Motel 6 opens in Dumfries. Is it the right fit?

A new motel is open for business in an old place.

Motel 6 opened its doors at the site of an old Holiday Inn near the intersection of Route 234 and Interstate 95 near Dumfries. The Holiday Inn is now located across Route 234.

The motel was built in the mid-1970s and has 118 rooms, a full-service restaurant, four event rooms. The motel has a swimming pool and courtyard that gives the model the feel of a small resort versus the closed-in roadside hotels built today.

A large number of rooms and full restaurant make the property unlike any other Motel 6 in the area.

“If you told me I would be working at a Motel 6 last year, I would’ve told you are are crazy,” said Richard Lyle, marketing manager for the motel. “There is something about this property, though, that makes it interesting to be here.”

Lyle hopes to bring in live music, weddings, and to host meetings and events at the center after improvements are made to the motel in the coming months. The expanded floor space makes it one of only a handful of places to hold events in eastern Prince William County.

Before it reopened as a motel, Lyle said the FBI used the building for training. He doesn’t know what type of training was done there. Large, heavy, sound-proof doors remain at the motel. They will most likely be replaced, said Lyle.

Also, before it reopened, advocates for the homeless in Prince William County urged the county to purchase the building and convert it into public housing. There was also an offer from a Richmond-based organization to buy the building and provide transitional housing for felons just released from prison, said Potomac District Supervisor Maureen Caddigan.

Caddigan said she’s pleased the building is occupied once again. However, she’s not happy with the Motel 6 name. She said will work with the motel owners, D.C. Hotels Inc. to change the name of the hotel.

“This area is prime for economic development and, frankly, the Motel 6 name is a hard sell for the area,” said Caddigan.

Today, Motel 6 advertises itself as offering the “lowest price” hotel stay int the U.S.

Motel 6 got its start in 1962 in Santa Barbara, Calif. as a discount chain offering rooms for $6 per night. The company still uses the “we’ll leave the light on for you” in its commercials.

A corporate fact sheet indicates the chain aims to improve its rooms by offering brighter color schemes, wood-effect flooring, and flat-screen television sets in all rooms.

The Motel 6 sits next to a Cracker Barrell restaurant and six other hotels located nearby. The motel has been successful with filing rooms with guests who make reservations online, or stop off of I-95 to stay for the night, said Lyle.