El Trovatore Motel - Kingman, Arizona

Carifaye A.

I drove into town late and didn't have reservations anywhere. The couple that run the motel were lovely and accommodated my stay very easily. I knew some of the history of the motel and how old the structure was and my expectations matched the luxurious quality exactly.
This motel is not for everyone.
This motel caters to the type of person who appreciates preservation of town history. Someone who enjoys seeing people investing their lives honoring the wonderful people and things from the past.

The room was prepared and decorated in honor of Marilyn Monroe. Included a refrigerator, a microwave, a personal business nook, WiFi, charging hub, and all bathroom necessities.
Bed was clean and comfortable. And the room was updated with new flooring.
The tile in there bathroom was preserved in the original bright color patterns which adds to the authenticity of it's history.

I felt safe and cared for while staying here and will stay here again.

Cliffe C.

Where do I start...from the boring town history to the somewhat questionable famous guests that have stayed there...perhaps photos of movie stars on the wall are included as patrons?...to the dirty sandbags, stinking reception office, to finally...our themed room! The Marilyn Munroe example, very few guests there at the time so you would assume "Sam" would put us in a better part of his historic "pride and joy", but it was...stinking of some wierd odour, the door being hanging on its hinges having been kicked in apparent by the severely splintered door frame, the chest height shower head, with faucets placed 6 foot away on an opposite wall. The dribble of water that I would not honestly refer to as a shower, a concrete garden column with a power board balanced on it to the non existant wifi. It was an experience that was the only disapointment of a great historic marker on the famed route 66. The Hill View across the road was only 200 yards away and my wife was tired, as a lot of others have said...don't believe the hype.

Sara S.

Omgoodness what can I say but view the room first before buying… there’s lots of places in town half the price that are way better, please do your research. It’s a quirky themed place and the reception room with concierge manager is stuffy, steamy and you need fresh air… he’s nice and gives you lots of great info for the town but forgets to gauge who or where you are from and gives you the run down on the town and marks all the places on your local map with coloured pens so you cant actually follow the map if you are new to town.. (get another map) he will mask the rooms as famous people have stayed there or in town but no evidence at all but besides that the rooms are awful. Our room had a leaking cold tap so you could not get a proper shower, cold or scalding hot…. The shower floor was sinking and a major slip hazard apart from being very unkept and dirty it was so small and weird set up. Just some soap, no coffee tea or anything in the room but water. The air freshener used was a sneazing frenzy. Bed bugs itch something…. No internet wifi until thirty seconds the next day as we were leaving the place. It was ninety nine dollars per night. Do yourself a favour and book another place for cheaper down the road. This is a 35per night motel. It needs a big overhaul Reno, plumbing, election and a major clean from ceiling to floor to even charge another $10 per night to a $45 per night. The only positive to this place was clean white sheets and a good makeup mirror, no real security either as the door looks like it’s been kicked in a 100 times over the years . Offer him 40bucks for a quick bed and shower cos that’s all it’s worth and we have travelled thousands of motels in the US this is not the worst but it’s in the region of the bottom ten!

LocalSUP666

We were intrigued by the load of malarkey spun up by the owner and booked one night while on a road trip that had us returning in two weeks. Evidently at some low and desperate point in their careers, Chip and Joanna Gaines renovated a room for a reality series on old and dumpy motels. This inspired some theme- related upgrades in other rooms. We stayed in the Marilyn Monroe room. It has her picture on the wall. That is the extent of the theme decor. The room hadn’t been thoroughly cleaned for some time with considerable dirt and cobwebs in the corners, and curtains. The door had gaps big enough for quite a bit of fauna to enter through and the frame was nothing but a botched series of repairs that emphasized the poor condition. We were not happy to discover a whole tribe of street people living on the premises out of the line of sight from the main building. Some were lying on the ground, others were living in cars. We were able to park right outside our room and hoped for the best. There is the remnant of a swimming pool that hints at the glory days back in the mid-20th century when the place was in its prime. The place is essentially all used-up, with the view of the back of the building from the street revealing a very distressed condition. If Kingman ever were to try and renew the town, Id expect this place to be one of the first demolitions. |Stay somewhere else!

Gail S.

Like the others, the owner talked way too much about random stuff upon check in. Finally got to our room and there was no hot water. Mattress was good but the sheets did have marks or stains on them. Got up in the morning hoping to shower and still no hot water. Luke warm only coming from the hot water tap. Hubby had a shower but it was so luke warm, he did not have to add any cold. I did not shower as there was no plug in or anywhere near the bathroom for a hair dryer. The only accessible plug was behind the mini fridge. I would have had to sit on the floor to use the hairdryer. Our phone was plug in to the same outlet but had to leave the phone on the floor to charge. We requested these two rooms that were renovated on the HGTV show. I could not imagine what the non-renovated rooms are like. Although it is one of the few remaining original Route 66 hotels, I would suggest trying elsewhere.

Sightseer39344067180

The owner Sam was nice enough, gave me a 30 minute history of the area which was pretty cool. The bedroom area was okay and seemed clean, but the bathroom grossed me out. I understand it is a historic motel but the bathroom sink was original with porcelain peeling. Also, could not mix hot or cold water, it was two separate faucets, no stopper in sink to hold water to mix it. The walk in shower was dark with no light and the tiles were the tiny ones that no way you could make it look clean. I refused to use it and took a sponge bath instead. The tub had a piece of plywood on top of it and was painted white. |The guys that were cleaning the rooms when we got there were nice enough. I think they must live in the rooms out back probably cleaning rooms for their rent. The rooms out back looked pretty run down. |I paid $100 for the room and $24 for my dog. It was supposed to be $25 but only had $24 on me in cash so Sam was nice enough to forfeit the dollar. For $124 I would expect a nicer place.|This place could be a great tourist attraction due to its history if some money was spent to update the bathrooms. Would not stay again or recommend staying there.

Brian C.

This place is terrible!! We stayed here because it's an historic Route 66 motel. Today, it's a disaster!! It was featured on the TV show Motel Rescue. It was in dire need of a rescue. Sadly, most of what was rescued is back to it's original condition. The owner charged my credit card TEN days before our scheduled arrival. When I asked why, he said it had something to do with the July 4th weekend. My reservation was a full week prior to the holiday. The owner is only interested in taking your money. It is obvious they have no intention of putting any of the money back into the hotel. We stayed in the room that was rescued on the show. The newly installed bedside tables were falling off of the wall. We had to pull the bed from the wall to access the only electrical outlet in the room. We found old McDonald's trash tucked away in the new dresser. The bed looked nice when we arrived, but it was a horrific mattress. The A/C and the mini-fridge in the room barely worked. The bathroom was outdated, gross and disgusting. My wife and I refused to shower. For some odd reason, there were old deteriorating sand bags right outside our room's door. The pool looked like it hadn't been in working order for years. The outside looked like something from a 1960's horror movie. It looked like the rooms out back were being rented on a weekly basis. We were told the owner gets very angry when he sees a negative Tripadvisor post but refuses to make even the most basic repairs. The room was extremely overpriced compared to other vintage motels along Route 66. Do yourself a favor and stay somewhere else. Lucky for us, it was just a one-night stay. And we will never stay here again!!

Jill H.

How this place has positive reviews is beyond me. We took a 22-day road trip across the country and stayed in different hotels, campgrounds, and vrbos every night, the majority of which were in this price range.
When we arrived, it was late, my kids were tired, and Sam couldn't just give us the key. He told us random facts (not friendly conversation, just trying to impress us with how he knew the Italian word for key, and 20 minutes of other bizarre trivia). There was no hot water, the bathtub was boarded up, the place smelled terrible, the air conditioning didn't work, and there were probably 20 cockroaches crawling in and out of the vents.
I went down and explained the issues. He said, "The air conditioning doesn't work?" The rest was no surprise. He told me he'd refund my card, but of course, he didn't. We ended up staying at La Quinta, who immediately knew where we were coming from when we explained the situation.
Sam is a scheister running a roach motel.
Save yourself the headache and the hundred bucks! Do NOT stay here!!!!