During its prime from the 1950s through the 1970s, the Howard Johnson’s hotel chain generated a cult following among design fans for its aqua blue and bright orange color scheme, A-frame lobby buildings and rooms with wood paneling, plush carpet and dark-hued bedspreads.
Although the structures of dozens, if not hundreds, of former Howard Johnson’s Motor Lodges are still standing across the United States and Canada, virtually all have had so many alterations that their original forms are barely recognizable.
That may soon change in Des Moines, Iowa. Christensen Development recently completed site work on its conversion of a former Howard Johnson’s Motor Lodge to a boutique hotel called Hotel MoLo, according to the project’s design architect, David Voss, a principal at Slingshot Architecture.
Construction may begin later this spring on the property at 2525 Grand Ave., which was most recently an apartment building. A former medical office building on an adjacent lot at 2515 Grand Ave. is expected to be converted into a restaurant that will be part of the hotel complex.
Voss, a principal at Des Moines-based Slingshot, stressed that while some of the midcentury modern stylings that helped make Howard Johnson’s famous will be retained, the new hotel won’t be a Howard Johnson’s replica.
“This is a new brand,” Voss told CoStar News. “We’re not doing a Howard Johnson’s.”
Midcentury modern architecture has a legion of devoted fans, and commercial developers have taken note, especially in the hospitality sector. In Long Beach, California, local developer Paloma Communities recently opened City Center, a boutique hotel that preserves its original roadside motor lodge themes.
Another former roadside hotel in Los Angeles, the Beverly Laurel Motor Lodge, has also been converted into a boutique hotel, as has Eero Saarinen’s TWA terminal at JFK Airport in New York.
Strong following
Howard Johnson’s has an especially devout group of fans. The website Orange Roof includes photos of dozens of original Howard Johnson's buildings. The Roadside Architecture website tracked the closings of HoJo hotels and restaurants across the U.S. and Canada. The last Howard Johnson’s restaurant finally closed in 2022 in Lake George, New York, according to local media reports.
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts owns the brand name — now just Howard Johnson without an apostrophe "s" — and operates about 290 economy hotels worldwide under that name. The current iteration of Howard Johnson bears little resemblance to the brand from its glory days as Howard Johnson’s Motor Lodge. But the Parsippany, New Jersey-based hospitality company is aware of the pull that Howard Johnson's has with its fans.
Wyndham designed a room at its Anaheim, California, location of Howard Johnson called “House of the Future” that recalls some of the brand’s original styling.
“We've created the perfect time machine where you can experience the ‘Retro Future,’ a blend of the classic design elements of the 1960's with convenient touches of today,” Wyndham says on the website of the Anaheim location.
Wyndham is also redesigning rooms featuring Howard Johnson's signature aqua blue and bright orange color palette, including properties in Detroit, Michigan; Niagara Falls, Ontario; and Ocala, Florida.
Wyndham and Christensen Development in Des Moines did not respond to CoStar News' requests for comment.
In Des Moines, Slingshot submitted an application to Iowa’s State Historic Preservation Office for certification as a historic property in order to qualify for tax credits, Voss said. However, very little of the original Howard Johnson’s remains, and the goal for the upcoming 80-room hotel is to create a brand that can stand on its own, he said.
“There really aren’t any of the original colors left” inside the building, Voss said. “The proposed color schemes we’re using are along those lines, but we’re not trying to make it look like Howard Johnson’s.”