The historic Aztec Motel in Seligman, Arizona, probably will reopen by mid-August after its new owners transform the renovated Route 66 property into an Airbnb site and arts center.
Co-owner and operator Anna Marie Gonzales said in a telephone interview earlier this week she and her husband, Netherlands native Sebastiaan de Boorder, bought the property and took possession in January 2020.
They had hoped to reopen the Aztec earlier but were slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic and Gonzales being diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer.
She said she’s now “doing well” with the disease, and “I’m living my life.” She said the diagnosis also helped clarify what direction she wanted to take the motel, which has been renamed the Aztec Motel & Creative Space.
Renovations on the motel began in earnest in mid-January, with each of its eight rooms and one apartment refurbished with new plumbing and midcentury furniture they’ve found at local estate sales.
The center of the property, originally a guest house built more than a century ago that later was incorporated into the motel, will be used as a conference room with multimedia equipment and creative space.
The motel itself is believed to have opened along Route 66 in the mid-1950s, with a restaurant there added in the 1960s.
Gonzales said her background includes being an events manager. Her husband was a hospitality manager, so between them, she thinks their skills are ideal for the reborn motel.
She said she hopes to take bookings through the motel’s website — which would funnel to the Airbnb site — by the middle of August and draw tour groups or families that would use the entire complex.
“I think it would be a nice fit for the entire area,” she said of the motel. “My hope is by next year, we’ll have a lot of groups coming in and enhance other people’s businesses in town.”
Renovations also include the neon sign, which Gonzales said will be revamped by the YESCO sign company in nearby Flagstaff. She said the Aztec Motel sign would include new additions along with its classic look.
Gonzales also helped organize Beautify Seligman, which has undertaken cleanups of local roadsides and the yards of elderly residents. She said that organization may eventually repaint drab-looking buildings or clean vacant lots.
(Hat tip to Peter Corbett; image of the Aztec Motel courtesy of Corbett)