Hiway House

Hiway House was a mid-century American motor-hotel chain established in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1956 by Del Webb, a prominent construction magnate and businessman. Webb was also known for owning the New York Yankees and later developing Sun City retirement communities. Hiway House emerged during the rapid expansion of automobile travel and roadside lodging in the United States, when motels positioned along major highways offered motorists convenient parking, overnight accommodation, and standardized service. The chain became associated with the Southwestern United States and expanded across Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. Locations documented during its principal period of operation included Phoenix, Holbrook, Flagstaff, and Tucson in Arizona; Albuquerque and Roswell in New Mexico; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Abilene, Texas; and several Southern California markets, including Los Angeles near Los Angeles International Airport, Blythe, Palm Springs, and Arcadia. The chain’s geographic footprint reflected the importance of long-distance automobile routes and the commercial growth of the Southwest during the postwar era. Hiway House was part of a broader lodging market that included emerging roadside-hotel operators such as Ramada Inns. Before launching Hiway House, Webb had been one of the initial key investors in Ramada Inns between 1954 and 1956. Ramada had been founded by Marion W. Isbell as a Southwestern roadside-hotel venture with ambitions for national expansion. Webb subsequently pursued a separate chain under the Hiway House name. Webb sold the Hiway House chain in the early 1960s. After the sale, the business adopted the name Sentry Hiway House. It continued operating into the period after 1970, but most locations were eventually sold, renamed, or converted into franchises of competing lodging companies. As a result, the chain ceased to function as a significant unified hotel system. The Hiway House name survived longest at a historic Albuquerque property in the Nob Hill section of Central Avenue Southeast, along the former route of U.S. Route 66. That motel retained its colonial-style architecture and a longstanding neon sign bearing the slogan “Sleep is our Business.” The Albuquerque property was reported to have remained under the Hiway House name until its closure in 2018. In its later years, the property was owned by Bicu Corporation and operated by George and Livia Strimbu. Its restaurant was no longer operating and the property was offered for sale. The surviving site represented the brand’s connection to postwar roadside travel, Route 66 tourism, and the architectural heritage of the American motel.

Hiway House was created in 1956 in Phoenix, Arizona, during the expansion of the American roadside-motel industry. Its founder, Del Webb, had built a career in construction and real-estate development and was a prominent investor in early Ramada Inns before establishing his own motor-hotel chain. The brand’s development coincided with the growing importance of automobile travel across the Southwest, where highways connected regional cities, tourist destinations, military facilities, and expanding metropolitan areas. The chain’s operating concept was the motor hotel: guests traveling by car could reach their rooms directly from on-site parking, while the property offered a relatively standardized lodging experience. Hiway House locations were concentrated in the Southwestern and Southern Plains states rather than being distributed nationally. The chain’s documented locations included Phoenix, Holbrook, Flagstaff, and Tucson in Arizona; Albuquerque and Roswell in New Mexico; Tulsa in Oklahoma; Abilene in Texas; and Los Angeles near LAX, Blythe, Palm Springs, and Arcadia in California. This network connected the brand to major intercity corridors and to the developing tourist economy of the region. Hiway House’s history was closely linked to the early competitive evolution of roadside lodging. Webb’s earlier investment in Ramada Inns gave him experience with a new hotel format that sought to organize and scale motel operations. Ramada had been founded by Marion W. Isbell, a Chicago restaurateur, and initially focused on Southwestern markets before pursuing national growth. Hiway House represented a separate chain developed under Webb’s ownership and identity. Webb sold the Hiway House chain in the early 1960s. Following the transaction, the business was renamed Sentry Hiway House. The chain remained active into the period after 1970, but its properties were progressively sold or rebranded. Some reportedly became franchises of competing lodging systems. This fragmentation meant that Hiway House did not survive as a substantial, centrally managed hotel chain, even though individual buildings and signs continued to preserve the name. Albuquerque was an important location in the chain’s history because it had multiple Hiway House properties during the brand’s peak. One Albuquerque site on Central Avenue Southeast, in the Nob Hill neighborhood, was located along the historic path of U.S. Route 66. The property opened in 1958 and retained its original colonial-style design and neon signage. The lower portion of the sign displayed the phrase “Sleep is our Business,” a concise expression of the chain’s roadside-hospitality positioning. In its later years, the Albuquerque property was owned by Bicu Corporation and operated by George and Livia Strimbu. Its restaurant had ceased operating, and the property was reportedly offered for sale. The site remained under the Hiway House name until it closed in 2018. Although the chain itself had disappeared as a unified business many decades earlier, the Albuquerque motel served as a surviving physical reminder of the brand and of the postwar Route 66 motel landscape.

• 2018

  Last reported Albuquerque remnant closes

  [1]Hiway Houseen.wikipedia.org

  The Albuquerque property was reported to have closed, ending the last known operating remnant of the Hiway House name.

• 1970

  Most properties leave the chain

  [1]Hiway Houseen.wikipedia.org

  By the period after 1970, most Hiway House properties had been sold, renamed, or converted to competing lodging franchises.

• 1960

  Chain sold and renamed Sentry Hiway House

  [1]Hiway Houseen.wikipedia.org

  Webb sold the chain in the early 1960s, after which it operated under the Sentry Hiway House name.

• 1958

  Albuquerque Central Avenue motel opens

  [1]Hiway Houseen.wikipedia.org

  A Hiway House property opened on Central Avenue in Albuquerque’s Nob Hill district along the historic U.S. Route 66 corridor.

• 1956

  Hiway House founded in Phoenix

  [1]Hiway Houseen.wikipedia.org

  Del Webb established Hiway House in Phoenix, Arizona, as a motor-hotel chain serving automobile travelers in the Southwest.

• 1954

  Del Webb invests in early Ramada Inns

  [1]Hiway Houseen.wikipedia.org

  Before creating Hiway House, Del Webb was among the initial key investors in Ramada Inns, a developing Southwestern roadside-hotel chain.

A Southwestern roadside-motel brand built around convenient automobile access, standardized overnight accommodation, and recognizable highway-era identity.

• Roadside accommodation · 1956

  Hiway House motor hotels

  The core offering was a network of automobile-oriented hotels serving travelers across the Southwestern United States. Properties provided overnight guest rooms and convenient on-site parking, with some locations also including restaurants or other customary motel amenities. The chain’s identity depended on recognizable signage and a consistent roadside-hospitality concept rather than on a luxury or resort proposition.

• Historic motel property · 1958

  Hiway House Albuquerque

  The Albuquerque property on Central Avenue Southeast was one of the best-preserved surviving examples of the brand. Located in the Nob Hill area on the historic Route 66 alignment, it retained colonial-style architecture and an original neon sign featuring the slogan “Sleep is our Business.” The property continued under the Hiway House name into the twenty-first century before reportedly closing in 2018.

• 1960

  Sale and renaming of the chainStrategy

  Background

  Hiway House had expanded through a network of Southwestern motor hotels, but the chain was sold by Del Webb in the early 1960s.

  Action taken

  The new ownership operated the business under the Sentry Hiway House name.

  Aftermath

  The chain continued for a time, but most properties were later sold, renamed, or transferred into competing lodging systems, ending Hiway House as a major unified chain.

  Source

1. 1Hiway Houseen.wikipedia.org