Spin & Margie's Desert Hideaway — Hotel in Joshua Tree

Our experience and Spin And Margie's Desert Hideaway was mixed. The property was nice, and just what we want in a desert getaway -- quiet, somewhat secluded, with enough space to feel private and enjoy a few days in Joshua Tree. || ||That said, there were several things about our visit that were pretty frustrating and disapointing. The majority of the issues really boiled down to attention to detail and thinking through the guest experience. Maybe our experience was normal, or maybe it's just normal in the slow season (our trip was in late January and we were the only folks on the property for two of the nights). On the plus side, these issues should be easy for management to address with a little care and elbow grease; they're not inherent to the property itself. ||||Our frustration started on our arrival at the property. There is no welcome desk, or staff of any kind, present at check-in -- which I don't mind at all. However, the parking area is essentially unlit and unmarked. For a first-time visitor, arriving after dark, figuring out where the main building is located, figuring out where to park, and finding your way to your room, is more challenging than you'd think. Adding a small map of the property, with the parking and route to rooms clearly marked, would have been really helpful -- and, I'm so glad I brought flashlights, as finding our room with just the light from my phone would have been even more of a pain. || ||When we found our door, retrieved the key, and stepped inside, we were greeted to a similarly pitch-black, and freezing-cold room. All of the lights in the room were left unplugged, so the first step was to navigate with flashlights to the desk lamps, find the cords, and figure out where to plug them in. Perhaps in the off-season the lamps are left unplugged to save on electricity. One simple solve for this would be to have housekeeping visit the room when a guest is scheduled to visit, and plug in all the lamps. Even better, for guests scheduled to arrive late, would be leaving a single light on, since the rooms are otherwise so dark. ||||The next frustration was the heat. Upon arrival, the vent in the ceiling was left open, so the room was about 40ºf when we arrived. There was a thermostat on the wall clearly labeled HEAT running to a gas heater. After about 10 minutes trying to light the pilot light, I realized that the gas line was completely disconnected -- the room is meant to be heated with a more newly installed electric air conditioner. Figuring out how to turn on that heater was, itself, more difficult than you'd think. Simple solves for these issues would be: have housekeeping close the ceeling vent and turn the heater to, say, 55º f on nights where guests are to arrive; changing the label on the old heater from "heat" to "disabled," and writing very clear directions on how to turn on the new heater for those cold nights in the desert winter. || ||The cleanliness of the room was a mixed bag. We felt the bed linens were clean and not gross. The room was dusty, but it's a small private hotel in the middle of the desert, so that's perfectly understandable. But, the bathroom was a problem. There were spiderwebs and egg sacs in the shower, which was pretty off-putting. Cobwebs I can handle, but these were thick, extensive, and ready to burst. Also, though the sink was clean, the curtains above it were stained and gross. Overall, it felt like the room had been cleaned in a superficial way, but was sorely in need of a real deep cleaning. When I'm out in the desert, I'm not looking for the Ritz; but when I'm paying $180/night on top of a $78 cleaning fee, I would have liked more attention to detail. ||||Continuing in the bathroom, the pipes were in bad shape. The toilet flushed fine, but the shower and sink were draining incredibly slowly. When the shower is running for even a few seconds, there's standing water, and after a minute or so your feet are completely submerged. I understand that the property is on a septic system, and clogs happen, but this went past annoying to making the shower almost unusable. Again, not looking for the Four Seasons experience, but after a long day of hiking through dusty and dirty Joshua Tree, to have the shower be so bad was a bummer. If I were the property manager, I'd try adding Green Gobbler to the housekeeper's weekly duties, and see if that keeps the septic system in better shape. ||||The last thing I'll say, for any travelers coming from far away, is to remember that, like many properties near the north side of Joshua Tree National Park, this place is located VERY close to the highway. The pictures you'll see online do a great job of disguising that fact, and the main core of the property is set off a bit with a sort of courtyard design. On the other hand, from our room, the rear door is about 200 paces from the highway. The room is mercifully quiet, but it does somewhat detract from the experience. If you're imagining a retreat into the middle of the desert, with few signs of people for miles in every direction, you'll need to look a bit further north and further away from the park entrance. ||||In sum, our experience at Spin and Margie's was a mixed bag. I've read the glowing reviews going back many years, and I believe all of them. I really liked the property overall, and for most of our time there we felt like we had the run of the place entirely to ourselves, which was great. But, I'm not sure I'll be returning for my next trip to Joshua Tree. So many of the issues we experienced really boiled down to details and care, but adding them up, it was death by many cuts. If I had been paying $80 a night, these little things might have been more excusable, but for a $500 weekend away, I'll want to look for a little more care.||||On the other hand, happily, I think the majority of these issues could be resolved with a few policy changes and an afternoon's worth of elbow grease. If the attention to detail was raised -- even on off-season weeks -- I'd be much more...

I know this place has great reviews, however, my experience happens to be the exception if you want to see it that way. I understand when things don't go as expected but what I'm not ok with is when you report them to ownership and they either ignore you or they dictate what your compensation is going to be. I walked-in to my room upon arrival, found urine stains, footprints and even a piece of used toilet paper on the floor in the bathroom. I also found urine stains on the rim of the toilet. Additionally, there were two windows with no curtains (other guests outside could see everything inside my room). I also found human hair inside a pillow and built-up dust under the bed.

I reported these issues to the owner, her response the next day was to direct me to the lady in charge of the housekeeping saying "I will send CJ over in the morning so she can clean your room, you can describe your grievances to her..." Next morning CJ, a very nice lady, cleaned the room and installed new curtains. She explained that there were construction workers onsite and they had probably accessed the room after she had cleaned it. Does that sound fare to you as a customer?

I contacted the owner again to thank her for cleaning the room and installing the curtains. I explained to her that the urine on the floor and the complete lack of privacy where two issues I was not comfortable with and that I didn't consider it would be fare to pay the full amount for the first night. The owner completely ignored me from that point on. It was not until I disputed the charges through my bank when I received an automated email from the owner's payment processing vendor with a $100 credit. No communication, no explanation from her. I guess she has been waiting for me to post my experience in social media to finally react. Does that sound fare to you as a customer?

I don't understand owners who ignore customers and think they can dictate what your compensation should be. I asked the owner: "did you even know that the room had no curtains?" She never responded. Finding urine on the floor when you check in to a hotel is not disgusting enough for her? This is a nice spot but when you are ignored and not treated right, especially when you are paying more than $200 a night,...

We had visited Joshua Tree for the day and knew we’d love to spend more time. Fast forward 20years(and to our 20th anniverary tour) we came back and we were on the search for an incredible place to stay and boy did we find it in spades. From the first look, you know you’re in for a treat. It truly is an oasis and a feast for the eyes. We loved our accommodations- very spacious, perfectly appointed and comfortable. Our first morning we were greeted with a rainbow and an email from Stacy checking to make sure all was good and she made us feel like family. We loved our stay even with the crazy weather(rain,high winds and cold) but it never bothered us in our hideaway. After torrential rains overnight, Stacy called us to make sure we were okay and if anything needed tending. It is this attention to detail that shines through in every aspect of Spin and Margie’s. The rooms were clean and cutely decorated, a great location to the park & downtown(and surrounding areas) and perfect our anniversary tour. Our place was extra roomy for us but would work nicely if you were traveling with kids. ||Our only wish is that is was a wee bit warmer so we could have enjoyed the adorable private patio with the array of deer and our protector Felix the bull. ||We know if we are headed back to the area we will definitely stay again and happily recommend to all! ||Thank you Stacy and the incredible Spin &...