Hotel Zoso — Hotel in Palm Springs

Zoso review

I 100% do NOT recommend this hotel.

Rude staff (not all, but the majority), unhelpful, with a surly attitude. Tried checking in early, given all manner of excuses. Three couples tried to check in early after me. All three got rooms within minutes, I kept enquiring and was told to come back, one couple came down and complained they didn’t have a Mountain View. They were given a new room immediately. I was fobbed off I would be emailed when the room would be ready, I was never emailed. Finally asked again for my room, having awaited 45 mins at this point, the person said my room needed to be signed off and he’d let me know and told me to wait in the lobby. Waited another 45 minutes in the lobby, massive speakers playing very loud 80’s pop, it was intolerable. The chap in question eventually disappeared, so finally had enough and asked his colleague, who supplied me with a room immediately, no apology, no explanation, it was near 4pm by this time having arrived initially at noon. I understand that check in is 4pm, but if you are checking in people that arrived after you to the hotel, why did I have to wait, it makes no sense.

Price. Unless you have to attend an event and stay at this hotel, do NOT book it with them directly, this was my mistake. Four day stay just under $1800 (just under £1400 British pounds). Booked direct last week. Upon checking booking.com during the prolonged wait for my room, their rate for the same room was $900 (£700), nearly a thousand dollars cheaper.

NEVER stay on a Thursday evening, as I found out it’s karaoke night in the lobby. My room was very near the lobby, the huge speakers (already mentioned) in the lobby boomed out an horrendously loud sound, as the handful of customers murdered popular tunes. After a nice evening out I returned to a deafening base thud of attempts at karaoke in my room, it was like it was playing within my room. I’d flown in the day before from the uk, so needed sleep, this was around 9pm, needless to say sleep with that noise would be near impossible. Went to the desk to enquire when said “entertainment” would end, was told they might be able to move me, but I should just stay where I was as it would all be over by 11pm. The lobby is central to a chunk of the main accommodation, quite why they feel it appropriate to play the music so loud is beyond me. Music didn’t stop until well past 11pm. I made it clear I wanted to speak with the manager, I could barely hear the receptionist and had to strain to communicate due to the horrifically loud music (note to Zoso management, why would you put your staff in that situation?) she promised me the manager would be in contact in the morning. Needless to say, I never heard from him. During final check out she offered to go talk to the manager but obviously by that time it was too late.

In the end I cancelled the remaining three days of my stay and moved to the Hilton across the road, £500 cheaper. They could not have been kinder and friendlier, and allowed me to check into a room at 10.50 am. The staff bent over backwards to help, such a departure from what I’d experienced at Zoso.

So as it stands I was charged $360 for one night of hell.

I’ve solo travelled for almost 30 years. This was the most challenging night in a perceived “good” hotel I’ve ever experienced.

0 stars out...

We stay at a variety of luxury hotel chains. My daughter and her husband are both global travelers as well. I'm not sure what Zoso translates to but for our family it means regrettable. A four star rating for this hotel makes a mockery of the rating system and would be challenged by any seasoned traveler. I give it one star for the rooms and another for the location.

The entry makes a fairly good impression at drive up and then as you walk into the lobby and check in area. The good first impression quickly wore off as our post check in travels took us through the hotel and to our rooms. All the logo rugs, lobby rugs, and walkways were spotted, stained and dirty. On our exit from the elevator on the third floor we were greeted by a small dog being chased by a young boy. I missed the memo that this was a pet friendly hotel or I would have requested a non-pet floor although it's clear that all floors are pet friendly. The carpet in front of the elevator was stained with what could have easily been a dog "accident" and there was what appeared to be remnants of a cookie in the middle of the hallway that became a running joke and stayed there for the duration of our stay.

To our relief the rooms were far more in line with the supposed star rating. The beds and linens were on par with a luxury hotel as well as the furniture and flat screens. However, the carpets were frayed and there were various signs of wear and tear around the room that hadn't been attended to. Our daughters bathroom door had a chunk out of it. The patio was well overdue for a scrubbing. So while the rooms had the potential of a four star room you had to knock it down to a 3 for lack of maintenance.

Given our late afternoon check in we decided a quick visit to the pool area was in order to see what the additional $60 in "resort fees" got us. Short answer. NADA! Our dreams of lounging in the desert at the uber cool pool represented on the hotel website were crushed in the first few minutes. Yes, there's red cushions on the lounges and yes there's water in the pool but that's where any semblance to the pictures on the hotel website end. In general the pool area is absolutely filthy and well overdue for a remodel. As you can see from my pictures the concrete decking around the pool has areas of chipped up concrete and generally looks like a stained driveway. The red cushions are stained and spotted. The steps have an aluminum metal edging (not sure why) on them which is loose in many areas and absolutely dangerous in others. In fact, my son wasn't at the pool for 5 minutes before he scraped his foot on one of the corners. The spa handrail had covers that were falling off into the water. It looks like maintenance stopped right after the deceptive Photoshopped pics on the website were taken. The pool bar was an equal disaster. Not only was the bartender about as rude as I've ever experienced but two drinks and a beer $30+!!!!

There you have it. If you read this far then consider yourself warned. Do not trust the TripAdvisor reviews of this hotel or their supposed Award of Excellence. You can do dramatically better in...

I'm unsure where to begin with the Hotel Zoso, so let's get right into the grit of it. I stayed at the Hotel Zoso for two weeks for work, starting on March 4th, 2025, and will be checking out on March 14th, 2025. I arrived early, so my room was not ready to check in yet, due to my early arrival and the over 150 check-outs that morning, which is to no fault of the hotel.

They only have valet parking, which is a SEVERE hit or miss. You can get your car, or you won't. When I arrived, the lady working valet was very kind and polite. However, after reading previous reviews, I quickly learned that no valet attendants lock your car doors. So make sure that they lock your car doors for you. When I did want to get my vehicle, they "misplaced" my keys, which ended up with someone else. The next morning, I saw that the key lock box was left open outside and no attendants were around.

Eventually, my keys were found and I thought all was well until I returned to my room after work. I walked into the room with the AC intake vent open, a ladder under it, and some tools on top of it. No one was in the room, but it was 80 degrees inside. I called the front desk and the maintenance worker claimed the morning crew forgot which room they were working in, and that the guest would call eventually after 30 minutes or so, the unit was repaired.

Midway into my stay, the club next door was having a party. However, it lasted from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m., with lots of screaming, singing, and cursing for what seemed like an endless time. After not getting any sleep that night, I woke up to take a very cold shower. There were only two days so far during my stay when I had a warm shower that was 10 minutes long. There are no restaurants, a gym, or parking for yourself. And if you want your car you might get someone else's!

I'm also 80% sure this hotel has bed bugs, but what hotel doesn't have bed bugs? Housekeeping doesn't seem to exist; if they are, it takes them over two days to accomplish what you asked for. There is way more cons than pros, and it sucks that most of my co-workers had same experiences. Such as doors being left open all day after housekeeping came, toilets not flushing, heaters and AC units in disrepair. The restaurant has been closed for apparently years, the Jacuzzi is always closed, the bar is always closed, the escalators are closed, the nightclub is always closed, the hotel may as well be closed at this point.

The staff can be really kind or rude. The coffee shop in the lobby is good, and the staff there is great. The rooms are rough, and the parking is rough, but you know what? It's probably not any better than a Motel 6! Use that information as you will, and in case you find yourself in a similar situation as me, you've been...