Motel 6 is a motel chain, which was established in 1962. Today the company operates almost 1,5 thousand budget-motels across the USA and Canada and is a part of The Blackstone Group.
The first Motel 6 appeared in Florida in 1962. It was one of the first large-scale American projects in the field of budget hotels. The founding founders of the chain, William Becker and Paul Green, decided to compete with the largest hotel chain in the United States at that time, the Holiday Inn. It was decided that the motels would offer their services at an exceptionally low price to make a better competition. The rate was set at 6 USD. This rate later became part of the chain’s name.
Motel 6 did not manage to keep the price bar of 6 USD per room, and today the average room rate at Motel 6 is 40-60 USD, depending on the region and season. Booking a room for the weekend tends to be a little more expensive.
Another hotel brand, which is managed by the chain Motel 6, is Studio 6. Studio 6 is a type of budget apartment hotel, that in addition to standard facilities provided a kitchen, appliances, and telephone.
During its existence the Motel 6 several times changed owners. Today the brand is owned by the Accor hotel group.
What is Motel 6?
Motel 6 is a chain of budget motels in the United States and Canada. Today the network, established in 1962 in Florida, includes more than a thousand motels in the North American region.Motel 6 also operates Studio 6, a chain of extended-stay hotels. The hotel brand is owned by The Accor Group.
The original logo depicted a red number ‘6’ written on a white clover figure. Across its middle, there was also the blue word ‘Motel’ made from big sans-serif characters. The background for all of that was usually a sky-blue color with a little white cloud in the corner.
They reimagined the previous design in 1986. It was now a uniform, dark blue square with the similar imagery as the one before had – except rotated and given some perspective. The colors there also changed to a darker scheme.
In 1995, a more digital logo was introduced. It was a dark blue square with a big red ‘6’ occupying much of its right. It had a white outline gradually degrading into single white pixels (small squares, more line). The word ‘Motel’ was written in tall white letters (outlined with blue) on the left half of the square, partially over the number.
The Motel 6 visual identity is bright and modern. Its simple logo is composed of a square with the brand’s name on it.
The “Motel” part of the inscription is vertically placed in the upper left corner of the square and features a simple sans-serif typeface of white lowercase lettering.
The star of the logo is the number “6”. It takes almost all the space on the blue background. Drawn in red, the number has a white outline, which creates a great contrast and makes the logo look remarkable and eye-catching.
The light blue, red and white color palette of the Motel 6 logo represents the brand as creative and energetic. Red is a symbol of warmth, passion, and love, which are important characteristics of the hospitality service company. Blue and white add a sense of professionalism and expertise, reflecting the brand’s reliability and confidence.
The minimalist Motel 6 logo looks strong and contemporary due to the use of the number as the main element and the bright color scheme.
The modest lowercase logotype, set in the corner of the Morel 6 badge, is written in a modern sans-serif typeface with clean contours of the letters. The closest font to the one, used in this insignia is Futura Maxi Std Book.
As for the color palette of the Motel 6 visual identity, it uses a very “American” combination of blue, red and white, which represent the roots of the company, and shows it as a powerful and professional one, also evoking such feelings as passion and energy.