Best Western Coronado Motor Hotel, Yuma, Arizona

This AZ Motel with its Own Travel Museum is an Original Best Western

Apr 24, 2009

The Coronado Motor Hotel in Yuma, Arizona, is the oldest Best Western hotel in the world, a reminder that the chain was originally the best hotels in the western USA

The Coronado motel in Yuma was built by the Peach family in 1938, and a few years later became one of the first members of the world's biggest hotel chain, Best Western. Back then it had only 14 rooms with garages, but today it offers 127 rooms and 23 suites just two blocks from historic downtown Yuma. As well as being one of the first hotels in Yuma, it is now the oldest still-operating Best Western hotel in the world.

History of Yuma's Best Western Coronado

The Coronado is owned by John and Yvonne Peach, and Yvonne is the hotel manager. Their unusual and delightful surname harks back to John Peach's family origins in Czechoslovakia. The original family name was Pic, a common-enough name in their home country, but the immigration officers at Ellis Island told the family they didn't know how to spell their own name and changed it to Peach.

John and Marie Peach went first to Chicago, where John was an apprentice tailor. In 1916 John arrived in Yuma, opened the town's first tailor's shop, and in six months had saved enough money to bring his wife out to join him. As well as the tailor's shop they also ran the Vindom Hotel on Yuma's Main Street, in exchange for free room and board. Later they ran the Virginia Hotel and at one time were involved in running no fewer than seven Yuma hotels. In 1932 they built their own hotel, the Peach Auto Court, and in 1938 built the Coronado. Present owner John Peach, son of the original owners, was 10 when he moved into the hotel in 1939, and he planted some palm trees which now stand high against the blue Arizona sky.

Best Western Coronado Guest Amenities

The Coronado room rates include a generous complimentary cooked breakfast at the nearby Landings Restaurant, a full-service restaurant also owned and run by the Peach family. The Motor Hotel also provides free wireless and free high-speed wired internet access, a free library of several hundred videos and DVDs, two outdoor pools (one heated), a year-round hot tub, free parking, and free fax and photocopy services.

Best Western Coronado Celebrity Guests

One of the most famous guests at Yuma's Best Western Coronado was Bob Hope. Hope stayed at the Coronado off and on for about four years during the 1940s when he was entertaining the many U.S. troops who were stationed in Yuma. To stay in the Bob Hope suite, ask for room 119 when booking. Other celebrity guests have included musicians Charlie Daniels and the Mantovani Orchestra, although not playing on the same bill!

Best Western Travel History Museum

One of the Coronado's best features is the museum of hotel and travel artifacts and memorabilia, which is available for guests to see on request. The collection is housed in several rooms of what was the original hotel's main office, and items range from an early Jacuzzi and the hotel's first reservations system to a learning system on what looks like a miniature TV, delivering lessons on "How to Run a Hotel." There is also some of the original furniture from the Coronado company in Monterey, California, which helped to give the hotel its name.

Best Western Coronado Contact Details

The copyright of the article Best Western Coronado Motor Hotel, Yuma, Arizona in Arizona Travel is owned by Donna Dailey. Permission to republish Best Western Coronado Motor Hotel, Yuma, Arizona in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.