Saga Motor Hotel

The Saga Motor Hotel, along old route 66 in Pasadena is a mid-century classic. It was designed in 1959 by Harold Zook in a beautiful mix of Moorish fonts and details and mid-century clean lines and breeze blocks. Its huge neon sign has been designated as a Pasadena Historic Sign.

Our first retro delight upon checking in was to be given an actual key to access our room. There are adorable rooms around the pool, with tiny private terraces and breeze block privacy screens. We were in a second-floor room with a lovely leafy outlook. The rooms seem to have last been decorated in 1970 with old school brown floral bed covers and mismatched brown sticks of nondescript furniture. But it was neat as a pin and clean as a whistle, very spacious, and a little collection of books in the room was a lovely touch. Complimentary Coffee and pastries were served in the morning and could be enjoyed at tables dotted around the sparkling pool by the shade of the Palm Trees. The gardens all around the property are beautiful and lovingly maintained.

This is a genuine retro experience that we greatly enjoyed.

Incidentally it is situated right along the Rose Parade route. We already have thoughts about how fun it would be to stay here then.

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Southern California No. 189 -last visited July 2026