You Can Now Stay at the Midcentury Motel Where Bob Dylan Wrote His Greatest Album

“Supposedly his wife kicked him out for his transgressions—specifically when he brought his mistress home for breakfast,” Shendow said. He used the hotel as his home base for an extended period, and ultimately wrote most of the songs for the album in that space. Awarded a perfect 10 by Pitchfork and described by the publication as living “alone in Dylan’s catalogue,” critics often consider Blood on the Track as some of Dylan’s best work.

“I think the amount of time he stayed in room 13 and the way he poured his soul into that album has had a lasting effect on the space, a creative energy if you will,” says Gilbert. “The room truly feels special, writers always tend to be drawn to the room without even knowing the history.”

In 2015, the property was falling into despair, and Gary agreed to sell the motel knowing the new owners had plans to revive it to its former glory. After years of work, the hotel briefly opened in 2018 as the Native Hotel, but was damaged in the Woolsey Fire that year, and soon underwent another restoration period, before officially reopening as the June Hotel Malibu, in 2021. 

The Malibu Riviera Motel, a series of 13 connected bungalows, was built at the same time Frank Lloyd Wright was designing Usonian houses and American modernism was sweeping through the country. On trend, the humble, brick-clad suites all featured a flat roof with a notable overhang. 

Though the bones of the motel remain, each room now comes with a king-sized bed with a Casper mattress, remodeled bathrooms stocked with with Aesop products, vintage furniture offering subtle nods to the era of the inn’s origins, and even display photos taken by Wayne Wilcox. 

“It’s important to us that people understand how much history the property has and how much love and thoughtful attention has gone into preserving not only the original building the Wilcoxes created, but also the dream their family had—sharing this incredibly special part of the world with like-minded travelers,” Shendow says.