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Wigwam Motel

Retro roadside
In Holbrook, Arizona
0.1 mi from Route 66

The Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, AZ, is a Route 66 motel where every guest room is a freestanding concrete-and-steel teepee, 15 of them set around the office. Chester E. Lewis built it as Wigwam Village No. 6 and finished it in 1950, and his family still runs it. It is one of three Wigwam Villages left of the original seven, and its teepees are widely linked to the Cozy Cone Motel in Pixar's Cars.

What is Wigwam Motel?

A working motel on the old road through Holbrook. The 15 guest units are tall cones of concrete over a steel frame, each a separate building with its own bathroom, arranged around the main office. The shape is a Plains teepee, but the chain that invented the design called its rooms wigwams, and the name stuck.

Vintage cars stay parked in front of the teepees, so the lot looks much as it might have in the 1950s. Part of the office is a small museum of Lewis's own collections: American Indian artifacts, Route 66 items and petrified wood.

History of Wigwam Motel

Frank Redford opened the first Wigwam Village in Kentucky in the 1930s and sold the right to copy it. Chester Lewis saw the one in Cave City, Kentucky, in 1938, bought the plans and the use of the name, and built his own village in Holbrook, the sixth of seven.

Lewis ran the motel until Interstate 40 pulled traffic away from downtown Holbrook in the 1970s. The motel then closed to overnight guests for several years. Lewis died in 1986, and his widow and grown children bought the property back, fixed it up and reopened it in the late 1980s. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002 as Wigwam Village No. 6. The other survivors are No. 2 in Cave City and No. 7 in San Bernardino, California, also on Route 66.

Visiting Wigwam Motel: tips

The motel sits right on Route 66 in Holbrook, so there is no detour. With only 15 rooms, booking ahead is wise in the summer travel season. Passing travelers can take photos from the street; respect the privacy of guests staying in the teepees.

The Arizona Rancho, an old hotel, is about 0.4 miles away. Holbrook is also a common base for Petrified Forest National Park to the east.

Updated October 9, 2026 · Written by Route 66 Trip Guide

Practical info

Address: 811 W Hopi Dr, Holbrook, AZ 86025
Phone: +1 928-524-3048
Website: sleepinawigwam.com
Hours: We have no opening hours for this stop yet — check the official site.
On site & nearby

Sources: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Wikidata · official site — may be outdated. Suggest a fix

On the map

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Wigwam Motel with the 6 closest stops. Tap a marker for details.

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Stops near Wigwam Motel

All of Arizona

Arizona Rancho

Holbrook, Arizona · 0.2 mi from Route 66

An 1880s home turned boarding house, hotel and motel, believed to be Holbrook's oldest standing building.

Historic hotelPhoto credit

0.4 mi from Wigwam Motel

Obed

Obed, Arizona · 2.5 mi from Route 66

A walled 1876 Mormon settlement on the Little Colorado River that was abandoned in less than a year.

Ghost townPhoto credit

8.9 mi from Wigwam Motel

Jack Rabbit Trading Post

Joseph City, Arizona · on Route 66

The yellow HERE IT IS sign and a big fiberglass jackrabbit have greeted Route 66 drivers since 1949.

Route 66 sitePhoto credit

15.5 mi from Wigwam Motel

Adamana

Adamana, Arizona · 3.4 mi from Route 66

The former railroad stop where travelers once stepped off the train to see the Petrified Forest.

Ghost townPhoto credit

20.3 mi from Wigwam Motel

Chevelon Creek Bridge

Winslow, Arizona · 3.5 mi from Route 66

A rare steel pony truss bridge from Arizona's first years of statehood, on the old Holbrook–Winslow road.

Historic bridgePhoto credit

20.5 mi from Wigwam Motel

Newspaper Rock Petroglyphs Archeological District

Holbrook, Arizona · 5.0 mi from Route 66

More than 650 petroglyphs cover the rocks at this Petrified Forest site, carved over some 500 years.

ArchaeologyPhoto credit

21.3 mi from Wigwam Motel

Questions about Wigwam Motel

Can you stay at the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook?

Yes. It is still a working motel, run by the family of builder Chester Lewis since they reopened it in the late 1980s. Each of the 15 teepees is a guest room with its own bathroom. With so few rooms, it fills up in the busy season, so book ahead.

Is the Wigwam Motel in the movie Cars?

Not by name. The teepee rooms are widely cited as the model for the Cozy Cone Motel in Pixar's Cars, where the teepees became traffic cones. The Lewis family has said Pixar never credited the motel, though the likeness has helped bring in visitors.

How many Wigwam motels are left?

Three of the original seven Wigwam Villages survive: No. 2 in Cave City, Kentucky; No. 6 in Holbrook, Arizona; and No. 7 in San Bernardino, California. The Holbrook and San Bernardino motels are both on Route 66, and all three are on the National Register.

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