Tucson, AZ - The Spanish Trail Motel was once a well known luxury motel, restaurant and supper club and Tucson treasure. Word is the motel has been around since around the 1930s which additions made to the site including restaurant in the 1960s.
Spanish Trail Motel (1998)
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The old sign still stood tall along Benson Highway, pointing travelers toward a roadside landmark that had seen much busier days. By the time this photo was taken in 1998, the Spanish Trail Motel was already closed and fading into the desert, but the big circular restaurant, long motel wings, and weathered roadside sign still gave a hint of what had once been one of Tucson’s best-known places to stay.
Spanish Trail Motel (1999)
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Some accounts trace the roots of the Spanish Trail property back to a small tourist court from the 1930s, although most of the familiar motel complex appears to have taken shape during the 1950s. It grew considerably in the 1960s, just as Interstate 10 was bringing a new stream of cross-country travelers past the old Benson Highway and U.S. Route 80 corridor.
This was no ordinary little desert motel. At its peak, the Spanish Trail covered several acres and offered around 120 rooms, two swimming pools, a 24-hour coffee shop, cocktail lounge, landscaped lagoon, bowling alley, and even a small golf layout. Its most recognizable feature was the large circular restaurant and supper club, a wonderful Space Age structure that looked a little like a flying saucer had settled beside the highway.
Word is the property was quite large and the site of a dinner show lounge, golf course, bowling alley, large pool, and lagoon. Dinner shows here included Ernie Menehune's Polynesian Revenue and several movie stars including John Wayne used to stop here.
Spanish Trail Motel sign marquee (1998)
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The Spanish Trail was the sort of place where a traveler could check in for the night and find a complete evening’s entertainment without ever leaving the grounds. The supper club hosted touring performers and became especially well known for Ernie Menehune’s Polynesian Revue. Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald are also said to have performed here, while John Wayne reportedly made the Spanish Trail one of his Tucson stopping places. Not bad company for a motel beside the interstate.
A three-alarm fire hit the Spanish trail in June 2020. The fire destroyed 30 units. Just months later, a fire hit one of the abandoned units of the Spanish Trail Motel in January 2021. These were just two of several that have affected the site. In recent years, there have been rumors that newer owners were planning to rehab the motel into permanent affordable units. There is a Spanish Trail Suites of condos next door today. 07-23
Restaurant Equipment (1999)
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The motel also appeared in editions of The Negro Motorist Green Book, which identified businesses where Black travelers could expect lodging and service during the segregation era. That gives the Spanish Trail a place in roadside history extending well beyond its unusual architecture, swimming pools, and nights of music in the lounge.
Sadly, the property has deteriorated as the decades have passed. The whole place was abandoned since when these photos were taken beginning in the late 1990s. The googie looking restaurant has been fenced off, though restaurant equipment used to still be seen on the site. Supposedly the business closed in the 1990s.
By the 1990s, the good times had come to an end. The motel closed and the sprawling complex sat vacant for years, slowly deteriorating beneath the Arizona sun. Even in its abandoned state, the round restaurant, decorative concrete block, and tall roadside sign made the property hard to miss. It remained one of those places that caused anyone passing on the frontage road to slow down and wonder what it must have looked like when the pools were full and the supper club was swinging.
In June of 1967, a fire at the motel main building destroyed the banquet room causing $150,000 in damage. The investigation determined that excess cooking grease may have cause the fire which also injured the fire chief. Fully insured, Maury Adler's Spanish Trail Room reopened in September 1967 with the DeCastro sisters as the entertainment act. The bar, coffee shop, dining room, kitchen and banquet facilities were reopened.
Spanish Trail Motel (1999)
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
UPDATE: Decades of abandonment brought fires, vandalism, trespassing, and serious asbestos concerns. More than 20 fires were reported across the property between 2020 and 2026, leaving much of the once-famous resort burned or reduced to rubble. In June 2026, the City of South Tucson filed suit seeking demolition and cleanup of the hazardous remains. The tall sign frame still survives near the highway, although its neon and decorative panels are gone, leaving behind a rusted outline of the Spanish Trail’s roadside glory. 08-26
More Photos
Spanish Trail Motel (1999)
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Office and Registration (1998)
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Spanish Trail Motel (1998)
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Spanish Trail Motel (1999)
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Spanish Trail Motel (1998)
Spanish Trail Motel (1999)
Spanish Trail Motel sign marquee (1998)
Restaurant Equipment (1999)
Spanish Trail Motel (1999)
