El Morocco Inn and Spa Resort — Hotel in Desert Hot Springs

El Morocco Inn and Spa is one of the best places I've ever had the pleasure of staying in. Now that may not really mean anything without context so I will explain. I have travelled all over the world, have been on every continent except Australia and Antarctica, my lodgings ranging from humble pensiones to lifestyle of the rich and famous caliber, award winning hotels so I can maybe that can add a little bit more validity to my apparently hyperbolic statement.

From the moment you walk through the beautiful ornate carved doors you are transported into an experience. The owners have taken care to decorate the place impeccably, making one feel like they've been transported to Morocco using the finest silk curtains, exotic decorations, lantern, rugs and anything you can think of to transport you to the far away lands of Northern Africa. Nothing is out of place. Everything is perfectly balanced. Nothing is kitschy, tacky or overdone.

I arrived in the early evening, the heat was still a very vivid presence all around me and definitely contributed to the atmosphere of the North African desert. The beautiful pink clouds shimmered and reflected on the central pool which I would is filled with 92 degree water fed directly from a mineral spring directly underneath. This spring is really the main attraction and I would have come if this hotel was just a pile of concrete and plastic on top of such beneficial waters. Because of the type of rock that is beneath the resort the water that emerges from the spring emerges odorless and full of beneficial mood enhancing minerals such as lithium and other compounds they make you feel absolutely calm and at ease.

But this place is indeed no pile of concrete and plastic but instead of beautifully curated museum of Moroccan artifacts with rooms that are ordinate but still quite comfortable a staff that is both friendly and amenable and a list of incredible details that really put this experience over the top.

Here's one such detail: When I arrived in the early evening I was greeted by the staff with signature cocktail being served poolside. The crowd was all adults, mostly couples. Everybody was friendly and well behaved almost as if the hotel had chosen only great guests. I came to find out the hotel only attracts great gas because of its amazing amenities and offerings.

To my right in the beautiful kitchen there was a display of delightful small bites: dates, dried figs, dried apricots cookies, tea. Ice cold coconut mint water fed directly from one of the two springs available to them. The pool, 104 degree spring fed jacuzzi and 2 saunas are available 24/7 to guests and if you can pull yourself out of the water and explore the grounds you will make even more delightful discoveries like the lounge filled with books and movies to borrow and where a screen plays the movie Casablanca 24/7 on a loop. Over night they leave a large decanter of delicious Sherry for guests to enjoy and I urge future guests not to miss it. Wandering the grounds will bring you to beautiful gardens where you can find a giant chess board with pieces, bocce ball, numerous hammocks chairs, cushions a tent reminiscent of the times of the sultans.

When I finally got to my room I was pleasantly surprised to find a extremely comfortable bed powerful AC, a mini bar a microwave a DVD player a flat screen TV with Netflix, not that I was planning to spend any time indoors whatsoever. The showers are beautifully appointed and the water for guests use is also fed from the spring. After my stay, my skin was glowing and my hair was softer than it's been in years. And they have a spa, or you can get any treatment that you desire, massages, facials, scrubs, combinations. I had one of the best massages that I've had in the last couple of years.

I love this place. I'll definitely be back. I'm counting the days when I have the opportunity to do so. I've already spoken to some friends about making this at least a...

What drew us to the El Morroco Inn is we were looking to escape to a kid free quiet space to rejuvenate. We entered this quaint inn in the evening and were transported into a different world. If you are looking for a staycation adventure here in So Cal, this is your destination. If you are looking for modern day first world amenities, this may not be the place for you.

The Good: The theme, decor and overall energy of the space made for a relaxing vacation in what felt like a different country. There are rugs on the stairs and upper level walkway; bistro tables and chairs outside of every room and fun little outdoor furnishings to lounge and relax on. TV and internet worked great. We did bring our Chromecast from home. Loved the texture and metallic paint in the rooms, made for an authentic feel.

Areas of improvement:

The mattress is a traditional spring mattress, one you would find at a Best Western or Holiday Inn in the late 1990s. It is time for an upgrade, or at least add memory foam mattress toppers for us old folks with bad backs. Bath robes were old and in need of replacement. Recommend a change to bath care products, either procuring them directly from Morroco or utilizing a Moroccan theme theme product for all hair and body types. The welcome in our room was a nice touch. We liked the book with a list of various activities to do in the area.

Also recommend USB charging ports. While I understand we are being taken back into a 3rd world country, we are still 1st world inhabitants in need of charging our cellphones and smart watches.

The roof top on the upper level would be a great place to pace potted tropical plants often seen in Morroco. While it is moderately sloped, this can be easily remedied with a simple platform to add shrubs

The structure is old and in need of some capital improvements, however this did make for a more authentic adventure vibe. Pool and spa surfaces are spalling and due for resurfacing, linens and cushions on courtyard furniture are faded, lost shape and due for replacement. There was also cracked and crumbling plaster on building fascia, deteriorating stained glass on outdoor lamps both in need of repair.

There are cats on the property which isn't a problem, just be mindful if you have a severe cat allergy these felines may be laying on the outdoor furniture. Also, they are fed onsite and their dishes aren't picked up timely resulting in an accumulation of flys. I would relocate the feeding of these critters to an area away from guests. Also add a litterbox away from guests so the cats can use vs finding areas to go throughout the property.

Continental breakfast offering is minimal but satisfying if you select well. I liked the idea of the individual bags for each room. I would recommend reconfiguring the options for guests, adding some Moroccan breakfast offerings such as typical Moroccan bread, cheese, meat and fruit. If you are going to go American, at least give an option for toppings for the oatmeal, add some berries, raisins, granola, brown sugar, nut butter, etc. Humphrey Bogart Tea was more lemonade than tea, would have liked a better balance with less sweetness here. Loved the frenched press coffee.

Pool, jacuzzi and sauna were nice and it was great to be able to use them 24 hours. The advertising mentions the pool and jacuzzi are filled with hot spring water, but there wasn't much advertising related to this on site. There is also cold drinking water available in the dining area, again unclear if that water was from the hot spring or not. Still wondering if the entire water supply is hot spring water cooled by cold spring water or standard city water...? A little education on the hot spring component would make for a helpful add.

All in all we had a wonderful relaxing stay and would like to see this property update a bit to keep the theme going for generations to...

My initial review I was very hurt and upset at the lack of care or humanity for us being affected by the wild fires in LA and us needing to cancel our reservation due to our family being personally affected.

I am still upset by this, I am upset that they have no intention of refunding us the $330 cancellation fee when we initially reached out with ample time for them to fill the rooms still. They did offer to give us a credit but we were told it needed to be used within two months and were being pushed to choose a new booking date when we had already told them we had no idea when we’d be able to arrange travel. It just isn’t a realistic expectation with what is currently happening.

I am upset that we were not met with more compassion and understanding during such an unprecedented disaster. It’s truly disappointing. I wish it could have been different and I could have had better things to say.

I am keeping my review at one star based on lack of any true effort to help us during such a devastating time.

EDIT- the reply from the establishment to this review is not accurate- we sent a request to waive cancellation fee (the fee was first night or $330) a week and a half before the stay.

We spoke on the phone with the establishment, who said they didn’t know how to do this, said they couldn’t see the request to waive fee.

We spoke with an agent at bookings.com who told us exactly how they could navigate their booking.com host portal to waive the fee, we called the establishment back and told them verbatim how to do it. Not only when I spoke to them did they seem uninterested but they argued with me about it like I was making it up. Then they said they would “look into it”.

Two days went by with no response after they said they would try. We even tried to call and leave a message to check in with no response.

We contacted booking.com again and they personally sent a request to the establishment to waive the fee.

We still had no response and it was getting close to the booking and we didn’t want to end up paying for the entire stay so we were forced to cancel our booking without the fee waiver thus being charged the $330 fee.

• you can literally go to booking.com host hub help section and it walks you through exactly how to pull up a reservation and accept the cancellation fee waiver. I did looked into it after the entire fiasco just to see, it was not hard to find and it was the exact same instructions the booking.com agent gave me to give the establishment.

If you as an establishment don’t know how to use your third party vendors software that is an internal problem. It is extremely frustrating to see you still blaming them when we as the client took every measure to work with you and booking.com and booking.com seemed to have no issue they said all you had to do was accept the cancellation fee waiver like we told you how to do.

We even received a response from booking.com customer service saying they had a response from your establishment saying that you would not waive the fee and that they (booking.com) were very sorry that this ended this way and they hoped our father was okay.

Even if you had offered us a larger window to rebook (like 4 or 6 months) after us telling you there was no way we could plan a trip within two months with what we are dealing with that would have been helpful and you could have done that but also did not. There was a lot more in your power than you are eluding to.

I feel like I am being lied to and taken advantage of and your establishment is trying to look like the good guys when it just doesn’t appear that way...