Official Press Release
ARIZONA INN NAMED ONE OF THE 2026 TOP 25 HISTORIC HOTELS OF AMERICA® GREAT AMERICAN ROAD TRIP HOTELS
An Arizona landmark born during the rise of automobile travel is recognized nearly a century later as part of America's enduring road-trip story.
Tucson, Arizona, 15 September 2026 - Arizona Inn in Tucson, Arizona, is pleased to announce it has been named one of the 2026 Top 25 Historic Hotels of America® Great American Road Trip Hotels, a national recognition celebrating historic hotels that have played a meaningful role in the story of American travel.
The annual list was announced by Historic Hotels of America®, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, as the organization celebrates the centennial of Historic U.S. Route 66 in 2026 and the enduring tradition of discovering America by road.
For Arizona Inn, the recognition is particularly fitting.
In 1930, the automobile was doing more than changing how Americans traveled - it was changing where they could go, what they could discover and how independently they could experience the Southwest. Arizona Inn was born at that very moment. Nearly a century later, the cars have changed and the roads have changed, yet travelers are still arriving through the same gates in search of much the same thing.
When Isabella Greenway founded Arizona Inn in 1930, automobile travel was beginning to transform the way Americans experienced the Southwest. Travelers had newfound freedom to choose their own roads, discover new places and decide where along the journey they wanted to stay.
Greenway saw something in that change.
Rather than create another roadside motor court, she envisioned an alternative: a gracious desert retreat where travelers could truly pause, built around three enduring ideals:
“Privacy, quiet and sunshine.”
Set across 14 acres in the heart of Tucson, the Inn's distinctive pink-hued Spanish Colonial Revival buildings, gardens, courtyards and casita-style accommodations created a place where travelers could settle in and experience the beauty of the Sonoran Desert.
Nearly a century later, the cars have changed. The roads have changed. Yet travelers are still arriving at the entrance of Arizona Inn looking for much the same thing.
That makes this recognition especially meaningful.
A hotel conceived during the rise of American automobile tourism is now being celebrated nearly a century later as part of the story of the Great American Road Trip.
Arizona Inn continues to offer road travelers a historic base from which to discover Southern Arizona. Located within easy reach of Interstate 10, guests can explore some of the region's most celebrated landscapes and landmarks, including Saguaro National Park, Mission San Xavier del Bac, the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Catalina Highway and Arizona State Route 83, before returning to the quiet gardens and familiar pink walls of the Inn.
The story of Arizona Inn also reaches beyond hospitality.
Greenway was deeply committed to the welfare of World War I veterans. Before opening the Inn, she established the Arizona Hut, a furniture workshop that provided employment for disabled and unemployed veterans. Furnishings created by these veterans became part of Arizona Inn, connecting the property from its earliest days not simply to hospitality, but to purpose, dignity and opportunity.
Elements of this remarkable legacy remain part of the Inn's history today.
The recognition follows Arizona Inn's induction into Historic Hotels of America® in June 2026, acknowledging the property's continued preservation of its historic integrity, architecture and distinctive sense of place.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Arizona Inn has remained a beloved Tucson landmark for generations. Over the decades, its discretion and quiet character have attracted notable guests including Clark Gable, Frank Sinatra and John Wayne, while its connection to Tucson has endured through nearly a century of change.
As Arizona Inn approaches its own centennial in 2030, its inclusion among the 2026 Top 25 Historic Hotels of America® Great American Road Trip Hotels celebrates more than where the Inn stands today. It recognizes a hotel whose story grew alongside the changing way Americans traveled through the Southwest.
One gave travelers the freedom to discover the Southwest.
The other gave them somewhere extraordinary to stop along the way.
Almost 100 years after Isabella Greenway first welcomed travelers through its doors, the road still leads to Arizona Inn.
About Arizona Inn
Established in 1930 by Isabella Greenway, Arizona's first congresswoman, Arizona Inn is a historic desert retreat set across 14 acres in the heart of Tucson, Arizona. Designed in a distinctive Spanish Colonial Revival style and known for its iconic pink-hued buildings, gardens, courtyards and casita-style accommodations, the Inn has welcomed generations of travelers while preserving the gracious hospitality and sense of place upon which it was founded.
Arizona Inn is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was inducted into Historic Hotels of America® in 2026.
About Historic Hotels of America®
Historic Hotels of America® is the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation for recognizing, celebrating and promoting the finest historic hotels in the United States of America. The National Trust for Historic Preservation was chartered by U.S. Congress in 1949 and is a private 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization leading the movement to save places where our history happened.
To be nominated and selected for membership in Historic Hotels of America, a hotel must be at least 50 years old; be designated by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior as a National Historic Landmark or listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places; and be recognized as having historic significance.
Historic Hotels of America includes more than 300 historic hotels from across the United States, the District of Columbia, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, each recognized for faithfully preserving its authenticity, sense of place and architectural integrity.
For more information, visit Historic Hotels of America®.
MEDIA CONTACT
Katherine Orr | Historic Hotels of America®
Director, Marketing Strategy & Communications
Tel: +1 202 772 8337
KOrr@HistoricHotels.org
ARIZONA INN MEDIA CONTACT
Cassandra Quirk
Director of Marketing & PR | Arizona Inn
2200 E Elm Street | Tucson, Arizona 85719