Pik-Pak B - Mesquite Bunk

Fit to Purpose Positive: This artsy former-automotive-shop-turned-motel seemed liked the perfect choice for exploring Marfa, a speck of a West Texas town that was put on the cultural map by artist Donald Judd decades ago when he purchased and converted a decommissioned military base on its outskirts. (The cinema classic Giant was also filmed nearby.) The beds were comfy, though the couch and sitting chairs in the room's lounge area (we booked the two-bedroom suite) looked nicer than they felt. The view out front, past the installation featuring a carcass of a car and shell of a gas pump, was pretty desolate: rusty vehicles and ramshackle mobile homes. But perhaps that's the draw of Marfa: it's a Mecca for folks who appreciate converted civilizational detritus and repurposed cast offs. For us, a day and a half was enough to see all there was to see here, and this little motel on the edge of town was as good a place as any to take it in. Negative: We heard some noises in the walls at night and I spotted some droppings on the floor. While it's not unusual for mice to invade semi-habituated structures in the desert, it would have been nice to arrive to a clean room.