The Little America chain of hotels consists of 4 hotels in the western United States. The very first Little America, called Little America Wyoming, is 24 miles (39 km) west of Green River, Wyoming, and 35 miles (56 km) west of Rock Springs, Wyoming on Interstate 80. Built in 1934, the property began with two fuel pumps, a 24-seat café and 12 guest rooms. Today the location has 140 rooms, and expanded gas pumps for both truck drivers and travelers. For a number of years this location boasted of having the world's largest filling station, based on the number of pumps in operation — 55 in all.
A penguin was used for many years as their logo, and penguins can still be seen on the roofs at Little America Wyoming. The penguin was used on most of the numerous billboards advertising the Little America hotel. These billboards were located along Interstate 80. In partial reference to the famously remote Little America station in Antarctica they reminded travelers in vehicles at regular intervals how close they were to the Little America hotel and that there was nothing else available for many miles in either direction. The last of the penguin billboards were removed in the early 2000s.
Other Little America properties include the Little America Hotel in Cheyenne, Wyoming; the Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah; and the Little America Hotel in Flagstaff, Arizona. The hotels were named after the Antarctic exploration base, Little America.
The properties are owned by Earl Holding's Grand America Hotels & Resorts, who also owns Sinclair Oil Corporation.
Famous quotes containing the words america and/or hotels:
“In America few people will trust you unless you are irreverent.”
—Norman Mailer (b. 1923)
“Switzerland is a small, steep country, much more up and down than sideways, and is all stuck over with large brown hotels built on the cuckoo clock style of architecture.”
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)