Revision 7

Overview

The Starlet Motel is a roadside motel located in Port Gellhorn, a gritty industrial and working-class area within Kelly County in the state of Leonida. The motel has become one of the most recognizable locations in Grand Theft Auto VI, appearing prominently in both Trailer 1 (December 2023) and Trailer 2 (May 2025). Its distinctive neon signage, vintage aesthetic, and association with the game's two protagonists have made it an iconic setting even before the game's release.

The Starlet Motel is a key location in the relationship between Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos, the game's dual protagonists. Trailer footage shows intimate moments between the two characters at the motel, establishing it as a place of refuge and privacy in contrast to the chaos that defines their criminal lifestyle.

Location

Port Gellhorn is one of the rougher areas in the GTA VI map, characterized by its industrial infrastructure, trailer parks, strip malls, and working-class neighborhoods. The Starlet Motel fits naturally into this environment as a budget accommodation catering to truckers, drifters, and travelers passing through on their way to Vice City or the Leonida Keys. The motel sits along a main road, its tall neon sign visible from a distance, beckoning travelers with the promise of cheap rooms.

The surrounding area features gas stations, diners, and other roadside businesses that paint a picture of small-town Florida life far removed from the glamour of Vice City's beaches and nightclubs. This contrast between the affluent coastal areas and the rural inland regions is a central theme of GTA VI's world design.

Appearance and Design

The Starlet Motel follows a classic American roadside motel design: a single or two-story building with exterior corridor access to individual rooms, a small parking lot out front, and a prominent neon sign mounted on a tall pole. The sign has the motel's name in a retro cursive font, illuminated by pink and blue neon tubes that give the location a distinctive glow at night.

The motel's architecture evokes the golden age of American road travel from the 1950s and 1960s, when independently owned motels dotted every highway in the country. Many of these establishments still survive in rural Florida, their faded signage and dated interiors serving as time capsules of a bygone era. The Starlet Motel captures this aesthetic perfectly, with its slightly weathered exterior, vintage color palette, and the general air of a place that has seen better days.

Interior details visible in trailer footage suggest rooms furnished with basic amenities: a bed, a television, curtains, and minimal decoration. The rooms are functional rather than luxurious, consistent with the motel's budget-tier positioning.

Role in the Story

The Starlet Motel appears to play a major role in the narrative of GTA VI, serving as a recurring meeting point and hideout for Jason and Lucia. In Trailer 1, the motel is the setting for one of the most talked-about shots: Jason and Lucia sharing a quiet, intimate moment in one of the rooms. This scene established the romantic dynamic between the two protagonists and immediately set GTA VI apart from previous entries in the series, which rarely depicted genuine emotional connections between characters.

In Trailer 2, the motel appears again, reinforcing its importance as a narrative anchor point. The recurring presence of the Starlet Motel across both trailers suggests it may be a safehouse or story checkpoint that players return to throughout the game. Given the Bonnie-and-Clyde dynamic between Jason and Lucia, the motel fits as the kind of anonymous, under-the-radar establishment where two people on the run might lay low between robberies and heists.

Key Details

Real-World Inspiration

The Starlet Motel draws inspiration from the countless roadside motels that line Florida's highways, particularly those along routes such as US-1, US-27, and US-441 that run through the state's interior. Many of these motels were built during the mid-20th century tourism boom and retain their original neon signage and vintage architecture. Towns like Kissimmee, Fort Pierce, and Lake Placid in central and southern Florida are home to numerous surviving examples of this architectural style.

Florida's roadside motel culture has been extensively documented in photography and film as a symbol of both nostalgia and economic decline. These motels often cater to long-term residents, seasonal workers, and travelers on tight budgets rather than the vacation tourists who flock to the state's beaches and theme parks. The Starlet Motel represents this hidden side of the Sunshine State, the one that exists far from the glossy tourism brochures.

The name "Starlet" itself evokes Hollywood glamour and fame, creating an ironic contrast with the motel's modest, rundown reality. This kind of aspirational naming is common among real Florida motels, where establishments called "Paradise," "Tropicana," or "Starlite" sit along dusty highways far from any actual paradise.

Cultural Significance

The Starlet Motel has quickly become one of the most discussed and recognized locations in GTA VI marketing. Fan communities have extensively analyzed every frame of trailer footage featuring the motel, mapping its exact location on speculation maps, recreating its neon sign in fan art, and debating its narrative significance. The motel's combination of visual distinctiveness and emotional storytelling has made it a symbol of GTA VI's tonal shift toward more grounded, character-driven narratives.

The motel also represents a departure from the series' traditional emphasis on luxury and excess. While previous GTA games often centered their most iconic locations around penthouses, mansions, and high-end clubs, the Starlet Motel is deliberately humble. It signals that GTA VI's story is as much about the people living on the margins as it is about the wealthy and powerful.

Trivia

• The Starlet Motel's neon sign has become one of the most reproduced images from GTA VI's marketing materials, appearing in countless fan recreations and social media posts.

• The motel's appearance in both Trailer 1 and Trailer 2 makes it one of only a handful of specific locations shown across multiple official reveals.

• Port Gellhorn's overall aesthetic, including the Starlet Motel, is reminiscent of the seedier environments in earlier entries in the series set in the Vice City corner of the franchise.

• The motel room scene between Jason and Lucia in Trailer 1 became one of the most discussed moments in gaming trailer history, generating widespread analysis about GTA VI's approach to character relationships.