For more than 20 years now, Tom Bodett has been the soothing and melodious voice of Motel 6, extending a welcome to each of us to come and stay at the lodgings of that chain. His folksy commercials on the radio make it sound like a friend has prepared a room for us and will go to any extent to make our stay at the motel a comfortable one. Listening to Tom, we come to understand that Motel 6 isn’t one of those “big” chains that overcharge after luring customers with false claims. He tells us that the rates are posted in every Motel 6 lobby so we will know we are being charged a fair price.

            Early on, Tom Bodett became a kind of friend to us who travel. We knew that if we went to his motel, we would have a clean room with just the bare necessities for an affordable price. And it didn’t matter that we might have to pay extra if we wanted to watch TV or sleep in a twin bed or have an additional guest in the room. At Motel 6 prices, we could do without luxury because we were staying at a friend’s place.

            Who can forget that line with which Tom closed every invitation? “We’ll leave the light on for you.”

            Isn’t that what we do when we are expecting out-of-town guests at our house? We leave the light on.

            As the expectations of traveling Americans grew, Motel 6 stretched its hospitality. Just getting a cheap room was no longer good enough for many travelers. So Motel 6 added some amenities to make it “homier.” Kids now stay free, and we can even bring our pets along. We can get a room that doesn’t smell like stale smoke. We don’t pay extra for local phone calls at home, and we don’t want to miss our favorite shows because the TV doesn’t pick up all the right stations, so Tom takes care of all that. He’s even made our room “computer friendly” because we can’t leave home without our laptop. Not only does Tom leave the light on for us, he even puts on the coffee pot so fresh brew is waiting for us in the morning.

         &nb

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