The 50's Diner and Backseat Bar, Motel, & RV Park is exactly what it's name depicts, in that the business consists of a diner, a bar, a motel with 12 rooms, and an RV park with 38 units. The RV spaces have full hook-ups and access to a dumping station. The edifice is open year-round and can be found in the city of Cordes Lake, Arizona, which is north of Phoenix, about an hour away by car. The diner offers a variety of food in an atmosphere that is meant to resemble the 1950s era, as well as pool tables, darts, and sometimes live music. Dogs are allowed on the property as long as they are appropriately taken care of and leashed. There are a variety of outside areas that enables guests to explore the landscape, including ghost towns, recreational trails, and The Arcosanti.
Located on the 15 acres of land that is owned by the business, one can find the main office, a shower room, a laundry room, and a diner among the motel and RV spots. The RV park offers 38 units, all of which have full hook-ups, including water, sewage, and electricity for both 30 and 50 AMPs. Each site has space for an RV and one vehicle and comes with a picnic table already set up. 18 of the units are pull-through, while the rest of them are back-in only. Depending on how long a guest would like to stay, there are several sites that are available for long-term stays, while a majority of them are meant for short-term reservations.
The motel has a total of 12 units available in the single-story building and allows another form of stay beside the RV park. Each motel room comes with a microwave and a fridge, but the suites come with a kitchenette as well. Some of the rooms have king-sized beds, a few have queen-sized beds, and others have two queen-sized beds. Regardless of which room a patron decides to reserve, every unit comes with a private restroom. While the motel and the RV park are on the same property, they are separate enough that visitors to either location have mentioned that they cannot hear noise from the other space. Next to the motel is a two-bedroom and two-bathroom house that visitors can choose to rent if they require more space than the motel can offer.
The laundry room and showers are available to guests of both the motel and the RV park, offering one washing machine and two dryers, all of which are coin-operated. WiFi is available across the property, and visitors can find outdoor games and activities like horseshoes and cornhole as well. There is also a propane filling station that allows anybody to purchase and fill up their propane tanks.
The 50's Diner is separate from the other buildings and allows everyone, not just those with reservations at the motel and RV park, to visit and purchase food and drink. The restaurant is open from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. However, the bar opens at 2:00 pm but does close at the same time as the restaurant. The diner is also a place where guests can play pool, darts, and occasionally listen to live music that is performed by local musicians. When the weather permits, patrons of the diner can take their food outside and eat at one of the picnic tables or the gazebo.
Outside of the property line, visitors can explore the town of Cordes Lakes and beyond. The Arcosanti is a relatively unique place that offers tours of the buildings that serve as experiments to solve a variety of housing and land-use issues. In the cities nearby, visitors can find outdoor activities such as golfing at Quail Wood Greens Golf Course in Dewey or hiking, mountain biking, or horseback riding on the Black Canyon Trail in Black Canyon City. Several unique and historical places in the area include ghost towns like Cleator and an abandoned gold mine called Crown King.
According to the manager, the goal for the property is to strive for continual improvement and to give their visitors a place where they can meet friends. She would like her guests to feel welcome when they arrive and to enjoy their stay. To help accomplish this goal, the manager explains that "the employees do their best to learn the names of who is staying in which sites and if there are any specific needs that they might have while they are staying at the property."
The business does not often have events held by the owner or staff, but they have no problem with people having their own celebrations, so long as they follow the policies that are given. In the past, visitors have held events such as weddings and birthday parties. For those that are getting married elsewhere, they can go to the diner and get a free drink and appetizers as part of their celebration. Other events include more minor activities like family gatherings and friend groups that are on vacation. Some people that stay in the motel or RV park have weekly barbecues and get-togethers at the bar.
People who have stayed at the RV park or motel have sometimes left reviews of their experience. One of the aspects mentioned about the business is the cleanliness that is kept around the edifice. A review from someone who recently stayed at the motel reads, "Stayed at the motel and it was a pleasant experience. We got in late, but check-in was fast and easy. Rooms are clean and well kept. Dog/pet friendly too, which we love."
The '50s Diner and Backseat Bar, Motel, & RV Park does not allow smoking inside any of the buildings, though guests are allowed to smoke outside if they would like. Pets are permitted on the property as long as patrons pick up after their animals and keep them on a leash during their stay. Another policy that they ask their guests to abide by is their quiet hours which start at 10:00 p.m. and go on until 7 a.m. The business is unable to accommodate RVs that were made before 2000 due to potentially mismatched hook-ups. The manager explains that the older models don't typically have compatible hook-ups with what the RV park offers and that it can cause some problems for both the business and the guests.
The typical demographic of visitors that come to The 50's Diner and Backseat Bar, Motel, & RV Park tend to be people between the ages of 30 and 50. Many people that visit include families as well as construction workers that are in the area temporarily for a job. The best season of operation tends to be from October through April.
The 50's Diner and Backseat Bar, Motel, & RV Park has been around since the 1980s and started out as just a motel with about six spaces for RVs. Ever since Jack, the current owner, purchased the property in November of 2020, there has been a large amount of expansion where he added more RV spaces. The manager explains that she has been there for about three years and that her favorite part of her job is meeting all of the different people that stay at the RV park and motel, as well as those that visit the diner and bar.
Before Jack moved to Arizona, he had an RV park of his own in his previous home state, Oregon. He planned on retiring when he moved to Cordes Lakes, Arizona, but after some time, that plan wasn't as appealing to him. Later he found The 50's Diner and Backseat Bar, Motel, & RV Park for sale, so he decided to come out of retirement and continue doing what he had done before, which was running an RV park. According to the manager, "He purchased this place from the old owner and has made a lot of improvements." Some of the changes that he made include changing the scenery by adding an outdoor fountain and using dark and pink rocks as decorations outside. He also added a number of outdoor amenities, such as the picnic tables, horseshoes pit, and cornhole game.
In the future, the owner has plans to add additional RV sites, making their RV total go from 38 to an estimated 54. In addition to the plans of adding more sites, the owner also plans on adding storage units to the property.
19780 Hitching Post Way
Mayer, Arizona 86333
United States
Campground
Jack Lewis
Paul Schneider
