Abstract
Contribution to the "Windows on Warwickshire" online repository Note: In 1952 [Impressed by US motor hotels and motels, the millionaire showman and son of Pat Collins] John Collins is credited with opening the Kenilworth Auto Villas motor hotel [also, known as Rouncil Towers Auto Villas], centred [some eight miles from Stratford-upon-Avon] around Rouncil Towers country house, Warwick Road / Rouncil Lane, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England; Rouncil Towers [a modern mansion] houses restaurants and recreation rooms, whilst each of the initial 17 [textbackslashpounds1,000, air-conditioned] motel chalets encompasses wooden parquet flooring, twin built-in beds, electric cooker, step-down bath and iced water on tap - which is seen as Britain's first motel **. Collins operated aspects of the former Pleasure Gardens and children?s zoo [built for the Festival of Britain], Battersea Park, London, England, along with other amusement parks and fun-fairs, in Britain [such as the family?s Crystal Palace Amusement Park, Clifton Road, Sutton Coldfield]. ==================================================================================================== ** Accepting: [the 1934] motel-style [c.26 bedroom] "Hotel Cottages" complex, on the Great North Road / Wetherby Road, just south of Boroughbridge [where several roads cross a bridge over the River Ure], West Riding of Yorkshire, England; [laid out with chalets around a central restaurant and a row of, nearby, lock-up garages] each [centrally-heated] chalet having a sitting room and a bedroom, plus bathroom and toilet, although its lock-up garages [for motor cars], which were not integral to the sleeping accommodation, were some yards away [and charged extra for]. [the 1935] Summer-only [Canadian-style, timber-built] "Oakwood Rustic Motel" complex, Forres Road / West Road / A96 road, near Elgin, Morayshire, Scotland, Britain; where, also, the lock-up garages were some yards away [although there was open-air parking at the front]
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Place of Publication | Warwickshire |
| Publisher | Warwickshire County Council |
| Publication status | Published - 1 May 2012 |