106 Business View Magazine - May 2016
G6 Hospitality
After 50+ years, still leaving the light on for the frugal traveler
It may be hard to believe, but there was a time in this
country, and not too long ago, when a night at a good
motel cost just six dollars. Here’s how it happened:
It was in 1960, and two real estate contractors from
Southern California decided to do what an increas-
ing number of Americans were also doing at the time
- taking a cross-country road trip with their families.
Why not? Roads were never better, as the country’s
new interstate highway system was beginning to inter-
weave itself across the land; cars were bigger, faster,
and more powerful than ever; gas was cheaper than
milk; and the nation, as a whole, was entering an era
of optimism and prosperity. Driving long distances was
becoming America’s new way to explore the country.
The only hitch that William Becker and Paul Greene
experienced as they motored about the landscape was
a dismayingly limited choice of consistent, affordable
lodging for the average, leisure traveler on a budget.
So, as many American entrepreneurs before them had
