Plan B Forum

Retro motels that arose in the 1950s and 1960s are seeing a resurgence in American tourists longing for a simpler vacation.

Doo Wop motels born in the era have come back into style in the past few years.

Through a rare combination of economics, geography and chance, the island of Wildwood in New Jersey contains a national treasure: the highest combination of mid-century modern hospitality architecture.

These hotels embrace a retro style of looping neon signs, plastic palm trees, cheap mini-golf courses and simple living spaces.

Industrial design professor, Mark Havens, spent 10 years capturing the tourist destination before most of them disappeared for his book Out of Season: The Vanishing Architecture of the Wildwoods, which was published by Booth-Clibborn Editions.

And though many of the hotels have since been demolished, the kitschy architecture and unadorned accommodations remind vacationers of a more simple by-gone era.