Onsen Hotel & Spa - Desert Hot Springs — Hotel in Desert Hot Springs

I was greeted by Tracy in the clean, simple lobby. She was absolutely lovely. And she remembered our convo about my dog being scared of fireworks and asked about him by name the next morning at breakfast. We felt like VIP regulars! Furnishing in the large king room was spare. A bed, two night stands, a side table housing the mini fridge and 3 drawers, a desk with an office chair, and a single upholstered chair—and a bar on the wall to hang things on plus 2 soft robes. No full length mirror. But everything felt clean. At first you’d think the wall mounted air conditioner wouldn’t be enough but by evening we were nice and chilled.

Unfortunately the bed was way too soft—when you lay down, you end up curved from the middle, your feet and head curve up above your mid section in a V shape. The pillows are huge, too huge to use when in this curved position, so I ended up using a folded up bath towel as a pillow night 1. My husband had the great idea of folding the comforter up and placing it and one of the thin patio cushions under the center of the mattress and that helped for night 2, some.

The room has a long window across one whole wall plus the French doors leading to the patio, so lots bright light through gauzy curtains but ALSO amazing blackout curtains that block out every bit of light too. Window overlooked a parking lot. The patio is all concrete with two tall palm trees growing out of rock patches, two chairs and a little table. Big enough to give our 18 lbs dog a place to pee. The bathroom is good sized with a very large shower and a big sink area with counter top on both side of the sink and two drawers—so there’s plenty of room for toiletries for two. And they provided big bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, hand soap, and lotion (pictured). But definitely ask for extra towels when you check in. Breakfast Saturday morning was a full continental with really good strong coffee, these yummy little cheese omelettes, an array of breads and spreads, fruit, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt with toppings—on dinnerware, silverware, and cloth napkins. Real cute. And Tracy ran the whole thing—refilling the breakfast bar items and coffee, wiping tables, and dealing with an inconsiderate family of four. And she did it with kindness and grace. The motel itself is situated in a neighborhood and feels safe with security gates/entrances all around. But it is not a hotel but rather a low slung building sprawling over the lot. The pool and hot tub are supposedly filled with mineral water. It definitely did not smell or feel chlorine-y. We went in for a dip after we arrived and the water was nice and soft—and my skin didn’t feel all dried out after. Later that evening, we went to a friend’s house and hung out in their chlorinated pool. I could definitely feel there was a difference. It was so nice, we spent a lot of time in the Onsen pool the next day.

The spa experience was disappointing. I had wanted to book services everyday but learned there is only a single aesthetician/massage therapist on staff, who is male. I’ve had several scary experiences with male massage therapists so I only see female therapists. So I ended up booking just a facial for the second day of our stay. The Deep Sea Age Defying Facial was supposed to be 90mins for $250 and include a hand and arm exfoliation in addition to a mask, plus an eye and lip smoothing treatment. My hand and arms were not touched and we finished in 50 mins. Also, the cleansing process between steps was done poorly so all the exfoliation beads were all over my skin when we finished and I had to immediately wash my face after. What a waste of a facial. I did let Tracey know and she changed the charge to the basic facial and sent us a bottle of wine! She’s the best.

All in all, at less than $200/night, we’d happily stay at onsen again—just to see Tracey and hang in the pool. But I’d skip any spa services. An extra star just for the great...

So I’ll start with the “downside” which Onsen handled beautifully: we of course ended up going during the hottest heat wave in October for my boyfriend’s birthday, lol. Nothing the hotel had control over at all, let me tell you why this was one of our favorite weekends despite the 100+ weather. The heat and the amenities kind of ensured we stayed and enjoyed the rooms and the hot springs in the am and pm (great hours 7am to 11pm)||This boutique hotel is in a quiet area of DHS and it felt very secure with the gate locking from 11pm to 7am. All the other times the front desk was manned by the sweetest staff who made us (me, my bf, and our little pupper Cheddar) feel the most welcome than any other place we stayed. Showed us all that the room and hotel had to offer. ||The room! Omg the room was big, clean, loved the flooring and decor. Huge tv, good fridge, coffee maker with real mugs, microwave, excellent water pressure in the bathroom. Offered free bottled water AND great aluminum cups. And they were SO PET FRIENDLY! Put doggie bed, bowl, little treats. This was the most comfortable he was! They even had a yoga mat in the room which was sooo awesome cause I was able to do some yoga in the am before heading out to soak. They also have a gym but not for me this time. Great bed and lots of plugs and usb ports right by the bed. Great WiFi. Robes that I def used. Lots of towels. Can’t hear neighbors nor any street noise.||Pets - there is a good area in front of the parking lot to have your dog take a walk in the am and get a poo break. They let us in the cool office with our boy to check in and allowed him in the pool area as long as he was secured with a leash and no other ppl were in there. I mean it was really nice for Cheddar.||Pool - that water felt amazing and relaxing, these hot springs don’t contain sulfur so no smell! Lots of seating areas, cute lightening, lots of towels and also pool noodles. Not crowded at all. ||Breakfast - omg guys! Cheese omelette, hard boiled eggs, fruit, baked goods, cream cheese, yoghurt, granola, juice, amazing coffee and tea (that is always in the lobby). So pleasant to go from potty breaking the dog, yoga, a nice soak to enjoying this breakfast with lovely soft jazz in the background. ||This is between Palm Springs and Joshua tree and a hike to see a waterfall. Lots of food places around and some delivery. So if you wanted to you could do a lot but the heat made us truly made it a get away. DHS is low key and not as nice as Palm Springs but the OHS felt like paradise and the heat made it so we felt like we were on our own private get away. ||We will be back during cooler weather and we...

So I’ll start with the “downside” which Onsen handled beautifully: we of course ended up going during the hottest heat wave in October for my boyfriend’s birthday, lol. Nothing the hotel had control over at all, let me tell you why this was one of our favorite weekends despite the 100+ weather. The heat and the amenities kind of ensured we stayed and enjoyed the rooms and the hot springs in the am and pm (great hours 7am to 11pm)

This boutique hotel is in a quiet area of DHS and it felt very secure with the gate locking from 11pm to 7am. All the other times the front desk was manned by the sweetest staff who made us (me, my bf, and our little pupper Cheddar) feel the most welcome than any other place we stayed. Showed us all that the room and hotel had to offer.

The room! Omg the room was big, clean, loved the flooring and decor. Huge tv, good fridge, coffee maker with real mugs, microwave, excellent water pressure in the bathroom. Offered free bottled water AND great aluminum cups. And they were SO PET FRIENDLY! Put doggie bed, bowl, little treats. This was the most comfortable he was! They even had a yoga mat in the room which was sooo awesome cause I was able to do some yoga in the am before heading out to soak. They also have a gym but not for me this time. Great bed and lots of plugs and usb ports right by the bed. Great WiFi. Robes that I def used. Lots of towels. Can’t hear neighbors nor any street noise.

Pets - there is a good area in front of the parking lot to have your dog take a walk in the am and get a poo break. They let us in the cool office with our boy to check in and allowed him in the pool area as long as he was secured with a leash and no other ppl were in there. I mean it was really nice for Cheddar.

Pool - that water felt amazing and relaxing, these hot springs don’t contain sulfur so no smell! Lots of seating areas, cute lightening, lots of towels and also pool noodles. Not crowded at all.

Breakfast - omg guys! Cheese omelette, hard boiled eggs, fruit, baked goods, cream cheese, yoghurt, granola, juice, amazing coffee and tea (that is always in the lobby). So pleasant to go from potty breaking the dog, yoga, a nice soak to enjoying this breakfast with lovely soft jazz in the background.

This is between Palm Springs and Joshua tree and a hike to see a waterfall. Lots of food places around and some delivery. So if you wanted to you could do a lot but the heat made us truly made it a get away. DHS is low key and not as nice as Palm Springs but the OHS felt like paradise and the heat made it so we felt like we were on our own private get away.

We will be back during cooler weather and we...