Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Arizona > Tucson
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 09-10-2009, 12:12 AM
 
Location: West of the Catalinas East of the Tortolitas
4,922 posts, read 8,569,659 times
Reputation: 8044

Advertisements

Back in the early 90's, when we'd come down here in March for Spring Training, we stayed at a place on Speedway and Wilmot called the Smuggler's Inn. It's logo was a very colorful parrot. At that time, it was family owned, had a meandering stream filled with ducks running around the property, held weddings in their gazebo often, had a putting green and several suites with full kitchens as well as regular rooms. There was outdoor eating, and an indoor, two story restaurant with a library, really nice lobby, nightclub, gift shop and well manicured lawns, ramadas and palm trees. It seemed to draw a really nice crowd of Spring Training visitors and we loved it. But, over the years, it fell in to disarray and the streams were a mess, the ducks left, the gift shop closed up and crime moved in.

I drove by there the other day, and not a thing resembling it remains. There's the shopping center with Bookman's across the street, the Credit Union, the Marriott, and some really nice houses, but the block itself is now a retirement home or assisted living facility.

Why, how and when did the Smuggler's disappear? We really loved it back in the early/mid nineties. Even after they got rid of the electric stoves for microwaves, we still enjoyed the pool, hot tub, putting greens, streams, ducks, eggs, and people. It was an oasis in the middle of an urban center.

Oh, well. Waxing nostalgic.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 09-10-2009, 11:35 AM
 
Location: Baja Arizona
2,916 posts, read 8,347,410 times
Reputation: 1141
Yeah, I miss the Smuggler's Inn as well. It was somewhat of an eastside landmark for quite a while, but age and mismanagement must have taken over, and it went the way of other such landmarks - like the Spanish Trail Motel & Restaurant did!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-10-2009, 11:58 AM
 
1,433 posts, read 2,981,515 times
Reputation: 889
It closed because of greed. Specifically one of the airlines back then (I believe NW Air) chose Tucson for pilot training and needed a place for them to stay. These were replacement pilots for the union pilots that lost their job during the strike. The hotel saw $ signs and decided to boot everyone out to make way for the pilots.

NW Air went into bankruptcy and never paid the bill.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-10-2009, 01:44 PM
 
Location: Baja Arizona
2,916 posts, read 8,347,410 times
Reputation: 1141
Quote:
Originally Posted by actinic View Post
It closed because of greed. Specifically one of the airlines back then (I believe NW Air) chose Tucson for pilot training and needed a place for them to stay. These were replacement pilots for the union pilots that lost their job during the strike. The hotel saw $ signs and decided to boot everyone out to make way for the pilots.

NW Air went into bankruptcy and never paid the bill.
Thanx for the info, ack-ack. I'd never heard what actually happened to the ol' Smuggo.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-10-2009, 11:15 PM
 
Location: West of the Catalinas East of the Tortolitas
4,922 posts, read 8,569,659 times
Reputation: 8044
Wow! Thanks actinic! I had no idea. I kind of figured it just changed hands too many times and was poorly managed because of that. That kind of thing happened in Altus, OK. Altus AFB had a glut of pilots for training, and only a couple of motels; the Ramada, Best Western and Falcon Inn, so pretty soon Hampton Inn, Days Inn and a couple of other chains built in Altus so the pilots weren't going to Wichita Falls or Lawton, but then, for some reason, Altus wasn't training as many pilots, and the hotels are now begging for business as there's nothing in Altus but the AFB.

I really liked the Smuggler's. I'm sorry it's no longer there.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-11-2009, 02:09 PM
 
Location: Tucson, AZ
1,389 posts, read 3,532,582 times
Reputation: 700
I think there were multiple reasons it closed, including the airline thing. I recall hearing about some sort of shady business going down with the night club operation they had, just a month or so prior to its closure.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-09-2010, 10:28 AM
 
2 posts, read 11,941 times
Reputation: 12
We stayed there something like 2005 in Feb. We had a nice corner room. The condition of the insides was getting bad, it was perhaps half occupied. The inside grounds were still beautiful; a pleasure to sit &soak up the sun. When the toaster didn't work, the maid brought us one from a vacant room.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-09-2010, 01:15 PM
 
33,387 posts, read 34,824,867 times
Reputation: 20030
i remember the smugglers inn, i applied for a night audit job there years ago. i also remember the desert inn, congress and I-10. remember that place? in its heyday it was a real nice place, but when i worked there it had become rather run down. at that time the owner was pulling as much money out of the place as he could. it was eventually torn down to make way for the freeway expansion.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-02-2010, 10:53 PM
 
12 posts, read 41,540 times
Reputation: 14
They tore Smugglers Inn down and replaced it with a Nursing home type complex.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-03-2010, 12:24 AM
 
Location: West of the Catalinas East of the Tortolitas
4,922 posts, read 8,569,659 times
Reputation: 8044
I've been past there quite a few times since I first posted this. It's Villa Hermosa, a Senior Living Facility.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Arizona > Tucson

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top