The Ideal Motel

Of the three Motels in Roundup, the Ideal motel is like a blast from the past, it has all the charm of an old-fashioned motel.

Part of the charm of the Ideal Motel is the friendly owners, Rick and Carol Aguilar. Who purchased the motel from Randy and Candy Joyce in February 2012 who owned it from 2004 to 2012. The couple bought the motel when they moved to Montana from California many years ago in 1997. Thinking that Montana would not be as hot as the desert area they moved from, they came to Montana on a year with a summer that reached 107 degrees. Often folks move to Montana expecting cool summers and snowy winters. If they stay long enough, they learn that there is no weather standard in Montana, anything, ANYTHING can happen when it comes to weather. The couple runs the motel without any other employees, and occasionally one of their friends will come to relieve them for a day off.

Through the previous years, the motel had a hair salon in the Main Street part of the building. Over the past year, the hair salon was moved, and the space was renovated by the owners as a new coffee breakfast room for guests. The RV park restrooms and showers were upgraded and remodeled, and the little motel is bustling with many long-term RV guests. With an old Motel there are continual upgrades that have to be done and one at a time they are continuing to make improvements. The Motel has nine RV spots and ten motel rooms. We all remember the iconic old neon sign with bulbs, unfortunately it was taken down before the current owners purchased the Motel, much to their disappointment. The new digital sign is no longer working, because of a hail storm, and the owners have not been able to get it to work again.

The motel office is "shoebox" according to Carol, but it is a nicely decorated shoebox office from what I could see. Rick and Carol have happily maintained and upgraded the small sweet motel that is such a huge part of Roundup's Main Street, and home to several RV's.