3335 East Van Buren Phoenix, Arizona
100 rooms, all king size beds, TV, phones, swim pool, in the heart of the finer hotel district, on U.S. Highways 60,70,80,89 & 93. AAA Approved. Hilton, Carte Blanche, The Diner’s Club, & American Express accepted.
The Bagdad Inn was located on the 33000 block of famed E. Van Buren Avenue. The avenue was known for its hotels, motels and lodges. I will post as many as I can find as I go along.
The Bagdad was built in 1961 by the Louis Porter Coporation of Chicago. The motel was decorated with an Ali-Baba/1001 Arabian Nights theme. The sign featured a man on a flying carpet soaring between “Arabian” style lettering. (The back of the postcard shows the detail better than the front of the card).
In June 1963, the property was sold to Arthur J. Moxham and Norman B. Conkler of Western Hotels Corporation, which owned the Caravan Inn located next door at 3323 E. Van Buren. The 80-unit motel was sold for $500,000.
Information after that is spotty. The motel appeared to last until the 1970s (not totally sure) where, like most motel properties built in the 1950s, it faded until it finally closed. The office part of the building is still standing but the motel is gone.