Roy's Cafe, Motel & Gas Station

A long and welcoming counter greets customers in the cafe which was added to the complex in 1945. The menu was limited to beverages and packaged deli style sandwiches when we were there.

It's not an illusion, or just the perspective of the photo, the roof of the motel office actually swoops up to a high point at the front corner. Look at the windows to see how much. This building looks like it was probably built in the 1950's. According to postcard images it predates the now famous sign.

Here's a view of the motel lobby and lounge looking past the reception desk.

The long closed motel included the original six cottages that were built around 1948, five are shown here but all six are standing. The cottage closest to the original motel office was apparent a two unit building, the others each contained just one unit.

The newer building was set back behind the original six cottages. The two story sections on the ends of the building each contained several rooms in wings that extended towards the foreground of this photo. At some point those portions of the wings were torn down, but you can still see a boarded up doorway on the second level. The number of advertised rooms in the motel varied over the years, reaching a high of 40 and then declining to 30 before it closed. Some reports mention an 18 unit building, which I suspect was the one story center section seen in this photo with the two story sections added later.

There was some pretty cool mobile art hanging around in one of the cabins when we stopped by in the spring of 2015. This is one of the cooler things we've seen on the Mother Road. The art on display in the cottages apparently changes from time to time. These artworks were part of the Golden Smiles Salty Tears by the Swiss Artist Severin Guelpa.

When we visited Amboy in 2017 there was still art on display in the cabins at Roy's, but there was also some new pieces display outside across the road. I don't know who the artist(s) were for these outdoor pieces.

I don't know what to call this , it's kind of a cross between Something you'd see at Elmer's Bottle Tree Ranch in Oro Grande and a Shoe Tree like the ome that more or less collapsed into a wash just east of Amboy.

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Vintage Advertising Highlights

ROY'S, AMBOY - CALIFORNIA - Highway 66
Motel, Cafe, Garage and Service Station. 40 new deluxe air-cooled motel units with tile showers. Air-cooled cafe, complete home cooked meals. Competently staff garage and service station. Airport with 4,000 foot runway. Diesel truck stop. 73 mi. west of Needles. 78 mi. east of Barstow.

NOTE: This postcard is from the 50s and shows a Shell gas station sign and the older motel sign as well as the cottages. This was before the modern motel office was built in back of the cottages.
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Photo(s): 2013 and 2015, 2017