Bill Buell recalls a bit about Flagstaff's  motel situation in the 1970s
Posted June 28

When I was first in Flagstaff, from 1971 to 1974, I worked as night auditor at the old Ramada Inn West on "Mike's Pike," now known as Highway 66 West, just after it branches off from Milton.  In those days, there was a scarcity of motel rooms in Flagstaff during the tourist season (balanced off by near zero occupancy during the winter, even when there was good skiing).  By the time I came on at 11:00 p.m., there were very few, if any, vacant rooms in town.  I, and other night auditors and clerks, kept track of the vacancies by phone.  "This is Florence at the Saga.  I have one room." 

At the Ramada we had long been full.  When someone came in wanting a room we would refer them to some vacancy we knew of.  With some of the larger motels we would not only make them a reservation by phone but would give them a "spiff card" with the name of the motel and our name. 

Just south of us was Andy Womack’s Flamingo.  Even then, it was so run down we hesitated to make referrals to it.  But on the other side of what we now call Milton (I think we called it Sitgreaves then) was a large motel complex, mostly one storey buildings with a rather small rooms, now mostly a parking lot.  This was a Nackard property. I am not sure which Nackard, but I would guess George and his Consolidated Investment Company. I have a block on the name of this motel, but will call it the Plaza. In addition to the buildings with small rooms, there was a new wing, with larger, nicer rooms, behind or east of them, which is now NAU family housing. Also, in a separate building, there was a fine restaurant, the Gables, now the Mandarin Super Buffet.

Early in the morning, after I got off work at the Ramada, I would stop by the Plaza office.  For each of my spiff cards a guest had turned in, I would get a coupon good for $1.00 food or drink at the Gables, or at the Nackard's other fine restaurant, the Steak House (that might have been the name as well as the function) on what was then W. Santa Fe, now W. 66. The building is now occupied by a mortuary.   Here for many years at the bar was an extraordinary piano player.  No tinkley cocktail piano here; he really pounded out jazz and swing-based pop.  Over the time I worked at the Ramada, I had many good meals and too many drinks on the Nackards.