To be stuck in traffic, especially in a big city such as Los Angeles, New York, or San Francisco is inevitable.  Gridlock can not only be frustrating, but also tiring, and the first thing we want to do after a long drive is plop on the most comfortable couch we can find. Cue Stuttgart’s V8 Hotel.  It gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “falling asleep at the wheel”. This one of a kind German hotel boasts 34 elegantly decked out rooms paying homage to all things auto—complete with its own brew pub, rooms with original car parts and memorabilia, and of course, a vintage car museum.

The hotel can be found about twenty minutes outside of Stuttgart, housed in the retired terminal and control tower of Böblinger Airport – built in 1915. The military used this structure in WWI;, however it fell into disrepair in the nineties. Above, you see the front façade of the hotel coated in a retro monochromatic paint job with chrome signage, and below is the MOTORWORLD car museum housing a signature collection of vintage, classic, and collector automobiles.

The rooms feature elaborate automotive themed embellishments, such as Route 66, an old-school Drive-in, and a mechanic’s garage with an engine-turned-coffee table, shown below. The mechanic’s garage exhibits a late forties Morris Minor bed frame in classic British green and room for three. If only there was a room featuring our very own Shelby Cobra!

This guest room pays homage to vintage Shell memorabilia as well as a replica of the ’63 Beetle from Herbie: Fully Loaded serving as the bed frame. The room possesses an authentic gas pump from the 1920’s.

The Cadillac Coupe DeVille bed frame anchors the fifties style room to its heyday with a glow-in-the-dark ceiling and a closet crafted from an old ticket booth to pay homage to the American Drive-In.
If you’re into competition, as most gentlemen are, consider the room sporting Formula 1 flair with a victor’s podium as well as a side table crafted with authentic tires.

The control tower suite below houses a room paying homage to the Mercedes-Benz factory just across the street—it pumps out about 2,500 shiny new Benzes a day. Did our SLS AMG drive its first miles out of this factory?  Who knows—we can only hope!

Considerably one of the most unique locations in the hotel is the scrap yard themed guest room, with picturesque wall art and a bed frame with working headlights!

Possibly our favorite room is modeled after an American 1970s car wash, featuring another Benz bedframe.  It utilizes a rain shower head and a whole-body dryer, similar to something your exotic rental offering from our garage would enjoy.

Finally, what is a hotel suite without a view? The four story suite boasts a rooftop deck, sauna, and kitchen—all built into the airport’s former control tower. The V8 houses an American-style steakhouse as well as a breakfast café. The real kicker is the onsite brewpub where guests can enjoy a few liters of homebrew and eat some schnitzel. Rooms come at a range of affordability, anywhere from about $200 to $650 a night. Book your trip here, or just enjoy a myriad of more dreamy automobile photography.

-Evan W.