Motel matches used to be matchbooks with the motel's name on the cover. If you met a
girl or a guy in a
bar or wherever and
saw them use motel matches to light their cigarettes or someone else's, then it would be possible to assume that this person was a frequent "visitor" to that particular motel...or some kind of sex worker.
Elvis Costello had a song on his "Get
Happy!!" album in the 1980's with that same title "Motel Matches".
There's a chorus in the song that goes:
"Boys everywhere, fumbling with the catches
I struck lucky with motel matches
Falling for you without a second look
Falling out of your open pocketbook
Giving you away
like motel matches"
Implying that he's falling in
love with a Hooker