The O Spa + Resort — Hotel in Desert Hot Springs

Summer is here, the sun is in its full glory. After looking at the calendar and having maximized my vacation time on the books, my wife and I planned to take a few days off to get away. Not being a big traveller and one always looking for a good deal I began like most with questions were to go, so I turned to the internet to find a local place. I come across this place “The O Spa” a fairly newly remodeled older building that appears to be inviting with mixed reviews. “The O Spa” it is! The online reservation process was easy and confirmation email was received. Not sure if the room had a TV or not I made a call to Rick the onsite property manager and asked if he can have a TV in the room, he said if I would like one in the room to note the request during the reservation process. The property overall is well maintained and clean and a continued effort to improve the property is present. The outdoor furniture was all in good shape. The cabanas are new and provide a good balance of sun and shade, equipped with curtains in the front which seem to be useless due to the winds of the desert. The pool area is wired with sound for music which is controlled by property management which the music he selected was nice mostly instrumentals, I sure you can request your music genre, but a good balance for all the guests. The large pool was warm and clean, the surface was smooth and didn’t leave you feet sore or tender which I can’t say for the smaller indoor pool which was warm and clean but is in need of a resurfacing nevertheless it is a spa you can sit and enjoy the warm mineral waters and the obiance of the room. Keeping with the water theme the outdoor bath at the time of our arrival was not operational no water would come out of the spout. I notified Rick and he did respond making an effort to get it to work, he was not able to get it working but later that evening the pool service guy showed up and had it working, good response. We stayed in the room Barsalona which was clean and nicely decorated. Bed and bedding was comfortable and clean. Room was equipped with a small refrigerator, small dining table with chairs, and a sink. The community kitchen was great, I had done some meal prep and brought meals with us BBQ chicken pizza and chicken tacos using the kitchen to make our meals. We did not leave the spa the two days we were there. The one item they should invest in an ice machine being in the desert ice is nice to have and the refrigerator ice maker can not keep up with the guests needs. I ended up going to the store to buy ice. My final thoughts: this is a great place to escape comfortable and relaxing. Don’t expect a new 4 or 5 star resort feel but rather an escape to relax without the bling. I hope they continue to work on a few items such as the wifi and the connections. Get an ice machine, resurface the small pool in the off season. Overall we had a great time and will be...

A Now Open Letter to Rick Rabuck, Owner of The O Spa since you did not have the decency to respond to my email: Hi Rick, I need to follow up about what happened last Sunday evening. It was a difficult situation that I can empathize with [some of the cleaning crew called out so rooms were not ready by 3pm check-in] but the way you handled it was the most disappointing part. I did appreciate the early call that day and the offer for the late check out. That part was handled well.  However, your communication once we arrived left much to be desired. I saw other guests arriving confused and also not knowing what was going on. You were not providing any updates to anyone or coming out of your home to speak with guests. That's all you really had to do was show some hospitality and be available. I called you and you could not provide any updates and did not call me back. We waited around as best we could. We could not go in the pools because we were not offered any towels. It was windy and cold so we tried to start one of the fire rings and a heat lamp but they did not work. We then sat in the lounge but it was dark in there and we could not get most of the lights to work. There was also no toilet paper in the lounge restroom. We were as patient as we could be and even though you did not make yourself available to assist anyone, you were still quite upset about us wanting to at least put some stuff in the room and maybe sit in the living room.

You offered us the option for a refund which we eventually took after 630pm having still not received any updates or a timeline of how much longer it would take. As we left we noticed the main door handle was hanging off and the door was ajar. Not safe or secure! It was only after I told you we were leaving and you were going to lose the booking that you suddenly called and had an update for me. It was too late by then. You need to put your customers first, not their money. Again, what I want to emphasize is that a little more effort, accessibility, and communication on your part would have made this situation so much better. To top it off, you did not respond to this now pubic email or issue me a refund so I had to file a dispute with my credit card company. Real classy Rick. Do everyone a favor and get out of the hospitality...

Stayed here for a night. Got here around 12:30 pm a bit earlier than check in at 3 pm but there wasn’t anyone there. Apparently it was self check in? Not a big deal. We called and they told us to come back a little closer to 3. Got a call around 2 that the room was ready. Came back at 4, didn’t have the code to the front entrance so someone had to let us in. I think she was the cleaning lady? She told us the code so finally got that. Walked into the property, and although they were fully booked it seemed like a ghost town. The furniture was also a little beat up. The fabric for the cabanas curtain’s were torn, no cushions on the tanning chairs. They have two pools, one is heated in a dark-ish outdoor room that had music playing. Just didn’t feel very lively or inviting despite it being a Saturday. The actual room we were staying had a chair and little table outside on the “porch”. It was really just by the door if that makes sense. The room itself was decently sized with a cute little kitchen. It could use a little facelift but it was convenient to have. The pool area could use one too if you ask me. But our room came with two full size beds which was nice. Also had a little couch and a coffee table. The bathroom was kinda small but still decent and updated. Cabinets under the sink were a little broken though as they closed further in rather than flush with the edge as they should. The only thing that was disappointing was that our TV in our room didn’t work :/ All in all, if you’re looking for an adults only motel style room with a little extras for a decent price, this is a good option. But as they say, you get what you pay for and there wasn’t really anything truly remarkable about our stay here. It’s been a chill quiet experience so far and you’ll get what need out of it but if you want something more lively I’d stay in Palm Springs closer to the shops and restaurants at a more modern place with actual adequate staff on the property with more amenities or fun things to do or offer. Don't get me wrong, if your balling on a budget, this is a decent, clean, quiet place. But if I could do it over, I’d spend a little more and stay in Palm Springs at a bigger newer hotel but...