Hermann Bungalows — Hotel in Palm Springs

First and foremost, this is a stunning property...The architecture, interior design, landscaping and property lighting is exceptional. You can tell the owner took into consideration every detail and it shows. The mix of stone, marble, concrete, wood and more is one of the best I've seen....as a hospitality designer myself, I was incredibly impressed. The bathroom vanity with vertical strips of wood, marble, brass and tile is so clever...a beautiful blend of material selection. Loved the bathroom toilet seat that raises when you walk by. The layout of the rooms, the outdoor private patio, the hanging adjustable pendant lights...all great...enjoyed the Nespresso coffee every morning and the little gifts they brought at night. Every one who works here is very friendly and goes out of their way to assist....||Here is the issue for me: They are charging incredibly high prices, even in the off season and the service and amenities do not match that price point. The hotel has two sections, the Bungalows, which is their high-end property and then through a gate is the budget hotel, which feels more like a really clean freshly painted old Holiday Inn. You have to walk through this budget hotel to get to the other nicer hotel. There is only one front desk, not a separate front desk for the Bungalows, and there is the disconnect. ||The L'Horizon section really needs updating...from the outdoor lounge furniture, to the rooms which they are charging $450 a night!!! I would price those rooms at around $200 max....as a courtesy to the other guest on this side of the hote, i straightened the lounge furniture and pillows every morning since it was not being done by the staff...||The restaurant on property was closed, so that was really disappointing..only room service...I don't want to pay for room service, so I went to the grocery store and bought food instead...||ordered one meal there and it was not very good...basic overpriced food, not anything special...never quite could figure out how to order because the bar was closed during my stay on the Bungalow side and there were no waiters on that side...||Here is the other disconnect....When I am on vacation, I want to sit by the pool, order lunch, eat it by the pool and then cool off in the water after sitting in the 100 degree sun. Their "pool" is not a pool that you can submerbe your body in...it's only 18" deep! do you know what happens to 18" deep water in the desert sun? its ends up at 95 degrees....so it's too shallow to actually get into, and the water is too hot....so now I have to walk to the other side of the property to get into their pool...Granted this is a "first world" problem, but at the rates they are charging, it was a shame....||I understand the Bungalows had very low occupancy, but come on....send some staff over here to check on the few of us staying here from time to time...Put out water service on this side, not just on the other side of the property. If you don't have the staff to man this side, at least put out a sign that says "to order food and beverage, please dial zero"...||I think the shallow pool was a design flaw....I want to cool off in the desert heat, not heat up in hot water...it's gorgeous to look at, but impractical...||after reading the owner's bio it seems this property is more of a vanity project meant to garner international press....and visually it is quite deserving....but customer service is lacking for this price point...at $800 a night, a different level of service is needed completely...the door to my patio was broken, the bed was WAY too soft...lacked any type of support needed for a good night's sleep...had to ask for housekeeping at 5pm on two nights to come service my room....two light fixtures were broken. ||...the night staff were the nicest, and had the most knowledge, but many staff were lacking basic information about the area. I would just mention that I understand working with the public every day over time can leave a person jaded and exhausted....so I get it...I would watch the level of tone in the morning staff....the way tone in delivery comes across can be very important..||why am I being charged a $100 deposit for return of the room key? why aren't you using electric plastic keys? The last part that really stung is they took out $250 a night from my debit card account without even telling me in advance of that charge...a deposit per night...I won't get that money back for at least another 7-10 days from my bank....||my suggestions would be to have a separate entrance for the Bungalows with more seasoned staff..Stop charging a $45 a day fee for parking when you can just park right in front of your room. I would remove the dated entrance fountain from the front entrance of the hotel, as well as the same dated fountain as you exit the lobby and the front lobby doors need to...

First and foremost, this is a stunning property visually. The architecture, interior design, landscaping, property lighting are exceptional. You can tell the owner took into consideration every single detail and it shows. The mix of stone, marble, concrete and wood is superlative. As a hospitality designer, I was incredibly impressed. The bathroom vanity with vertical strips of wood, marble, brass and tile is so chic, a beautiful blend of material selection. Loved the bathroom toilet seat that raises when you walk by and the elegant crystal glassware. The layout of the rooms, outdoor private patio, hanging adjustable pendant lights, all great. Enjoyed the Nespresso coffee every morning and the little gifts they brought at night. Landscaping is very sophisticated. Here is the issue for me: They are charging incredibly high prices, even in the off season and the service and amenities do not match that price point at all. The hotel has two sections: the Bungalows, which is their high-end property and then through a gate is their budget hotel, which feels more like a really clean freshly painted but dated Holiday Inn. You have to walk through this hotel to get to the other nicer hotel. There is only one front desk, not a separate front desk for the Bungalows, and there is the disconnect. The L'Horizon section really needs updating, from cheap outdoor lounge furniture, to the rooms where they are charging $450 a night! I would price those rooms at around $200 max. The curtains in those rooms are stained and really old. The restaurant on property was closed, so that was disappointing, so I went to the grocery store and bought food instead. Never could quite figure out how to order because the bar was closed during my stay on the Bungalow side and there were no waiters on that side during my 3 day stay. Here is the other disconnect: When I am on vacation, I want to sit by the pool, order lunch, eat it by the pool and then cool off in the water after sitting in the 100 degree sun. Their "pool" is not a pool that you can submerge your body in, it's only 18" deep! Do you know what happens to 18" deep water in the desert sun? its ends up at 95 degrees: it's too shallow to actually get into, and the water is so hot. So now I have to walk to the other side of the property to get into their pool. Granted this is a "first world" problem, but for the rates they are charging, it was a shame. I understand the Bungalows had low occupancy, but come on, please send some staff over here to check on the few of us staying here from time to time. Put out water service on this side, not just on the budget side of the property. If you don't have the staff to man this side, at least put out a sign that says "to order food and beverage, please dial zero". I think the shallow pool was a design flaw. I want to cool off in the desert heat, not heat up in hot water. After reading the owner's bio, it seems this property is more of a vanity project meant to garner international press, and visually it is totally deserving, but customer service is lacking for this price point, at $800 a night, a different level of service is needed completely: the door to my patio was broken, the bed was WAY too soft and lumpy, lacked any type of support needed for a good night's sleep, had to ask for housekeeping at 5pm on two nights to service my room, two light fixtures were broken. I would watch the level of tone in the morning staff, especially Paulina who was very rude and her treatment was why I left early and checked into the Sensei Resort, where I am staying now: tone in delivery is a fine art and can be very important. Why am I being charged a $100 deposit for return of the room key? The last part that really stung is they took out $250 a night from my debit card account without even telling me in advance of that charge, a deposit per night? what is this, the YMCA? won't get that money back for at least another 7-10 days from my bank. Check your bill before leaving for overcharges. Sadly wont go back because of the poor customer service....

We were attracted by the iconic architecture, inspired by Mies's Barcelona Pavilion and Richard Neutra's Kaufmann house (of the famous Slim Aarons photo). Steve Hermann has a good eye and the hotel is probably one of the most handsome in Palm Springs.||Sadly the combined entity is woefully understaffed, resulting in a very poor service and a prickly and uncaring attitude among some of the staff in the restaurant and at reception who appear to be beset and have to deal with a wide variety of tasks (albeit with a few notable exceptions of very kind staff such as Matt the bellhop and the barmen). ||On our first night we had issues with overheating in the room and the tv not switching off. We called reception 4-5 times but nobody answered, so we had to sleep in an overheated room with the tv on. The next day (Christmas day), we chased the same issues several times, but the lady at reception did not seem overly interested in our bad night, indicating that as far as she was concerned, the removal of the resort fee adequately dealt with the matter. She left us with the clear impression she had more important matters to attend to. In the end Matt came around to help us, now wearing his engineer's hat.||After a further very unhappy experience with a harried and aggressive restaurant manager, we asked at receptionist to speak to the duty manager, we were told he was not available, neither was Collin Jamieson the Resort Manager, nor Peter Lenton the General Manager. Strangely, any management presence was entirely invisible throughout our stay.||As we had the feeling the receptionist was stonewalling us we left the hotel the next morning. ||Interestingly, when we left the next morning nobody seemed interested in our experience nor did they ask why we left a day early leaving another paid night of $1,200 on the table.||It is a shame as it could be a very...