Some travelers like to stay in five-star resorts. Others prefer some grit with their lodging – motels with fun history, quirky charm and plenty of “character”(that’s what they call those mysterious carpet stains).

With a car culture and natural beauty that encourages roamin’ around, California is full of such unpolished gems. The Los Angeles Times recently rounded up a bunch of them for its “34 coolest, kitschiest, most fascinating motels in California.” These are motel-style accommodations between San Francisco and San Diego, built between the 1930s and ’70s, many with recent renovations.

The hospitality industry “might tiptoe around the m-word, but they’re bringing those properties back,” writes the paper’s Christopher Reynolds. “Every week, it seems, another revived California roadside lodging reopens, many of them festooned with the bold, space-age shapes and signage that mid-century design geeks know as Googie.”

Want a motel with a story to tell? Here are 10 listed in order of driving distance from the Bay:

1. Motel Capri: San Francisco (Marina District)

2. Hotel Del Sol: San Francisco (Marina District)

3. Phoenix Hotel: San Francisco (Tenderloin)

4. Beck’s Motor Lodge: San Francisco (the Castro)

5. Sea & Sand Inn: Santa Cruz

6. Le Petit Pali Ocean Avenue: Carmel

7. Glen Oaks Resort Adobe Motor Lodge: Big Sur

8. Cambria Beach Lodge: Cambria

9. Melody Ranch Motel: Paso Robles

10. Pacific Motel: San Luis Obispo

— John Metcalfe, Bay Area News Group