Retro Hotel | The Thunderbird Inn

Posts Tagged ‘retro hotel’

July 31st, 2012

All Aboard for a Quirky Destination: Amtrak Train Travel to Savannah GA

SAVANNAH Georgia — If you are a fan of retro, you have an appreciative eye for what other people tend to overlook. You see the beauty in something from the living past, not just the ancient past. What you admire today, the rest of the world (or at least the rest of Savannah) will be raving over 50 years from now. You are not stuck in the past – you are half a century ahead of your time.

Train station Savannah GA USA rail travel

Train trip: Savannah Amtrak train station art

Take, for example, Savannah’s Amtrak train station (2611 Seaboard Coastline Drive, which isn’t really that far from the Thunderbird but which does require a vehicle and some navigational skills). Yes, yes, you can bemoan the loss of the old Union Station (which would have been in walking distance of the Thunderbird had it survived) as a misguided, short-sighted urban renewal disaster. But that doesn’t mean the replacement train station isn’t an underappreciated gem. It was built in 1962 (two years before the Thunderbird opened its doors) and it is a perfect little time capsule discovered on a train trip to Savannah, Georgia USA.

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July 30th, 2012

Popular Retro Hotel Mascot, George Monk Sock Monkey, at Thunderbird Inn Savannah USA

Allow us to introduce George Monk, our retro hotel mascot and one of the hard-working staff members here at the Thunderbird Inn, the hippest hotel in Savannah, Georgia USA.

Retro Savannah hotel mascot George Monk at River Street Sweets Savannah GA | Photo (c) 2011 Thunderbird Inn / Tim Nealon

Hotel mascot, George Monk at River Street Sweets, Savannah GA downtown

George serves as the Thunderbird’s official ambassador. Sometimes he hangs around our office, assisting with hotel bookings and supervising the popping of fresh popcorn to welcome Thunderbird guests. He seldom misses our breakfasts, either, when we set out hot coffee and Krispy Kreme® donuts, and he frequently offers to help us put out the MoonPies® we put on each guest’s pillow at night. No wonder he’s always stuffed!

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Posted in Americana in Savannah, Savannah Story Ideas | Comments Off

June 25th, 2012

Road Trip Near Savannah: Drive on to the Drive-In!

Are you a fan of all things vintage, including entertainment? You’re in luck! Your unerring retro instincts guided you to the Thunderbird Inn, the hippest hotel in Savannah. Not all the attractions in and around Savannah date to the teenage centuries (you know, 18^th century, 19^th century. . .) We’ve got a soft spot for the middle of the 20^th century, which is understandable since the Thunderbird was built in 1964. And we can steer you to places where the beat goes on for the Swingin’ Sixties. (more…)

Tags: drive in theaters, drive in theatre, georgia road trip, retro hotel, retro inn, retro lodging, retro travel, road trip, road trip near Savannah, road trips, savannah hotels, savannah inns and hotels, vintage lodging, vintage travel
Posted in Road Trips Near Savannah GA | Comments Off

May 23rd, 2012

How Retro Can You Go-Go in the American South?

Retro hotel in Savannah Georgia visits dog friendly art gallery

Retro hotel's pet lover visits Savannah City Market retro art gallery that is pet-friendly, too!

In the American South, how retro can you go on a single vacation? Without a functioning time machine, what wonderful amenities from the traveling past can you experience for the first time, rediscover with delight, or introduce your children to?

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Tags: all-american, american south, Americana, budget travel, buget hotels, downtown savannah, hotels savannah, lodging, lodging in savannah, retro hotel, retro hotels, retro travel, savannah ga, savannah hotel, savannah hotels, savannah hotels and inns downtown, savannah inn, savannah inns, savannah inns and hotels, savannah motel, the south, thunderbird inn, usa travel, vintage savannah, where to stay in savannah
Posted in Americana in Savannah, Retro Savannah, Savannah Story Ideas | Comments Off

May 6th, 2012

Southern MoonPie® Sweet at Thunderbird Inn in Savannah GA USA

In Savannah Forrest Gump actor with MoonPie® chocolate mint southern treat | Photo (c) The Thunderbird Inn Savannah GA / Tim Nealon

Forrest Gump actor on Old Savannah Tour shuttle with MoonPie® chocolate mint treat.

Savannah has a lot of moon references in its past. Like Moon River, by famed lyricist and Savannah favorite son Johnny Mercer. Or MoonPie® — “the original marshmallow sandwich” that became the famous Southern treat — is left on your pillow each night at the Thunderbird Inn.

Why MoonPies? Well, Southern hospitality demands we provide a treat for our guests, something a bit above and beyond what is required. After all, we’re the hippest hotel in Savannah ™, and we’ve got to earn our stripes with each guest! Most hotels that bother with a late-night snack for their guests opt for the conventional chocolate, but that wasn’t good enough for the Thunderbird Inn. It’s just not cool and quirky enough for the likes of us.

MoonPie, on the other hand, is as Southern as it gets. These iconic confections (fancy words meaning “famous treats”) originated in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Now, that’s well north of here (let’s face it, most places in the U.S. are) but it’s plenty Southern enough for us. And we give out the mini-versions, not the hefty pies that were originally invented as lunchbox treats for Tennessee coal miners. But it’s still big enough to tide you over to breakfast in our lobby. You can read more about the history of the MoonPie at the website www.moonpie.com (which you can check out with ease since the Thunderbird has free wi fi, unlike snootier places that charge for it.)

The MoonPie is about as Southern a food as you can get, short of grits. And grits would make a mess on the pillows.

ABOUT THUNDERBIRD INN

Declaring itself The hippest hotel in Savannah™, the delightfully quirky, Thunderbird Inn (42 rooms) is where the historic downtown Savannah location and hip motel eccentricities meet up. Featured in New York Times, Southern Living, Best10.com, TravelMuse.com, Dog Friendly magazine, the downtown inn-motel recaptures the southern retro spirit of the Swinging Sixties. The youthful General Manager, Mark Thomas, has directed the much-touted marketing toward a bold, free-spirited and young again approach, making the most of the popular resurgence of retro in the United States. Discounted Savannah lodging was never so much fun! Ask about discount local coupons, Staff Picks, MoonPie® on your pillow, and dog friendly / pet-friendly vacation accommodations. 611 West Oglethorpe Avenue, Savannah, GA USA 31401. Toll Free Reservations (866) 324-2661; International +1/912-232-2661; Fax 912-233-5551. Twitter: @TBirdInn; E-mail info@thethunderbirdinn.com; Web: TheThunderbirdInn.com

Tags: american south, Forrest Gump in Savannah, in savannah, inns savannah, moon river, MoonPie, MoonPies, movies savannah, old Savannah tours, retro hotel, retro travel, savannah ga, savannah ga usa, savannah hotels and inns, savannah lodging, savannah movies, Savannah tours, savannah usa
Posted in Americana in Savannah, Savannah Story Ideas | Comments Off

April 16th, 2012

Thanks, Brown’s Guides, It’s Good to Be Noticed!

Savannah Inns and hotels | Thunderbird Inn retro hotel

Brown's Guides fans recently named Thunderbird Inn "Best One of Kind Hotel in Georgia"

Word is getting around: Overdone and over-priced is not the only way to do Savannah. The Thunderbird Inn is on the receiving end of some kind words from Brown’s Guide to Georgia on just that topic. That’s us on their website (check it out at http://www.brownsguides.com/v/thunderbird-inn/) and we’re also on their Facebook page.

It seems the Brown’s folks are impressed by our retro style and our budget philosophy – and who wouldn’t be? Our circa-1964 classic roadside motel is as true to its era as anything you’ll find in historic Savannah. Our rooms are clean, fresh and charming – plus they’re amenity-rich. We’ve added just enough of today to keep your yesteryear experience sharp, with things like Wi-Fi throughout the Thunderbird. Pick one of our deluxe king rooms and you’ll enjoy such features as streaming Netflix and a Wii game system. All this for a price that won’t break the budget! Plainly, it’s no accident that we’re known as Savannah’s hippest hotel.

So thanks, Brown’s Guide, for noticing what we do. Keeping the history, but dumping the stuffy part – that’s us! We’re not like everybody else. We like that about ourselves.

Tags: Browns Guides, Browns Guides to Georgia, cheap lodging, cheapest lodging, cool hotel, downtown savannah, hip hotel, retro hotel, retro lodging, retro Savannah, savannah inns and hotels, thunderbird inn
Posted in Americana in Savannah, In the News | Comments Off

April 6th, 2012

Catch “The Boulevard” Travel Video in Downtown Savannah Georgia

The Thunderbird Inn recruited more than a dozen of its closest business friends to help film “The Boulevard,” now playing below and on a YouTube screen near you.

The name comes from Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, just a block or so away from our retro hotel. We planned the video to showcase the area within a couple of blocks of the boulevard – from Barnard to Boundary streets — a treasure trove of attractions new and old that often fly below visitors’ radar. Ships of the Sea Museum, SCAD Museum of Art, and the Georgia State Railroad Museum are some of the better known destinations in our new video, but we can introduce both tourists and locals to undiscovered gems.

For example, you can drop the better part of 20 bucks to lunch on famous soul food Southern cooking in downtown Savannah – and we’d be among the first to admit it’s worth every penny. But the Boulevard hosts an authentic soul food restaurant where you can fill up for a mere $5 on an equally memorable meal, seven days a week.

So check out our video. It’s a fast-paced preview of what’s in striking distance of the hippest hotel in Savannah! The collaborative video project was developed by Thunderbird Inn’s general manager, Mark Thomas, local marketing consultant Sandy Traub, and Guy Smith’s Popcorn Octane LLC digital production firm based in Hilton Head Island, SC.

For more information contact Mark Thomas, telephone 912-232-2661, mark [at] thethunderbirdinn [dot] com and on Twitter @TBirdInn.

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Posted in Downtown Savannah, The Boulevard | Comments Off

March 25th, 2012

Our Man Mark: Young, Hip and Awarded

Mark Thomas, Thunderbird Inn in downtown Savannah GA downtown

General Manager Mark Thomas named to 2012 GenerationNEXT in Savannah, GA

Hats off to our own Mark Thomas, general manager of the Thunderbird Inn (that’s us!)

Mark has been named to GenerationNEXT, a group of 20 (actually, 21 this year) business leaders under age 40 recognized for their business sense and humanitarian efforts by Savannah magazine and Business in Savannah (BiS). You can read Mark’s story, and those of his fellow honorees, in the March/April edition of Savannah magazine. It notes: “Mark Thomas found his business niche in the world of ‘retro travel’ by creating a uniquely Americana-style experience at the Thunderbird Inn.”

Congratulations to a forward-looking man who saw the future of the past. The circa 1964 Thunderbird got its groove back, thanks in large part to Mark, who crafted one of America’s dwindling numbers of classic Sixties motels into a fun, relevant and affordable lodging alternative. The Thunderbird is simultaneously the hippest hotel in Savannah™ and on the National Register of Historic Places. How’s that for versatility?

We’re proud of you, Mark! Give that boy a MoonPie® !

Press Release: Thunderbird Inn – March 2012

Tags: award winning, downtown savannah, forward thinker, hotels savannah, pacesetting, retro hotel, Savannah, savannah inn
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March 17th, 2012

Modern Amenities and Yesteryear Treats at the Thunderbird Inn in Downtown Savannah GA

SAVANNAH GA (March 19, 2012) — What if you could get the best of the present and the past in a hip hotel room you could actually afford?

Funny you should ask, because that’s exactly what you can get at the Thunderbird Inn, the hippest hotel in Savannah. Three special rooms – the deluxe king – have now been outfitted with perks that offer the best of modern entertainment, along with some retro treats that helped define “deluxe” back in the Swinging Sixties.

Let’s review the new (and new-old) treats:

• Magic Fingers! Yes, the real Magic Fingers! Time was, they were the cutting-edge amenity for circa-1960s motels. You dropped a quarter in a bedside slot, and the bed vibrated in a relaxing massage. Call it kitschy or call it kinky, it was a cultural icon. Anyway, the Thunderbird’s new Magic Fingers are better than the old version because you don’t even need a quarter to make them work.

• Vintage typewriters! Yes, texting had a grandmother, and her name was typing. To go with these venerable communication devices, the Thunderbird Inn will throw in a stamped envelope so you, too, can send snail mail.

• Wii game consoles, with games available from the front desk.

• Streaming Netflix®, where the thousands of movies and TV shows include both contemporary fare and vintage Sixties offerings, like the original “Star Trek” series.

• Radio alarm clocks equipped with iPod® docking stations, so you can go retro while keeping your ears firmly planted in the present.

The Thunderbird Inn also offers free Wi-Fi to all of its guests (sorry, we just couldn’t stomach the idea of re-creating the screech of the dial-up modems of the recent past.) But wait – there’s more! A tiny little mint isn’t cool enough for the Thunderbird Inn. When we turn down your bed at night, we put a MoonPie® on your pillow. Welcome to Southern hospitality!

See what we mean about the best of the present and the past?

Savannah Americana nostalgia | Thunderbird Inn has nostalgic Magic Fingers

Nostalgic 'Magic Fingers' in Savannah, GA -- FREE in Deluxe King Suites

Magic Finger, Wii, and Wi-Fi are only a few of the reasons to stay at The Thunderbird Inn, the hippest hotel in Savannah ™. Stay tuned, and ask us anything on Twitter @TbirdInn and Facebook.

About The Thunderbird Inn

Located in downtown Savannah, Georgia USA, the popular Thunderbird Inn is the poster child for southern retro travel in America. Offering a delicious, newly refreshed slice of Americana lodging, the classic roadside motel was originally built in 1964. It now features 42 well-designed and stylishly appointed hotel rooms, featuring new colors that blends authentic historic Savannah colors and Thunderbird’s original paint palette. In keeping with the fun hotel’s southern retro vibe, nightly a MoonPie® is on your pillow and Krispy Kreme® donuts are the highlight of an on-the-go breakfast 365/7.

Tags: Americana, downtown lodging, downtown savannah, downtown savannah hotel, free wi-fi, hotel wii, inns savannah, magic fingers, retro hotel, retro travel, savannah hotel, savannah inn, savannah inns, savannah lodging, travel retro
Posted in Americana in Savannah, Press Release, Retro Savannah, Savannah Story Ideas | Comments Off

March 11th, 2012

Learn Savannah-style Frugality at The Thunderbird Inn

Frugal travel retro hotel in Savannah GA | Photo (c) 2012 Thunderbird Inn / Tim Nealon

Retro travel rates at Thunderbird Inn in downtown Savannah GA

Frugal is the new smart! The Thunderbird Inn also knows frugal doesn’t have to be tight and stingy. Just look at our colorful, hip rooms – they’re clean, cheerful and cheap, so you have money left over to actually DO something in Savannah. (more…)

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Posted in New Vacation Spots, Retro Savannah | Comments Off