Boots Court Motel — Hotel in Carthage

Delightful stay! A lot of character in these little rooms. We arrived later in the day and received checkin info via text before staff left, they were friendly and helpful. It was a great place to stop for a night. I’m a very light sleeper so travel with a noise machine, which did help to sleep as we were in the first room by the road and there were some louder cars. The blinds are also not blackout so a little bright but we ended up sleeping fine. The bathroom is packed with character, but quite tight with not much counter space and small shower (still fun, only sharing in case this is an issue for your needs). Overall, the architecture was so unique and having the radio on was a delight! Everything had a ton of charm.

In the morning, we tried to stop by the visitor center which ended up being closed that day. While we were sitting in the car outside deciding what to do next, a member of their cleaning staff saw us, let us in, and helped us purchase a few souvenirs! She truly went out of her way to help and it was so appreciated. A small gesture but helped us complete a keychain collection we started on Route 66 - not a big deal to be missing one stop, but made our day!!

Overall, great place to stop for the night if your expectations are accurate for what is offered (vintage boutique charm in a small town with friendly people, not a predictable hotel chain with certain conveniences like 24 hour staff on site, mini fridge etc.).

P.S. a travel tip if you’re arriving coming from the West, we stopped at Pops on the way and it was delightful to crack open a bottle of soda from the cooler...

Originally constructed in 1939, The Boots Court motel sits along historic U.S. Route 66 in Carthage, Missouri.

This motel offers 13 rooms, one of which (Room 6) was once preferred by the late Clark Gable.

The second part of the motel was built in 1946. The iconic and unique Streamline Moderne motel fell into despair, but was recently bought by a nonprofit, which has poured more than $1 million to restore it.

Each room comes with a radio - just exactly how it was when it was built! A local radio station plays music from the 1940s that you can tune into while you stay there.

There also used to be an underground garage that people, like Gable, could use to park. They could then use stairs that led guests straight to their rooms in the building - without ever once going outside and being seen. The garage has since been turned into the motel’s laundry room.

Rumor was that there was a tunnel that ran underneath the motel to the courthouse so that the powers that be could meet without ever being spotted.

Thank you to hotel manager Kim for giving me a tour of this magnificent and...

This was a wonderful experience! This motel is a beautifully restored set of buildings with attention to details that really puts you back into history. There was a cute little radio playing as we entered our room, the towels all matched, the furniture was tastefully done. For me cleanliness is huge so the sparkling clean sheets, floors, bathroom, shower, toilet were a real plus. The bathroom is all original looking tile too which was super fun. The wood floors were a bit scratched (hey it’s an old building!) but clean and polished and you really felt like the owners took pride in their motel. It is two sisters who took over when the building was crumbling away and they have set about putting it back to rights. They have really done an amazing job and they are still working on it which makes it an ongoing restoration project. Quite amazing place to stay not just for the experience of history but also just in general it was clean, well kept, attentive staff, and felt safe and valued as a customer. We will for sure be back when we come through Carthage...