The Villager Courtyard and Gardens Hotel, which at one time was one of Lincoln’s most popular hotels, appears to have closed its doors at 52nd and O streets.

The hotel’s phones are still being routed by an automated system, but transfers to extensions for the front desk and reservations went unanswered Monday morning.

Also, the motel’s lobby doors were locked and bundles of Sunday Journal Star newspapers were still sitting outside unopened. The parking lot was empty, save for a couple of cars.

The owners of the hotel, James and M.J. Levitt, who live in the Kansas City area, could not be reached.

Sadie’s Saloon, a restaurant attached to the hotel also is apparently closed, at least temporarily.

 A sign in the window of the restaurant said: “Sorry. Sadies is no longer serving food. We are restructuring our F&B department.”

The phone at Sadie’s also was not being answered Monday.

Jeff Maul, executive director of the Lincoln Convention and Vistors Bureau, said he hadn’t heard of the Villager closing and the hotel had recently been active in the CVB’s efforts to recruit events to Lincoln.

According to Journal Star archives, the motel was built in 1967 as the Quality Court Motel and the name was later changed to The Villager.

It was remodeled and expanded several times, eventually offering nearly 200 rooms.

Among the Villager’s more storied moments were housing the film crews for the film “Terms of Endearment” in 1983 and the TV miniseries “Amerika” in 1986.

Reach Matt Olberding at 473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com