Basecamp Terlingua — Hotel in Manuel Benavides

We stayed in Bubble X5, which is one of 4 bubbles further west - ours being up on the hill and totally secluded from the other three. It also includes a small private pool and small hot tub. First off, the views are AMAZING, looking back toward the park. Being set further back from the road, road noise is minimal. The area around the bubble is beautiful as well, landscaped with local plants (and little signs so you know what they are). A large covered table is the only place to sit and eat and the chairs here look nice but are horribly uncomfortable! We chose to eat around the fire pit most meals instead, using the comfy adirondack chairs. The small outdoor prep table and sink next to the grill was very helpful. We utilized the fire pit (an above ground metal one on concrete) to make three meals during our stay. They do not provide fire wood, so you have to bring your own, but that was info we received well in advance. The outdoor shower was perfect for rinsing off before getting in the pool or hot tub. Both the pool and hot tub were heated perfectly for late winter. | We did have a colony of bees that were coming and going through a hole under the edge of the pool that we reported when we departed. Arrival and departure are on your own - no one to greet you, just the access code to the door. Fine by us! The "bubble fairies" came each day while we were gone to re-cover the bedroom bubble to keep the heat of the day out. We were there in February, with daily highs in the 50s, so thought they could have left the cover off, but they know best - we don't want the place to be a sauna when we return. The bubble itself was lovely. A digital code for entry (that could be turned off when on-site so you can come and go without putting the code in every time) with a small shelf in the airlock area, perfect for keeping things that didn't need to be brought in. Extra blankets and the sheets for the foldout couch were in baskets here. Once fully inside, a nice small couch and a couple of small tables were in the first bubble, along with a heat/air conditioning unit in a built in shelf, a good size compact refrigerator, a Keurig and a water filtration pot. The listing says it has a water filtration system which I mistook for running water, but it essentially looks like an old metal coffee carafe that you put water in and it runs through a filter. There is one lamp in this area. Next, you pass into the bedroom bubble (and note there is no door or partition of any kind) - a queen size bed with two side tables and lamps, and the same heat/a/c unit. Off to the side between the two main spaces is the bathroom bubble, with a large shower space, toilet and sink. Although there is plenty of room in here, it is awkward. The faucet is set so low to the sink that it's hard to get hands under it and you end up getting soap back on them as it rinses off! There was always water to the side of the toilet - I think from the shower. There are wooden slatted mats in most of the space to keep you off of the vinyl covered concrete floor, which was nice, but a few more would have been nice. The wood slats over the shower floor itself were a little unnerving, as they bend when you stand on them, due to the floor drain. It makes you feel dizzy and you have to watch your balance! It can get cool in there overnight, so we left the zippered flap-door open. The supplied soap, shower gel, shampoo, conditioner and lotion were good. The stars are obviously on full display here - it made it hard to go to sleep because we just wanted to stare at them all night. One of the best surprises was a roadrunner that came right up onto the concrete to check everything out while we stood and watched/took pictures. A couple of ground squirrels were seen in the rocks, but no other animals. My one major gripe was really just the lack of places to hang anything. Two towel hooks in the bathroom is not enough for bath towels and pool towels. We tried to use the chairs outside, but wind kept trying to take them. It would be great to have a clothesline or some fold out hooks on the wall outside to put wet towels and swimsuits! Overall, this was a fun, different place to stay. Yes, a little pricey for glamping, but worth it for our short trip. Our...

The “WOW” factor is ever present at Bubble X and the memories you will make will last a lifetime- it’s such a unique experience. We stayed 2 nights and it was over $800 with only a few minor disappointments. First let me get out ALLLLL the good stuff!! The view is incredible from just about anywhere you stand at Bubble X. The room was incredibly clean, smelled clean and the bed didn’t have a wrinkle in those bright white sheets! The floor is covered with rugs that will cushion the concrete beneath your feet. The ever changing view of the night sky is the cherry on top - the moon can be so bright and beautiful!! The bathroom has hot/cold water available and you won’t have to wait long before the hot water kicks in. That goes for the outdoor bonus shower as well!! There is a mini fridge for you to store drinks, snacks and what nots. We brought steaks and some lobster tails with random veggies to grill on the gas grill they have there and boast about in the description of all this has to offer. The grill is also next to a convenient sink and prep area as well - so it’s perfectly thought out in that respect. Now, here is our short “wish list” of things we wished were different to make this experience perfect. First, the shower area does not drain properly so the floor will have standing water that is dreadfully cold when you walk back into the bathroom afterwards. Using the toilet while your feet are in frigid puddles is just unexpected at $400 a night. Second, read your welcome letter and bring flashlights. Our light in the bathroom didn’t work (standing water and electricity issues is NOT a good thing) so we had to use our flashlight so just be prepared in case this isn’t remedied. Third, there are no plates/silverware so be prepared to bring your own because the store down the street charges 5x as what we are used to. I wish some nice reusable plastic plates were provided with some reusable flatware. We brought everything else to use to cook with, season our food but completely missed there would be no plates or flatware. I also wished there was housekeeping available to simply do a few things such as make the bed while you are gone and replace the used coffee mugs with clean ones and perhaps a way to request additional clean towels - especially with all the standing water in the bathroom area. Last but not least, check the weather and if it rains be prepared to place your bags off the ground because we didn’t expect some rooftop leaks and water coming in from the bottom - probably should’ve but we were focused on the lovely view of rain hitting the tent overhead and the sound it made. Overall, I’ll never forget seeing the stars at night, so many shooting stars and 2 satellites cross the sky. The wonderful time soaking in the hot tub and the incredibly romantic getaway we had here. Maybe they will tweak a few things, (we did send an email as requested) but even if they don’t - you’ll have read this and came prepared with a bit more of what to expect. Hope you have some AMAZING nights here - we...

We saw the facility highlighted on a TV show in February and booked the bubble house 2 for a stay in June 9 and 10. Of course the whole purpose for driving 1500 mile round trip was to stay in the bubble house for the experience of the dessert view sleeping under the stars seeing the night sky. Of course, the $276 per night, after taxes, was a little pricy but worth it for the unobstructed view of the galaxy with no city lights. Didn’t really care that the full amount was charged upon booking 4 months before the trip.

Well, upon arrival it was raining and cloudy and stormed all night. There was even a brief area wide power outage. The A/C was not able to keep up with the day heat even in cloudy rainy conditions but we were ok with that. It is a dessert after all. So much for the night sky with the rain and clouds but at least the dessert view in the bubble house was still a unique experience so we decided to make the best of it.

The next morning the Bubble 2 had developed leaky seams and water was dripping into the Bubble. One of the drips was above the bed and the forecast for the second day of our trip was rain all day through the night all the way through check out time.

We alerted the staff that the seams were leaking, and water was dripping on the bed. We expressed understanding that the weather couldn’t be controlled but with rain all day and all night forecasted that we could not stay in the leaking bubble and requested a refund for the second day and we would check out after one night.

They offered to move us to “a casita” or to send maintenance to “try to fix it” in lieu of a refund.

Of course, the reason we decided to stay there was for the bubble “experience” not to stay in a hotel room which is basically what the casita houses are. Not to mention rent for much cheaper per night, so we declined and requested a refund again. I reminded her that we drove across the State for the bubble house. She refused and offered up the Casita or to send maintenance to “try to fix” the leaks.

We did not want to stay in a building and did not want to risk new leaks developing and damaging our property or raining on us. We thought the refund request was reasonable considering but apparently customer service with this company is only extended when there are no issues with the stay. It is a shame the company is willing to let a couple hundred dollars stop returning customers, who would have referred other people to the experience, leave with on a negative. We left and drove 12 hours home.

Needless to say, we will never visit again or recommend it to anyone not to mention we will share our experience every available opportunity. So be careful and hope for good weather and clear skies if you plan a trip here and remember if things go wrong don’t expect help from...