Dateline--Huntington Beach, California & Huntington Shores Motel

Feb. 22, 1996

I like to interview destination marketers who promote cities they've lived in and loved for years, long before they became the public relations expert to promote that tourist spot.

So as the interview goes, the first statement I feed each is, "I remember when....." The person then is allowed to passionately describe remembrances of a place they now are trying to convince you and me we should visit.

So now as I look at this picture above of Huntington Shores Motel with is 50 rooms and heated pool at the beach, I like to remember when.

I remember when my aunt and uncle from Muncie, Indiana used to visit Huntington Beach, bringing their kids to enjoy the beach scene. Huntington Shores Motel was their favorite Huntington Beach Hotel. (They also liked Vacation Village in Laguna Beach). The rooms were not fancy, but they were comfortable at Huntington Shores. The owners were nice, the parking was easy, and the price was far less than $100 per night.

I remember when the Grinder Restaurant next door to the hotel served burgers, pasta, scrambled eggs, waffles and salads. When our non-profit group was formed, I got our board members to hold their first meeting at Huntington Beach's Central Library. Everyone loved it, but decided it was too expensive, even for a non-profit club. So they've been at the Costa Mesa Community Center for a third to half the price ever since. After a successful public meeting, we all went to the Grinder to eat a late night meal and discuss the lecture topic with our guest speaker, who we hosted at the Huntington Shores Motel.

The flashbacks from the past are fun to remember, especially when I read how dissatisfied people are today with the traffic and congestion in this once placid beach "town". As I sat through three stoplight sequences waiting to turn left onto Garfield from Beach Blvd. just to go home a few miles this afternoon, I said to myself, "I hate this place." The traffic has gotten unpleasant in the most densely populated county in California (Orange).

Those around me were watching TV in their cars, talking on a phone, or manicuring their fingernails. It was with mixed emotions that "I remembered when."

Note: Huntington Beach lost several hotels where Huntington Shores Motel, and the Huntington Beach Inn stood, but in their place are high rise, hotels such as the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort & Spa, the Hilton Waterfront Resort, and a new W Hotel on the Way. They are pretty nice compared to that old hotel, we must confess.