La Siesta Motel, 1602 N. Oracle Road, is closed and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy Friday.
The motel, part of the once- thriving Miracle Mile tourist strip, was restored and reopened in 2008 as a "hip, urban, funky and fun" place to stay.
One side of its sign says just that, and the other side says, "Bien Venidos A La Siesta Motel" or "Welcome to La Siesta Motel." But there was a "closed" sign Monday on the door of the bare front office.
Neither the principals for the restored motel, including Oscar Rendon, nor the attorney handling the bankruptcy could be reached for comment.
La Siesta is one of the centerpieces in the restoration of the once-cool neon-lit strip, an attempt to shake off the prostitution and drug-dealing reputation the strip got in recent decades. In a May 2008 Star story, columnist Bonnie Henry noted that La Siesta was part of the city's Oracle Area Revitalization Plan.
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The tidy Quail Motel, just to the north, is open, but owners Ricky and Champe Patel said business has been particularly slow this summer. Usually, Champe Patel said, summers are 50 percent as busy as winters, even 70 percent in good years. But this summer, she said, has been much worse.
"We've been here 15 years," she said. "All other years were better."
Contact reporter Dan Sorenson at dsorenson@azstarnet.com or 573-4185.