The Castle House - Estate — Hotel in Joshua Tree

This review is quite specific to the Guard Tower, not the tent options which are advertised with a share toilet/shower.||We felt misled by the original listing. I chose the Guard House as it had a bathroom/shower in the listing. It isn't until you get your welcome email you find instructions to the separate and shared toilet. There was only one male and one female cubicle for the whole place, given the number of separate rooms on offer you could be sharing with 20+ people at any given time. This is now listed as a 'shared bathroom and shower' further down in the listing but it is very misleading, I don't remember seeing this when I booked. I will say the toilets were really clean, but I wish there were more dotted across the site. We don't mind shared facilities, but we thought we'd have our own bathroom as that's what was advertised for this particular room at the time.||The welcome email had no info on where to shower, and this is also outside which we didn't know about. I genuinely thought this would be in our guard tower - again not made clear at all in the original listing. There is only one shower cubicle and it is completely open air. The shower cubicle is also very close to a shipping container room so it felt a bit weird showering so close to someone's private room.||I also want to address the cost. We paid a good £300 for one night in the guard tower. It is absolutely unique but after staying here it isn't worth the cost for me, especially considering the shared toilet and outside shower. We also had to pay for firewood, it would have been great if this was included (or at least the first bundle).||Another thing to note is the pool is a mere 50cm deep and is a small round circle, it is more a paddling pool which again we felt was misleading as the listing says swimming pool. There were deck chairs to sit on so you can relax and sun bath.||Some positives though, the place is really stunning and very lovely to the eye and for photos. The Guard house was quite impressive, clean and the bed was comfortable.||I found the staff member on the chat function on booking.com very helpful, I had quite a lot of questions that needed answered and they were quick to respond. Given the property is quite remote we were pleased to see a room service menu, though, it would have been great if there was more info on how to order and pay. They offer a number to text your order but it doesn't explain how long it will take or how you pay. Turns out cash or card payment via an online link which was nice and easy.||We loved the fire pit outside the property and it was amazing to sit and star-gaze. The room was decorated to a nice standard and overall the place is visually very impressive.||We also paid a £60 cleaning fee but were surprised in the checkout notes to take our own rubbish out. We're fine with doing this but doesn't seem very fair given the extra cleaning costs.||In dollars it came to just over $350 for one night, a stunning stay but still expensive given the shared facilities. ||Overall we enjoyed our stay but they really need to update their listing to accurately show what is on offer at the...

I was recommended to Castle House by friends who had visited before. I wanted to celebrate my birthday in a space where we could play music, roller skate, and get a camping experience in Joshua Tree. From what's listed on the website and the shared stories from friends, Castle seemed like the perfect place to host my party. I booked two campsites for two days, a month in advance and I had inquired about booking the skating rink as well.

Not even a day before our reservation I was emailed about how the skating rink is under construction and will require "some clean-up". We were not sent any photos of the state of the rink and on arrival we toured to the space only for it to be completely ripped up and not worthy of renting in the slightest. Ryan mentioned a wedding was to be held there the following week and that is why the construction started. Honestly to be alerted of this situation a day before my trip was absolutely rude and inconsiderate of my plans as a guest. I had friends drive hours from LA and Orange County only to arrive to a mess of a party. The website is misleading in the sense of available amenities as well as spacial distance between the other campsites.

We had reserved a generator in town and when brought up to Ryan he offered their generator for us to use. He did not once mention it being a rental and considering the inconvenience of the skating rink not being ready for us, we figured it was a kind gesture to our party. Later we discovered we had been charged to use the generator. We were warned day-of-arrival of the 10pm quiet-time ordinance for the area and felt the pressure to keep the volume of our music and the voices of 15 people down later into the night, as there were families with children and infants sleeping directly across from both of our campsites. On the website it is said to have a bathroom at each campsite. There was only one trailer at the front of the estate for all guests to share. The walk from our campsites to the front was considerably long in distance.

Due to the disappointment of the estate, we asked if we could be refunded for the following day as we lucked out on an Airbnb booking last minute during Labor Day weekend. We were partially refunded almost a month later and pretty sure still charged for the generator. There was an attitude of manipulation towards our group about the rink and the wedding. As though I was to be sympathetic and understanding of the fact that they lucked out on a huge booking of their property, while being new parents to triplet babies and pretty much letting us know that we can't be a disturbance to the other guests, us, a party of 15 adults.

I...

I read all the reviews prior to going and was unsure because of the mix bag of reviews. However we decided to book anyway.| 1. Winter prices are amazing, such a steal. |2. There is one trailer bathroom, however if you read the website and email that is sent to you, you will be well informed. |3. We went in winter, the facility doesn't control the weather. The email they sent us was very informative and as first time campers/glampers we were well prepared due to the information that is provided.|4. We stayed in a Yurk, it was very nice, we ordered a propane tank that ran out of gas after the staff left. However, the blankets provided were more than enough for us to sleep comfortably. Plus we were well informed of possible conditions, we brought an extra cold weather sleeping bag. We were realistic about camping in winter.|5. Customer service was great, not one complaint. We received detailed information prior to arrival. When we arrived we were greated by one of the owners in the parking lot. We received texts throughout the evening and a reminder an hour in advance prior to the staff leaving the site. |6. The property was very clean and well kept. The Yurk was clean and well decorated. Great quality Yurk. The top of it does get condensation on it at night, but no big deal that is expected since it got 38 degrees at night. The quality of comforter provided keeps the moisture out and we stayed dry and warm. |7. Great location, 18 minutes away from Joshua tree and 10 minutes away from the main road. The main road has everything, very convenient. |8. After our visit, I had questions and got quick responses.|9. Cleaning fees are standard, to sanitize, wash linens, and restock. I don't think it's unreasonable to ask you to pick up after yourself. |10. Brought our 7yr old and we were nervous about the little one being too loud but we were put at ease by the owner. ||We had a great experience, received great customer service, we came with realistic expectations of camping in winter. I think if you are reasonable and respectful they will provide quality service. If you are rude they probably match that energy, service workers should not...