughter asked, “Are they still that price?”

    “Ha! No…they’re not…and in fact I think it might be false advertising at this point!” I said…actually really wondering if it might be….

     I guess back when “Motel 6” was launched, naming your motel to be representative of the price of a room was great advertising. After all, with revenue of only 6 bucks a night, you might need to save money on advertising, so why not utilize your signage in the most advantageous manner? Smart business. Besides, knowing the theory and spotting a giant “6” just off of the highway would tend to encourage a stop and facilitate in the selection for a dog-tired, blurry-eyed and overworked trucker.

     Somehow, I just don’t see that naming method working today, even though that big 6 is still indicative of an inexpensive room. In keeping with the tradition of price disclosure however, I think they should update their sign to read “Marginal Motel 56.99 (*price varies depending on location and time of year)”. Okay - so maybe that would prove problematic for the trucker whizzing by at 90 miles an hour….

      But imagine how simplified our hotel choices would be if the places did actually employ the candid method of naming their businesses. You could choose from “Steep Sleep”, “Bad Bed & Basic Breakfast”, or the “Poor Quality Inn”. ….Because let’s face it, the “Renaissance Inn” doesn’t have any sort of 14^th Italian influence nor neoclassical architecture enhancing their boxy buildings, and “Best Western” certainly does not paint an accurate picture of the best western hotels that I’ve ever stayed in. Nevertheless, I have noticed a consistency in roof color at all “Red Roof Inn’s”…..

     Come to think of it, perhaps some hotels do follow this naming process, and I’ve just never really acknowledged it. Maybe the “Motel 6” ideology inadvertently taught us to be inattentive and unmindful to signage, and over the years, we’ve simply ignored the subtle and calculated indicators! Maybe….the “Four Seasons” is just really short for “It Will Take You Four Seasons To Pay For Your Stay”….!

     It’s all there. I just need to start paying more attention.