Motel Blues

Not so long ago the Crest and Western motels in Los Angeles charged only $7 a night and their rooms still went begging. Now they are charging $26.50 --and turning customers away. The difference is that the two motels now show blue movies in their rooms over closed-circuit television.

The Crest's manager, Nick Valenta, has a ready explanation: "About 90% of our guests," he says, "are married couples who always wanted to see this stuff but didn't want to go out to a skin flick in a bar. Now they can watch in the privacy of their own room."

How Valenta can be sure of his guests' marital status, he cannot say, but in deference to their sensibilities, both motels feature only "softcore" movies that are less explicit than the fleshy dramas projected in skin-flick houses (sample titles: Peeping Melvin, Lusting for Life). For most registrants, soft-core seems quite sufficient.

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