Sparrows Lodge — Hotel in Palm Springs

Okay, this is the review I wish I had seen when I went to book this property...||I am a well-traveled girl and I usually prefer luxury 5-star hotels (think Four Seasons), however my spouse wanted a different experience to celebrate his 50th birthday and opted to go to Palm Springs.||I had a tough time choosing a room as the website doesn't show all the photos of the rooms (especially the bathroom) and it's difficult to know what is private/what isn't, etc.||We ended up booking The Cabin - because it looked more private and set apart. It was removed from the pool (many of the other rooms had very little privacy - you can see right into them as you walk around the property) and was at the back of the property which was nice.||The room itself left a bit to be desired. It was dark and there wasn't much lighting for nighttime. The floors are all stone and pebble, like many hotels in Palm Springs, and while it looks nice they are MISERABLE to walk on barefoot. (Especially the little pebbles.) Be sure you bring flip flops or slippers to walk around the room or you will regret it. I also was frustrated that the lighting didn't match - lots of different temperatures - and the one light over the bathroom sink was yellow, making makeup application absolutely miserable. Several were so dim that it was way too dark at night.||The room was large and spacious - but had zero storage other than the closet. Absolutely nowhere to put makeup or folded clothes. Nowhere to hang a travel toiletry bag or hang a bathrobe. Nowhere to put anything. Who designs these rooms? Obviously not a woman who has 'stuff". It was overwhelming trying to navigate it all, especially since we were traveling for 9 days and had quite a bit with us.||The hotel provided bathrobes and ours were worn and tattered - one had several holes in the sleeves. We didn't wear them.||One of the biggest factors for us in booking this room was the private patio - which ended up being worthless. It was dirty and the little cozy bench with cushions shown in the photos was filthy - never wiped down or blown off. So, it was useless and we didn't spend any time outside on the patio. In addition, our 'private' patio was used as a thoroughfare for workers like palm tree trimmers to get to their vehicles at the back of the property so we didn't have privacy (and since the bathroom is open and has no door this was an issue).||The bathroom is open to the room and the shower has no door - it's this large stone shower with a rain shower head probably 12 or 14 feet above you....and, it's miserable. Miserable, miserable, miserable. Water goes everywhere, and as a girl with very long hair who doesn't wash my hair daily it made it very uncomfortable trying to shower. I honestly thought about showering at the gym instead. Yes, I disliked it that much. And, the shower floor is filled, once again, with pebble stones that aren't the greatest underfoot. The toilet is in its own little room but didn't have AC vented into it so if you needed the toilet and privacy it was quite warm.||They serve a little continental breakfast in The Barn each morning, but it was pretty worthless in my opinion. A weird menagerie of hard boiled eggs, yogurt, cantaloupe and random items - nothing filling. As a competitive athlete this wouldn't even begin to sustain me, so we had to seek breakfast out every day.||The Barn also serves lunch and dinner, which has a limited menu but the food was delicious and well appointed. I highly recommend eating there for lunch, dinner, desert, snacks, etc. They will bring food to your room upon request and I enjoyed that as well.||Our room had ZERO insulation or sound dampening. You could hear the room next to us talking - and they were not talking loudly. We were also next to the trash bins at the back of the property and had trash trucks beeping and dumping trash constantly. We also got to hear all of the workers dumping trash throughout the day and late night. Not fun.||The room came with a decent sized Smeg refrigerator which was helpful as well as a microwave, but no dishwashing soap or any kind of kitchen items that would be helpful - more like a Hilton Garden Inn type of situation.||I think, for me, the most frustrating thing was the time I spent trying to find a suitable place in Palm Springs for this special occasion and after finally settling on Sparrows the day before we left I received an email from them saying basically "Hey, don't expect much - we have paper thin walls and no amenities. It was a preemptive "don't complain, we are warning you about what to expect" email. I would've appreciated having that info on the website as it would've influenced my decision - It felt a bit like a bait and switch and I didn't appreciate that as a CEO of an advertising agency who appreciates truth and transparency.||The staff at Sparrows was very nice but don't expect true service here. They said they would go around the pool every 15 minutes to check on you, get drink orders - but I never saw that in the 4 days I was there. They are kind when you are in The Barn and go in to eat, etc. - but don't ask for extras. When I asked for ice to fill my cooler (it was 110 and I wanted to take bottled water in a cooler for the day) one of the male workers acted like I was putting him out and asking for 1,000 dollars cash out of his pocket. Not cool.||Overall, I liked where the property was (I enjoyed getting steps in the adjoining neighborhood and and actually met several nice people who live there) and the food during lunch/dinner was worthy of a mention - I would eat there again. The property offers some pretty areas for photos and the outside is well kept. The staff, overall, are very nice and friendly. But, it just was a miss in many other ways. If I had known what I know now I wouldn't have stayed or would have significantly lowered my expectations. I think having more photos of these rooms on the website and really, truly, relaying what to expect would go leaps and bounds. I am up for adventure - but I like to know what to expect - and I didn't expect what I saw at Sparrows.||Lastly, when we checked out no one asked for our key. (It is a true key, not a swipe card). Thankfully, we were still in Palm Springs and had moved to Korakia - so we drove it back later that night when we realized we had it. When we dropped it off they just brushed it off and said "Thanks, yeah, we'll make sure you aren't charged the $100 lost key fee." That seemed VERY odd to me - why wouldn't they ask for the key when you check out? Most people aren't used to an old-school key these days and could easily forget it - especially if rushing to get to a flight. I found it, well, fitting given the...

Sometimes you are fortunate to find a place where things just click. For us it was the Sparrows Lodge. It was our first visit to the Palm Springs area in many years and we had checked out many other properties online but were attracted by the 21+ requirement and the reviews that mentioned the friendliness of the team. We were not disappointed. The rooms were clean and spacious with high quality linens, pillows and towels. Our room also had a very nice and private outdoor area that made the room feel even larger. I think all the rooms have this outdoor area but you may want to confirm.

The morning continental breakfast was excellent and is served in a very cool (literally and figuratively) shed like structure that separates the rooms facing the pool from the rooms toward the back of the property that face the fire pits. We also had lunch served poolside which was fantastic. The property is located in a great location with shopping and eateries within a very short walk. There are bicycles with head lamps available for guests at no charge. We used them almost every night to ride to wherever we had selected for dinner. The pool as you would imagine is pretty active but we found other guests were friendly yet very respectful of those of us that just wanted to chill out. At night the entire property is beautifully lit with a combination of fire pits and properly dimmed light fixtures. The turn down service includes two fresh towels and a bottle of Topo Chico...nice touch. The bar does not serve alcohol but does offer beers and great wine based drinks that range from mojitos to margaritas.

However what really made us extend our stay was the quality of the people that work throughout the property. A special thank you to Samantha the manager who along with her entire team were a pleasure to be around and very attentive to all of the guests. My wife had celebrated a birthday a few days prior so I ordered a bottle of sparkling wine for our arrival. Not only was the bottle served but the bed had rose petals organized in the shape of a heart along with a birthday card. Again...great execution. One night we met the owners of the property and everything we had been experiencing made sense. They were warm helpful and their care for the property and most importantly their team/extended family was obvious.

I don’t write many reviews and am not big on social media but felt that this might be a small way to thank the entire team at Sparrows for a great experience. We will undoubtedly be back and have shared our experiences with...

Like Carlie, my husband and I got the same email informing us that our vacation reservation was not going to be honored due to a last minute decision to host a wedding on property. We are also highly disappointed and their offer to move us to their "sister" property isn't a great solution as it is absolutely nothing like Sparrows Lodge. If we wanted to stay in that location, we would have made our reservation there in the first place. However, rescheduling this trip with such short notice will cost us a ridiculous amount of money once we've calculated the cost to change our business and family schedules plus flight cancellation fees. Also, 3 emails to Chris, the GM, have gone unanswered, so we have no idea where we stand with a vacation that is supposed to occur in 5 weeks.

All of this is beyond disappointing as my husband and I visited Sparrows Lodge in April for my 50th birthday and our time there was exceptional in every way. The staff made our stay special beyond belief and it was the first time that we recalled being truly relaxed and able to decompress. It was then that we decided that we would visit every six months and booked our first 6 month return trip before we left.

The disconnect between the way the amazing staff runs the lodge and treats the guests and the way the GM seems to be dealing with this situation (his tone deaf response to Carlie's Google review and non response to emails this week) is concerning to say the least. It's a bad look to cancel guests' long planned vacations and then offer no follow up on how you or Sparrows Lodge are planning to reimburse guests for financial losses or generally make this...