At least a dozen or so people each night stumble upon the Motel No Tell, and ask to rent a room.

Sorry – there’s no vacancy at the beach-front hotel, unless you’re one of the top athletes sponsored by the Nike 6.0 brand.

There is, however, plenty to see for anyone who wants to hang out at the remodeled motel Nike 6.0 has transformed into a surf-themed, hostel-like hangout where surfers come and go through the day, fans can get up-close to their favorite athletes, or where people can show up to schmooze at any of the surf-industry parties thrown during the U.S. Open of Surfing festivities.

Just a few blocks north from the massive tents built up to make a city on the sand south of the Huntington Beach Pier, Nike 6.0 paid for full occupancy through the summer to owners of the Huntington Surf Inn and did massive changes to the quaint hotel, a vacant lot next door, and an adjacent one-bedroom home sitting on an oil rig they rented from a local doctor.
CLICK HERE FOR A PHOTO TOUR OF MOTEL NO TELL

Last year, was the first time Nike 6.0 – Nike’s action sports line that launched in 2006 – created the Motel No Tell, down in San Clemente.

This year, there were two reasons to build it in Huntington Beach, said Greg Gorski, vice president of marketing for Nike 6.0. First, they wanted a place their athletes could go after their heats during the big surf contest. With many of them under 18 or without driver’s licenses.
They had no place to hang out for down time. Second, they knew their core consumer would be in town, and this was a way to reach their key market – the 14-to 17-year-old.

“We try not to overkill it and make (branding) over the top, but we add Nike touches with subtle branding, to make it so you’re immersed in the storytelling of the product,” Gorski said.
Walk into San Clemente surfers’ Kolohe Andino’s room, and you’ll see his boards lining the wall, a looped video of him playing on a flat screen, Jimmy Hendrix splashed his wall. Andino and a few friends even slapped cutouts of girls in bikinis all over the place.

If he’s around and doesn’t want to be bothered, he’ll lock the door. If he’s not around, it’s open for the public to peruse.

Nike 6.0 just started sponsoring Andino this year, and the 16-year-old’s presence is everywhere at the U.S. Open of Surfing, this year sponsored by Nike 6.0 and affiliates Hurley and Converse. On the side of Motel No Tell, there’s a 100-by-20-foot mural of the blond, blue-eyed surfer taking a purple wave at sunset.

Andino’s friend and fellow surfer Ian Crane stopped in after the U.S. Open of Surfing action, and said it’s great to have somewhere to hang out after the day’s madness.

“It’s rad, the crazy rooms with themes and stuff,” said the 17-year-old San Clemente surfer. “It’s cool to be able to crash, and not go home every night.”

Crane’s favorite room is the band room – where people can get on Rock Band to jam.

Besides the athletes rooms, there’s other areas people can hang out like the retro arcade room that has video games, pin-ball machines and the old school “Skate or Die” game. There’s also a photo booth room, and an area where people can download photos or cruise the internet.

There’s a Hurley room – the Costa Mesa-based surf-wear company is owned by Nike – that they took over and pimped out, dipping Phantom board shorts into resin to make lamp shades out of them.

While Hurley has a more artsy, edgy and alternative feel, Nike 6.0 caters to the all-American surfer and uses its Nike “DNA” to create products such as the “Full Court Board Shorts,” which looks like jersey material – yes, available in Lakers colors – but surfers wear in the water.
Much of the creativity of the Motel No Tell project came from Antonio Ballatore, HGTV’s Design Star’s winner, who Gorski ran into at Jacks Surfboards while Ballatore was buying sandals.

“He was all on board; Ballatore and his crew did an amazing job – they killed it,” Gorski said. “They had two weeks, it was totally transformed. Kudos to those guys.”

Workers leveled the foundations, upgraded electrical, re-landscaped, and repainted everything.
They even had interviews with the athletes so they could design each room based on individual personalities.

Next door to the hotel is an outdoor area where people can hang out during concerts or movie screenings through the week, complete with a Tiki statue, old-school RV, and Ping-Pong table.

The one-bedroom house next door has been transformed into a “customization diner” – with the theme of an old ’60s café where instead of finding food people can design their own graphics on T-shirts, sandals ($20) or board shorts ($40). Products are available at the Motel No Tell, with Nike 6.0’s new women’s line on display, along with special edition Motel No Tell shoes inspired by one of the pinball machines.

Shelley Coffey was found recently wondering with her family from room to room, checking out all the digs. They were staying at the nearby Best Western, and were curious about the action happening at the small hotel.

“We were sitting on our balcony and watching all the people come in and out,” she said. “I think it’s awesome, I think it’s wonderful they would do this for the public.”
The Motel No Tell will be around until Labor Day. For a schedule of events or more information on the Motel No Tell, go to nike6motelnotell.com

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