Page 150 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL MAGAZINE SUMMER 2023 LISBON EDITION

Not so!
Beyond the headstone, at the far end of the
parking lot, we noticed the sign in large black
letters that read "Amargosa Hotel". We were in
for another surprise as we approached. The door
to the motel creaked opened onto a large parlor
with a fireplace and display cases filled with bal-
let memorabilia. Our eyes grew wider when we
noticed the small blackboard inscribed with
"Welcome to the Amargosa Hotel and Opera
House, Sign our guest book". This we did!
We had entered the whimsical domain of
famed ballerina Marta Becket (1924-2017) and
her artful creations. Once known as Corkhill
Hall, the motel was renamed Amargosa Hotel af-
ter its besotted owner, purchased the 2-block
town consisting of the motel and its run-down
outlying buildings in 1967. But Corkhill Hall had
a distinguished provenance. It was once a hotel
for officials of the Pacific Coast Borax Company
working in Death Valley. When the Tonopah and
Tidewater Railroad stopped here, valets in
white gloves tended to the passengers.

150 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE SUMMER 2023