Originally built in 1963 in Santa Rosa, CA, The Astro Motel was part of a chain of motels that went up across the country all bearing the same name and signature space-age design. It flourished in the heydey of the American motor lodge only to fall into seediness and disrepair as the millennium came and went, the slick newness of the digital age usurping the charm of mid-century style. The Astro was long regarded by locals as a place to avoid, but its potential spoke to the team behind the nearby restaurant The Spinster Sisters, which has been lauded as one of Santa Rosa’s best and is led by James Beard Award winner Liza Hinman.

What followed the Astro’s purchase by the Spinster Sisters team was a thoughtful and ambitious renovation, largely carried out by local artists and artisans whose work can be seen throughout the motel. From the custom railings inspired by the Astro’s original phone switchboard, to a brand new sign more perfectly space age than the original, to custom tiled bathrooms in the motel’s signature colors, every detail aims to celebrate the Astro’s history while improving upon the original. And the original is still very much present: the switchboard now resides in the guest lounge as a fixture for the curious, and the original sign borders an outdoor firepit in one of the motel’s edible gardens.

In 2017 Santa Rosa was devastated by wildfires and The Astro, not yet open, became a refuge for evacuees. In 2020, faced again with a community in crisis, The Astro opened its doors for unhoused persons to safely quarantine during the Covid-19 lockdowns. While the renovated motel officially opened on January 18, 2018, it has served Santa Rosa in myriad ways both before and since.

And now, we hope, it will serve you. The Astro provides visitors to Sonoma County an affordable, central, comfortably designed headquarters to explore all that our bounteous corner of California has to offer. It has received accolades and features from Vogue, Sunset Magazine, GQ, Sonoma Magazine, SF Weekly, Eater San Francisco, The North Bay Bohemian, and The Press Democrat.