Miracle Manor Boutique Hotel & Spa — Hotel in Desert Hot Springs

Miracle Manor was highly recommended by a close friend, so I fully expected to love it!! I want to give a great review, but too many things went wrong.||||Starting with the good things:||Management responds instantly to requests for help (unfortunately I had a few)||They were very nice, as was the onsite maintenance/handyman||Great bedding/sheets/towels||Clean rooms and bathrooms||Amenities like tea and coffee and fresh fruit and almond milk were wonderful.||Incredible water in the pool and hot tub - none of that feeling like a raisin when you get out. ||The hot springs and the bedding really were wonderful. The potential is there.||||What was NOT wonderful:||||Room 107: it's basically like being in the basement. One tiny window at ground level in the back and one window on the side at ground level that looks onto a wall facing the parking lot - AND the light shines at night into the room around the blind so it's hard to sleep. I realized on our last day that there were other available rooms, so I don't know why I was given that room. Also realized it was $10 less than my friend's. It should have been closer to $100. Really. Basement.||||The first night I took a shower. I turned the temperature knob to the red dot, in the direction where hot usually is. No hot water. Waited forever for it to warm up. Nothing. Called, and got a quick response, Maintenance came while we were out: nothing wrong. Apparently, the RED dot is COLD. The blue dot is hot. What? Plus, they are backwards: the red dot where hot usually is, on the left, was cold water. The blue dot to the right where cold normally is, was hot. ||||The first night was cold - super gusty and in the 30's. I realized the next day the windows weren't actually closed because the metal casing surrounding one of them was bent and there was an opening the size of my finger where cold air was blowing in. And on another window the the lever was broken off completely so I couldn't try to tighten it fully closed myself. Not to mention it too was all bent and someone had to hammer it back into place from the outside. Again, another call.||||That night after dinner I was locked out. The code didn't work. It was freezing and I had to call. Again. Standing around outside waiting for him to reset it. ||||Want to know why I was locked out? Someone had been in my room. I realized it as soon as I walked in. All the towels and robes, etc. had been replaced. The handbook explicitly said there is no daily service. Which was perfect. When I texted to ask who and why was someone in my room he said I had asked for it. NO. I had not. Apparently a mistake. Really??!?!!! How does that happen??! AND they somehow messed up the code and locked me out. ||||I wish I could say it was an awesome experience. A lot of things about it are great, and more could be. But they have a lot of work to do to get it right. None of the above should have happened. Certainly not for $250 night. For a BASEMENT room. And to get locked out. And for someone to access my room unasked for. And certainly not to freeze because windows don't close properly and need maintenance to fix them. ||||Super responsive and nice, but I shouldn't have had to make that many calls. Not for the money I spent when all was said and done - over $500 for 2 nights. I don't mind paying that, but I expect to get my...

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If you are one of the billions who’ve daydreamed about staying at Two Bunch Palms (the once-great spa getaway made legendary from the 1980s movie THE PLAYER)… of having your own private mineral bath from water drawn straight from the desert’s magical waters, or of staying at a place that caters to your every need, with a staff on duty, 24/7, to ensure your every wish is granted…

This. Is. Your. Destination.

Hidden in the low hills of the famous Desert Hot Springs, just a few miles north of Palm Springs, nestled behind a cedar plank wall to ensure absolute privacy, this stunning boutique hotel and spa is beyond anything you could hope for.

The rooms are full-on Desert chic, rustic luxury… a nod to the midcentury modern legacy of the area, but with completely new everything, and an upscale luxury bathroom for each room beyond what you could hope for.

You are greeted upon arrival by one of the senior managers (Danielle is phenom!), personally given a brief, beautiful rundown of the entire resort, and catered to, and from the moment you park your car in their private lot.

A fresh, babbling brook makes its way from an actual waterfall around the property; the pool is brand new and pristine, and hidden discreetly behind juniper trees are two brand-new private mineral spa baths, all steel and concrete magic, that draw water at 118° (tempered by cool fresh spring waters) for your bathing pleasure.

Little touches throughout the property ensure that you never want for anything: fresh snacks, baked in the kitchen and dining area, fresh, hot coffee and tea throughout the day, and a water refilling station, where the water comes out ice cold, pure water ice machines throughout the property, and a covered canvas cedar plank balcony that overlooks the entire Coachella Valley – breathtaking.

What’s even more incredible… The pricing is for the moment unbelievably modest. We couldn’t believe our luck learning that the 12 rooms of the Manor went for the pricing they did. Particularly during high season. All pricing, of course, fluctuates on demand and need like every other resort, BUT it’s fair to say that our luxury rooms were half the cost of the nearest “spa hotel” (Azure) - while being about 1000% more upscale and luxury.

Compared to Two Bunch Palms, pricing is 1/3 the cost, with far more bang for your buck.

(Sidenote: we used to enjoy going to Two Bunch, regularly, and it’s gone so far downhill with the new owne ship, and so over priced for a run down property and rooms, it’s kind of absurd it’s still open.)

Whatever your budget, whatever your reason for driving out to this legendary area, you absolutely must make this a priority.

No other words but: the place is incredible MAGIC and you will wish you discovered it far earlier!

Not sure if Danielle is a co-owner - She takes such tremendous pride, in every step of the journey, for each traveler, and is so caring and precise and detailed and passionate…

If she’s not an owner, she really should be. I’ve never stayed at a five-star resort that had someone as incredible as her at the...

I won’t be able to adequately describe how special a place Miracle Manor is — but I’ll try. It was built in 1949, and not only has it survived all those years and all those guests, but it somehow just keeps getting better and better. I give credit to the short list of caretaker-owners who’ve obviously loved her, saw something magical in the property, and devoted years to making her shine. The Manor’s new owners have a clear vision to take things to an even higher level, and I’m excited to watch that happen over the coming years.

I won’t get into details, because that’d be missing the point. MM is not about the type of soap in the bathroooms, or the way the beds are made (though those things were A+). It’s much less about what they are doing right than it is about giving you a peaceful, supportive, distractionless space for you to rest, reset, release ... whatever it is you need to do. Miracle Manor is the perfect combination of the past and the present, the luxurious and the spartan, the complex and the simple, the intense and the serene. It’s a tough balance to get right, and it’s happening here, now.

My 3-night stay in March 2021 was one of my favorite stays anywhere. I’m still thinking about it. Cheers to the magic of Miracle Manor. I’ll be back again very soon.

2022 UPDATE:

I said I’d be back again, and I stayed true to my word. In what’s become a cherished annual ritual, I recently spent 3 days at Miracle Manor Boutique Hotel & Spa. I drive out to Desert Hot Springs, check in and completely unplug. It’s a post-winter reset for me. The warm mineral waters washing away the old stuff and getting my body and mind ready for spring.

The owners purchased this 9-room 1940s hotel right before the pandemic, and spent the past two years nipping, tucking and polishing — bringing out the best of the vintage details and adding quality new components where necessary.

For instance, all the rooms have these cool old wonky roll-up window shades I’ve never seen before. Very 1950s tech. And for new, they completely resurfaced and spruced the hot springs pool and hot tub — and then built a beautiful yoga & events deck that looks out over Palm Springs and the San Jacinto and San Bernardino mountain ranges. It’s pretty stunning.

The short: Miracle Manor is just getting better year after year. I highly recommend it. Tell...