Motel 6 is an American chain of motels with locations in the United States and Canada. The chain was founded in Santa Barbara, California, in 1962 by William W. Becker and Paul Greene, and derives its name from the fact that rooms initially cost $6 USD (equivalent to $64 in 2025). Motel 6 also operates Studio 6, a chain of extended-stay hotels. Becker and Greene opened their first Motel 6 location on June 1, 1962, at 443 Corona del Mar in Santa Barbara. Since 1986, the chain has also run radio advertisements narrated by Tom Bodett and featuring the slogan, "We'll leave the light on for you."

In 2012, The Blackstone Group acquired the hotel brand from Accor Hotels, and began managing it as part of its real estate business. In September 2024, Oyo Rooms, an Indian hospitality chain, announced an agreement to acquire Motel 6 and Studio 6 in an all-cash transaction valued at $525 million. On December 17, 2024, OYO's parent company, Oravel Stays, announced that it had completed the purchase of G6 Hospitality, which until then controlled hotels under the Motel 6 and Studio 6 brands. It named Sonal Sinha as G6's CEO.

Motel 6 was founded in Santa Barbara, California, in 1962, by two local building contractors: William Becker and Paul Greene. The partners developed a plan to build motels with rooms at low cost rates. They decided on a $6 room rate per night (equivalent to $64 in 2025), which would cover building costs, land leases, and janitorial supplies.

Becker and Greene had specialized in building low-cost housing developments, and they wanted to provide an alternative to other major hotel chains, such as Holiday Inn, whose locations were becoming increasingly upscale in quality and price in the 1960s, after starting out with a budget-oriented concept. Becker and Greene spent two years formulating their business model and searched for ways to cut costs as much as possible.

During the chain's early years, Motel 6 emphasized itself as a "no-frills" lodging chain with rooms featuring coin-operated black-and-white television receivers instead of the free color televisions found in the more expensive motels, along with functional interior decor, to reduce the time it took to clean the rooms. The first location in Santa Barbara had no restaurant on-site, a notable difference from other hotels of the era. To this day, most motels have no on-site dining, though there is usually a choice of restaurants nearby.

As the 1960s progressed, the Motel 6 idea became very popular in the lodging industry, and other chains began to imitate the concept, as Motel 6 was slowly beginning to take a small share of the market away from the traditional hotels. In 1965, Motel 6 opened its 15th property, and first location outside California, in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. Realizing the need to move quickly, Becker and Green set out on an ambitious expansion program and had opened its 25th location in Gilroy, California, by 1966. The occupancy rate by then was about 85 percent, well above the industry average, and as a result of their success, Motel 6 became an attractive acquisition target. Becker and Greene sold the chain to an investment group in 1968.

In the early 1970s, Motel 6 opened its largest location, Motel 6 Tropicana, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Additionally, the chain moved east and opened a location in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1972. By 1980, Motel 6 had reached 300 locations. It was sold to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in 1985, who moved the chain away from its "no frills" approach and began including amenities such as telephones and color television.

Market share declined throughout the 1980s, in part because of increased competition from other budget hotels. During this time, it bought out the Sixpence Inn chain in the western U.S., and Envoy Inn (formerly Budgetel and Bargaintel) in the Midwestern United States and Pennsylvania. Regal 8 Motels were acquired in 1991. In 1990, the company was bought by the French-based Accor. In 1993, it opened its first high-rise location—Motel 6 LAX in Los Angeles, California.