Interview 137: How Brian Acosta Arya Found His Motel Heaven
A motel manager on TikTok fame, failure and success, and the importance of storytelling
EDGEWATER, NEW JERSEY
May 28, 2025
STRANGER: Brian Acosta Arya
LOCATION: SGD Tofu & B.B.Q, 725 River Road, Edgewater, New Jersey
THEME: A motel manager on TikTok fame, storytelling, and why he still believes in altruism
With over 1.1 million followers, it’s fair to call Brian Acosta Arya’s TikTok account – Brian the Motel Guy – a success. He shares often deeply personal stories about his family’s budget motel in New Jersey. Some are funny, others heartbreaking, all of them expertly told.
Ask Brian what gave him the confidence that the videos would resonate, and you get a thoughtful, honest and unhurried answer, the kind that deserves its own reel.
“What gave me the idea that maybe it would succeed is having confidence from a failed reality show about the motel,” he says as we meet for lunch on a drizzly Wednesday. “And it’s funny, because I haven’t really talked about it in my content. And now I’m ready to talk.”
In 2013, Brian spotted an audition call for a planned country music television reality show featuring friends pranking each other. If that sounds like the show “Impractical Jokers,” there’s good reason. James Murray, one of the stars of that hit, was a producer on the new idea.
Brian rounded up three college friends to give it a go, putting together an audition tape using the motel as backdrop. “It was me, another Filipino, a Puerto Rican guy and a Chinese guy. We were not cut out for country music television,” he says with a laugh. What caught Murray’s attention wasn’t the group’s antics but rather where they filmed the tape.
Murray wanted to know more about the Lincoln Tunnel Motel, a one-floor low-cost spot in North Bergen, just across the Hudson River from Manhattan. It faces an always busy road, sticking out among the taller industrial buildings nearby handling meat, rugs, granite and more. He took a tour, met longtime resident Steven – more on him later – and inspiration struck. He asked if Brian and his friends wanted to instead plan a show around the motel called “Motel Hell.”
“He was the TV mastermind, so I said, ‘Give us a scenario.’ And we made up something. We used the spirit of my father running motels all my life and wanting me to follow in his footsteps, but then we fabricated the rest. We said my dad was giving me a year to renovate the motel and then he’ll give it to me, and my friends come round to help renovate.”
Murray’s team filmed a sizzle reel – a video showing the main characters for the potential show. Comedy writers came on board to coach Brian and the others on improvisation and then added made-up characters like a trans man playing a prostitute. They wanted this character to clash with Brian’s then-wife, who worked at the motel, hoping to emulate the success of the “Real Housewives” shows where champagne is always flying in rich women’s heavily bronzed faces. “It was very fucking strange,” says Brian.
“It wasn’t just a little problematic, it was a lot problematic.” Brian’s YouTube channel has the reel and it’s loud, overplays the motel’s dirtiness, and turns the motel and the people there into a punchline. Watch it and you’ll think the venue is a seedy by-the-hour sex dump, with more roaches than residents (the reel more than belabors the idea that the place is overrun by them).
Despite Brian’s hope to get the motel’s story out to a large audience, even with his misgivings, the show idea didn’t get any takers and never went anywhere. The rejection discouraged him for several years about telling his stories. But his reflection on the reel helped set in motion the concept that would ultimately lead to him starting on TikTok.
“I suddenly realized that I wanted to tell the story a little bit more seriously and realistic. It was a world I’d grown up in. These weren’t characters, you know? The owner and his son, that’s very real. There’s a lot at stake here. We can’t be punching down on our clients.”
I suggest the show concept fizzling out was a blessing, noting how it was mostly made-up content, whereas he’s found legitimate popularity filming authentic videos.
“Right,” he says. “And now I can control the narrative.”
Brian grew up around North Bergen, where the motel is located, and throughout our two-plus hours together repeatedly says how fond he is of the area and its people. So it makes sense he wants to tell stories honestly and with empathy, rather than making them up for a joke.
He’s been sharing such tales since childhood in various ways. When he was 14, he started seeing a therapist, who encouraged him to use journals for writing about his experiences and feelings. “Shout out to Dr. Michaels because she really helped me find my voice through telling my story. Ever since then I’ve been okay with talking about things.”
Performing makes sense, as Brian exudes warmth. Despite being dressed all in black when we meet, he projects optimism and happiness. As his million-plus viewers already know, he speaks in a relaxed, thoughtful cadence with the occasional clever one-liner, coupled with his charming smile.
What viewers see on TikTok has been decades in the making.
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A longtime fan of rap, Brian was inspired in his teens to try out for talent shows, using his writing as material. “My dad was really gung ho about letting me follow my dreams. I know there’s a lot of people with my background that are not afforded that kind of support from their parents. But he was in the audience for all those talent shows.”
Bitten by the performing bug, he wanted to try and make it in Hollywood. He agreed with his dad that if he hadn’t cracked the industry after a year that he would return to work at the motel. “It was 2011, I remember getting to LA and I was just miserable, I was not booking anything. It was just that classic LA actor struggle, I wasn’t comfortable.”
When the one-year lease on his California apartment ended, he came back east. “I missed my friends, my dad, being able to go to New York City whenever I wanted.”
Brian’s father offered him the motel’s night shift, checking people in from behind the bulletproof window in the venue’s small lobby. It meant he could still audition for shows during the day, albeit having to sacrifice sleep for such a packed schedule. And he scored an early gig, including for a show called “Girlhatten” that ultimately never aired.
But the motel and its check-in chronicles kept calling.
Since moving back to New Jersey, Brian kept auditioning. “I didn’t give up on the idea that something could break. I didn’t realize that it would have to come from myself.”
In 2019, he created a TikTok account, posting videos of just 30 seconds to a minute, far different from the often minutes-long narratives he now posts. “I didn’t yet have the confidence that someone would listen to me yap like that.”
An early taste of going viral online came with him lip-syncing at the motel to a Bryson Tiller song. It was a goofy throwaway skit in his mind – but one that got over 500,000 views. The positive comments from viewers inspired him to flex his creative muscles, starting his journey of posting heartfelt stories about his motel life.
The almost countless videos posted to the TikTok account show his range.
One features clips of the motel, a guest Mike and Brian as he narrates just what the place and its people mean to him. “I leave room 123’s door open any chance I get because the boy who took his life in that room doesn’t like it closed and reminds me every so often,” his voice-over says. “I get criticized for taking in the people other motels don’t want because, in their words not mine, I’m only encouraging bad behavior. But how else would I learn why addicts carry around Brillo pads? How their pipes look like the ones I’d find in my mom’s dresser?”
Nothing is said in a judgmental tone. It’s considerate, compassionate and gives a voice to people that many in society could all too easily discount or judge.
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Another features Steven, a resident of the motel for decades who volunteers as a maid. With his buoyant head of black hair, rose-tinted aviator glasses and magenta shirt he looks like a finalist in an Elvis Presley lookalike contest. He speaks with a thick New York accent and has an impeccable deadpan wit and direct way of speaking, pairing beautifully with Brian. In the video, Steven practices his pickup attempt on Brian. It’s goofy, funny and yet still manages to offer some insights into Steven’s past, his way of living and humor.
“Steven was really for the reality show. When that didn’t pan out, I told him, ‘Buddy, if you stick with me, we’re going to do something big. We’re going to redeem ourselves from this Motel Hell debacle.’ And we have in more ways than one,” says Brian.
The two have developed a fond relationship, navigating through the ups and downs of life at the motel – including the recent passing of Steven’s partner and him struggling with that. “He’s very old fashioned, never been to therapy or anything like that. So I’ve had to talk him through this whole grieving process or else he’d be totally shut in. He’s like family, so we’re exploring how the male friendship works and how we can open up to each other.”
Brian’s opening up to me over a shared array of Korean barbecue dishes at SGD Tofu & B.B.Q. Carrots, broccoli, short ribs, mushrooms – every item delicious.
“Korean food was always there for me, I grew up around a lot of Koreans, though I’m half-Filipino, half-Indian, so I’ve always been like, what’s my connection to anything?” he says.
Although he’s incredibly open and forthcoming about his own life, listening to others’ stories is another of Brian’s innate talents. He often goes live on TikTok with “Night Shift Radio,” taking calls from anyone and everyone while manning the front desk from midnight to six the next morning. He started it during the coronavirus lock-downs, sensing correctly that people were feeling isolated and just needed someone to talk to.
“They can call me, we can talk about whatever, if they want advice about anything, talk about TikToks I made that week. I don’t rush the conversation. I love listening. It helps that I’m in a business where it’s open 24 hours, so I’m listening to people’s problems at three o’clock in the morning anyway. So I might as well do that with faceless strangers.”
Brian’s unique and insightful stories continue to engage his many followers, and his rapid growth on TikTok led to a number of TV and print interviews, including a featured profile in People magazine and an appearance on Kelly Clarkson’s daytime talk show.
And he still has that performing bug. Despite a packed schedule running the motel, he still finds time for other creative outlets. Most recently he became the host of an open mic at the Nuyorican Poets Café in Manhattan (he posted a TikTok about that too). He’s attended their events for several years. “Any time I can touch a stage and just perform for a little bit, I take that opportunity,” he says, so accepting the hosting gig was a foregone conclusion.
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But the Lincoln Tunnel Motel remains his full-time gig, along with spending time with his four children and checking in on his father, who now lives in Florida. In fact, his dad calls during our lunch asking Brian to order him some food on DoorDash. Even hearing just one side of the conversation, the son’s affection for his old man is clear.
Brian has no plans to sell the motel, and he hopes to pass the ownership down to his children one day, if they’re interested. He doesn’t dwell on predicting what will happen if not.
So what’s next? The motel has a huge parking lot, so perhaps some commercial property could be built on part of it, he says. Or maybe they could look at adding a second floor of rooms. However the motel evolves, you’ll be able to find him at the front desk.
“The motel is always going to be there. The community needs it now more than ever. People need an affordable place to stay in whatever capacity they need to stay somewhere. In between apartments, just for a few days as an emergency situation,” he says. “And I’ll still tell my stories. In terms of making the content, I love doing it. It’s such an adventure.”