Pain Walker gives thumbs-up to Trade Winds Inn

Dennis Kinch, the Route 66 walker who’s raising publicity for the National Pain Foundation, is staying at the Trade Winds Inn in Clinton, Okla., until he resumes his journey. This is the motel that’s famed for its Elvis Room — the room where Elvis Presley slept during cross-country road trips from Memphis to Hollywood or Vegas. The room’s look and furnishings have been preserved as it was from the 1960s.

The Trade Winds had been declining for a few years. But it appears back on the upswing. Kinch’s publicist, Cathy Choy, reports:

I just spoke to Dennis this morning, and he’s staying at the Tradewinds Inn. For your records, he can’t stop talking about what a great place it is. Per Dennis: The new owner has really taken the place seriously, and all the hard work shows. There are new heater units in every room, all the rooms have been redesigned, and there’s just a little bit of landscaping left to do (Dennis says when the pool gets finished the place will blow people away). There’s even a great laundry facility available on-site (that Dennis was excited to discover). The hotel is definitely on the “up-and-up.” Dennis says the place is equal to a Best Western (in his estimation) — it’s got really nice furniture, good carpeting without any marks/stains, etc.

Also, FYI, Dennis said the owner, Shafiqul Khan, put him up in the Michael Wallis room, which really sounds like a suite from the way Dennis talks. It’s apparently well done and Dennis is loving it. Dennis thinks the room goes for $69 a night, and he told me (in confidence) “I’d tell people to get it while it’s cheap, because once the landscaping’s done, it’ll be worth much much more!” We both know Dennis doesn’t mince words, so now, from what he’s said, I even want to go stay at the Tradewinds Inn!

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