Since early road conditions were poor, travellers were obliged to break long journeys at hotels that sprang up along the main routes. Such hotels also met a variety of social and economic needs in these isolated regions. Perforce, they had to be self-sufficient for all main comforts (water, heat, light).

The hotel at Rubens is one of the few rural hotels to survive in the modern age of paved highways. It opened its doors in 1930. The spacious interior, with ornamental woodwork and glass panelling, is characteristic of the building style of that period.