Enjoy Your Stay!: Western Inn Express by Adam Powell

Photo taken on 5/4/2021 in Room 22 of the Western Inn Express, Hazelhurst, MS.

“Enjoy Your Stay!” is a photographic series documenting the increasingly obscure microcosm of American culture that is the independent roadside motel.

While driving around the USA on road trips, my routes are entirely dictated by the motels that I want to visit and photograph. Before I travel, I spend endless hours obsessively trawling Google Maps for independent motels that catch my eye, this might be because of weird interior design, unsettling reviews, or a complete lack of information or photos.

The series was made while driving from Miami, FL to Shreveport, LA and back. Over the course of 2 weeks traveling from motel to motel to motel to motel, I got bed bugs, was bitten by a spider, became acquainted with hundreds of cockroaches, and nearly died 4 times.