The Milestone Mo-Tel was a motor-hotel in San Luis Obispo, California. The first motel, it was designed by Arthur Heineman to cater to people traveling by automobile. The hostelry offered rooms, staring at $1.25 a night, with a bathroom and shower and six bungalows that could each accommodate four to five people. Some units had private parking or locked garages. The main building on the highway was designed to look like a California Mission with a prominent bell tower.

Arthur and brother Alfred attempted to trademark the motel and build a chain of eighteen Motel Inns along the California highways, but the venture failed and their one motel property was lost in foreclosure. Most of the original Milestone Mo-Tel buildings were demolished in 2006, but portions have survived, including the mission-style bell tower. - AsNotedIn

A traveler arriving at night, or at any other time, need not climb out of his car and go into the office to register. Instead, the man in charge comes out to the car and one may register without leaving the car at all. That done, an escort is sent with the traveler to show him his rooms, his apartment or whatever kind of combination in rooms he wants.