National hotel chain Motel 6 comes to Richmond

Renovations have started at the old Civic Center motel site as national hotel chain Motel 6 begins rebranding the property at the corner of 24th and Preble Avenue.

Built in 1957, the 49-room property was previously a Travel Lodge during the 1990s before its more recent incarnation as the Civic Center Motel.

Civic Center's new motel website invites you to book a room starting at $83.99 per night. The chain also offers specially designed rooms for those with mobility issues and disabilities.

According to the company's website, the Civic Center location will boast all the offerings of a typical Motel 6, such as free Wi-Fi in all guest rooms, welcoming pets and kids, and offers free internet and coffee.

The new Civic Center location is also close to 23rd Street, which offers many food choices and interesting shops, a bonus for those staying at the motel.

The national chain, headquartered in Carrollton, Texas, got its start in Santa Barbara, CA, in 1962 when housing developers William Becker and Paul Greene wanted to provide an alternative to other major, pricier hotel chains.

They settled on an affordable $6 room rate, dubbing the company "Motel 6,"
and envisioning an affordable, family-friendly motel with few "frills." The partners designed their lodging chain on a budget with rooms void of what they viewed as the "extraneous decor" found in more costly hotels at the time. At the time of inception, the typical Motel 6 featured little more than beds and coin-operated black-and-white televisions.

They also had no restaurant, cafe, or dining facilities, which still is true at most of the current locations today, which mostly offer vending machines as a snack solution.

Following the death of one of the founders, the company was sold in 2012 to The Blackstone Group for $1.9 billion. Motel 6 & Studio 6 offers more than 1,400 company-owned and franchised locations throughout the United States and Canada.