The La Quinta Inn airport locations are one of the best places to stay when you need a home base away from home that is convenient to both the downtown business district and the airport. Personally, I love the Pittsburgh Airport La Quinta Inn. Why? Because it’s the one close to where I live! I love stopping by for breakfast when my family and friends stay there when I’m visiting.
But they always ask, “What does La Quinta mean?” It sure sounds Spanish, but my sister, who is a Spanish teacher, could only come up with the explanation that it meant “the fifth.” Hey? So is La Quinta Inn the fifth hotel? Probably not.
I did some research. I looked for other places called La Quinta (not that uncommon, as you can imagine) and found an old town called La Quinta. According to his department of commerce, the word is archaic (that is, it is no longer used. Like Netscape Navigator and Big Mouth Billy Basses). It meant a hacienda or a rest stop along the way during a very long journey. Every five days, travelers took a load in one of these “la quintas”. So, there you have it: it’s where you stay to recharge on the fifth day of travel.
Now when you visit La Quinta Inn at the airport, you obviously won’t be traveling on horseback or on foot. But with all the tourism, business, and family visits, you can imagine what it must have felt like for those first travelers to take a break after five days.