Wigwam Motel — Hotel in San Bernardino

SECOND BAD person I've meet on ALL OF ROUTE 66 with some sort of Additude. I was going on my fourth ROUTE 66 trip East bound from Santa Monica pier with my family, we were on the Santa Monica Blvd part of Route 66 close by the "50's Cafe" calling to ask what the rates were and if they had any Wigwam teepees available because it was the summer time, and we didn't know if other Route 66 travelers were packing this place or not because we wanted to stay in it since we seen it coming West Bound, and see the other Wigwam Motel in Arizona. Trying to stay in the Arizona one but no one available to help us assuming it was a reservation type place on our first Route 66 trip. Thinking this was the same. My wife called, she was taking a bit of time trying to say what she wanted (which is typical of her) asking if they had two beds and the gentleman says emotionlessly "No." Then my wife confused because we've seen pictures of Wigwam with two beds in both locations. The California Wigwam West side Teepees have Two beds. So my wife trying to say this, the Guy got upset with my wife and hung up saying "I don't have time for this!!!" Me and my wife looking at each other shocked because this is a "Route 66" Business and people are usually really kool people, and if know like this, helpful to travelers. So she called right back and he answered "...Hello. blankly. My wife said "yeah, ugh you hung up on me??" The guy responding "yeah, because I don't have time to be playing stupid games!!!" My wife confused saying "we are just trying to see if you have any teepees open for us to use and if we have to call to reserve it? The guy saying "yes we have some, and you have to come here to get the room. I don't do resevations. If they're out, then they're out. (Sarcastically and upsetly)" so my wife says "oh, alright and how much?" Response from him "$70" my wife "oh okay, thank you" Response from him "yea. . . (Click)" we get there after gas Pasadena on Route 66 and and all the towns up to Rialto/San Bernardino area and stop in at the Wigwam Motel to get a room after a long tiring day. I got out this time and the to deal with the gentleman, I seen him enter the office, it was late so I walked to the window and waited for him to come back to the window for night service. After awhile of waiting he came to the night window, with a I don't care to be here additude and asked "yea" I said "I'm just looking to see if you have any Wigwam teepees available?" His response "yea...I'm do..." me "okay, how much are they?" His response ". . . $70" and before I could pay a maintance employee was yelling because he got some form of chemicals in his eyes. The guy upset with the situation, and yelling went back and forth between them. I didn't say anything, just waited to get my room paid for because I didn't feel like get the backlash of the anger going on, and I didn't want any of that stupidity because I was already upset how he could be rude to a lady not knowing my wife has trouble talking to people and saying things. So I paid for my room, and I was still exited to be sleeping in a Wigwam teepee Motel room and ready to go to sleep. I asked if there were two bed rooms and he said No. And I just say ok kool. And got my key and went to my awesome teepee room. It was bigger then what the outside seems, I liked the old classic rods around the place, rooms were "pretty, or color matching" which didn't make it seem like the Wigwam motels were restored, but the beds were clear, it had a couch for my daughter, it was old, used up, and stained so we throw a blanket over it and kool we all went to sleep. Woke up to see California sunshine, a pool I wanted to swim in but didn't because I didn't even swim at the beach. Had a coffee machine but don't drink it much so it wasn't used, flat screen TV s with good cable and good shows for us to watch while we got ready in the morning, and maped out more of Route 66 because hittin the road again. Over all I MIGHT stay there again, just hope this guy...

DO NOT STAY HERE. I grew up in California as a child and when visiting my great Aunt, we often drove by the Wigwam motel. I always wanted to stay there, but my dad, of course, said, "no. we live thirty minutes away. no." Thirty years later, my husband I are on a road trip. I was so excited and even more excited to share the Wigwam motel on my blog because it's such a unique slice of history. I expressed this to the management in an email when I reserved a room online. Never got a response back. No big deal. I understand my blog isn't huge, so I get it. When the day finally arrived that I got to stay in the Wigwam motel, I was excited. When I entered the office to check-in, Kumar, was there scrolling on his cell phone while I waited. He was not glad that I was there. I thought, he must be having a bad day. He did ask me my plans, I told him that it had been a long hot day, and taking a dip in the pool sounded really great and that we'd be going to the San Dimas Pinnacle Peak Restaurant--a fun steakhouse I went to growing up. He then proceeded to belittle me for wanting to go to the original one I went to as a kid. Apparently another Pinnacle Peak had sprung up a few minutes away from the motel. He described driving to San Dimas as a three hour ordeal and made me feel like an idiot for being nostalgic. (it was really only 30 minutes away). I shrugged because I'd never been treated this way by anyone. I was going to bring up my blog again at this point, when he handed my credit card back, but Kumar dismissed me. He literally said, "Okay you're finally done. YOU CAN LEAVE NOW." Obviously, he didn't want me in his office anymore so I Ieft. My husband I get settled into our room, took a dip in the pool and then got cleaned up for dinner. My husband took a few pictures of me before we left, which Kumar saw us do. After dinner we checked back into our room and went to bed. The next morning we got up early when the sun was low and the light would be good and took a few more pictures of the beautiful teepees and of me, for my blog. I couldn't wait to feature the motel on my blog. Next thing I know, Kumar leaps out of the office and tells us he's going to charge us a $150 photography fee. Like I said earlier, my blog is small. I'm not paying extra to advertise someone's business for them. I said I wasn't interested in that and we'd delete the photos so that we could avoid the fee. Kumar said he didn't believe us and was going to charge my card anyway. I said, "you don't have a posted photography policy any where so, that's extortion. I'm going to dispute the charge and call the better business bureau." That's when Kumar went ballastic. He was saying things like "i live here with my parents, my life is awesome!" "I'm recording everything you say!" "Most people are grateful for the $150 photography fee, you disrespected me!" "If you dispute the charge, I'll take you to small claims court and win! I do it all the time!" Kumar could not show us this photography policy. He ruined what should've been a highlight of our vacation. He RUINED it. I was shaken for days by his belligerence and erratic behavior. I called the police and we waited 1 1/2hours for them to come. The police apologized to me, they'd come, but several emergencies had sprung up. I cancelled the call because we were on a tight schedule. After our trip, I come to find out that Kumar didn't just charge me $150, he charged me $165. So now, if I dispute the charge on my card, I'd have to spend thousands of dollars to go back to California to appear in small claims court. He knows exactly what he's doing, but he's too myopic to realize his business isn't doing well because of HIM. I've never encountered such an unprofessional individual in my entire life. I worry for all the older people that take route 66 road trips that may encounter this miserable crook. Post note: With the help of the Better Business Bureau the money stolen from me was refunded and the owner has retaliated in his own...

I love this place. I own a clothing company and we recently had a photo shoot wherein we were going on a 'road trip' to Palm Springs. One of our first stops we planned on was The Wigwam Motel, due to its amazing history and feel.

I've been doing this for a long time and we were prepared to encounter some places that weren't okay with our taking photos. In fact, such an occurrence happened first thing that morning at a different spot. We tucked tail and moved on. Our next stop was Wigwam. We parked across the street and made our way onto the property and right away started taking photos. Eventually the owner Kumar came out and met us because we were shooting on private property without a permit for a business -- I totally expected him to. I talked to him about our intentions and after the initial greetings, we were HONEST. I came clean about what we were doing. He told us about their release, and the expense, and that these things are booked in advance. Again, I expected him to... But guess what happened? Kumar and I talked at length about my business, what we were doing, talked about the hotel, and we became fast friends. I'm not even very good at speaking to people in person, but Kumar had a cadence that was easy to get along with. If I could describe him in 1 word it would be "chill." If it could be 2 words it would be "super cool."

Justin Scarred's is a vlogger with awesome videos and he's such an entertaining guy. I recently saw one related to this Motel and it wasn't a nice one which left me confused. Justin's vlogs are his business. He's building a business, he makes ad revenue, he sells t-shirts of his own. It's a FOR profit business like mine. As such, I would expect that he knows many locations require shooting permits and releases. I would expect he would have to pay those just like anyone else (including myself). Why he DIDN'T expect that can only be attributed to the YouTube mentality of "No, we're just filming, you know, for a thing." It's candid, off the cuff and often real... but it's also filming on private property for a business. Maybe I'm taking a liberty guessing as much, but I'm flummoxed as to why he was upset that there was a release, why it cost money, and how these things work. In fact, technically, Justin should have pursued a permit from Los Angeles County in order to film, regardless of Wigwam's on-site policy. Most people don't, but one is SUPPOSED to.

Anyways, back to my experience.

Kumar and I came to an awesomely generous arrangement on payment for our being there and shooting. We kept shooting for another two hours before we stopped by the office to say 'thank you' before leaving. Kumar had stepped out to grab lunch, so we WAITED for him to return, that's how big of an impression he made on us. He talked with us some more, let me upstairs in the main office to see the old building and its spiral staircase, and he even gave us free t-shirts and ornaments. These are not the characteristics of an 'extortionist,' as Justin Scarred publicly insinuated, and I'm super bummed that he would paint him in a way out of his character. Kumar was this super generous, smart, and funny guy who owns one of the best things in that city, and we LOVED our time there. So much so I asked if he would take a photo with us before we left. He asked me to wait and he came out wearing one of our shirts!

I recommend The Wigwam Motel for lovers of adventure, history, Americana,...