Best Western Space Age Lodge — Hotel in Gila Bend

My husband and I wanted to stay past Phoenix on our drive back to California. I looked on the map and picked Gila Bend. I had no idea how small it was until I went to pick a hotel and only saw 3 options. This one had the best reviews and looked quirky and funky!

On our travels, we love to stay interesting places with stories, not just lists of "customer care" mantras. To us, we miss the days where tired travelers stopped in to interesting roadside motels and were part of a story. This place has that!

It's a Best Western, so the rooms are supplied with the typical interior you would expect from a chain hotel (mini fridge, cable tv, big bathroom counter, comfortable chairs and bed), but if you open the binder located in the room, you can read about the interesting history of this place. Most of all - why is it a space theme?? :P All the little touches in the building and room are taken into consideration. Just for a night stay somewhere different and appreciate the special touches someone designed for you.

It's something straight out of the 1950's/1960's. The woman that checked us in was so kind and welcoming. As part of your stay, you are given a voucher for breakfast at the Space Age Diner next door. You get options for a fresh made breakfast and hot coffee poured for you! No lame line to get stale cheese danishes and buzzers for your waffle maker that you had to make. It was fresh, delicious and provided a fun environment for breakfast discussions.

What a nice stop in the middle of the desert. Make sure to read the story in the binder! Also, the Italian restaurant across the street is delicious and an easy walk...

This motel was surprisingly an amazing place to stay. The staff were exceptionaly helpful and professional, competent, and kind. The room was clean and already cooled with air conditioning on when we arrived. This was especially nice having come off the road traveling from CA. into AZ. in triple digits heat. The entire facility, including the restaurant within walking distance from the lodging, were decorated in an outer space sci-fi theme. The attention to detail was exceptional. Hand painted murals, paint with sparkling starlike glitter on the outside building, lamps in the room decorated like miniature rockets, garbage bins decorated like mars and moon terrain. No detail or surface was overlooked. The service was outstanding. This was truly a place to stay that was personally invested in and a place loved by the owner/manager. The occasional passing trains were not disturbing or noticed when sleeping but subtly heard passing through the town giving further charm and ambience to the out of this world theme. This place was a project of passion and love. I would absolutely recommend staying here. This was a welcome place to stay after a long journey on the road and many more miles to go. The beds were comfortable, everything worked in the room was well maintained, and beautifully decorated with...

We booked 5 nights here while awaiting the arrival of our new RV at the dealership. It was more affordable than the Phoenix area. I think that the purpose of travel is to have new experiences, so a kitschy place like this is right up my alley. From the night sky blue glittered exterior stucco to the spaced themed murals, this place has many unique and fun elements. The room and bed were clean and comfortable and had everything we needed. The light coming through the cracks in the shutters streaked right across our pillows, so it was challenging to avoid having it disturb our sleep. Noise was a bigger problem: trains pass a short distance behind the building, the highway right in front, the loud air conditioner, the sounds from adjacent rooms and the cleaning carts crunching by the door on the concrete. There’s not much they can do about the traffic or trains, but perhaps they could spread guests out more and get some rubber wheels for those carts. We enjoyed having the the pool area to ourselves for the most part, although the jets on the hot tub didn’t work. There’s not much to do, as the town had all but shut down at some point, but you can tell it’s in the process of some revitalization. The breakfast at the on-sight restaurant were mediocre and...