Hacienda Del Sol — Hotel in San Diego Country Estates

I had a lovely stay in one of the recently-renovated Casitas. The plush inner spring king bed was very comfortable, and the pillows are good for side sleepers. The unit was clean and cozy, with lots of natural sunlight if you opt to open the blackout curtains.

There is an air conditioner situated right between the bedroom and the living room, so it is possible to cool both rooms at the same time. There is no door to separate the bedroom from the living space.

There is a quaint kitchen which has a half-sized electric stove with oven. The retro-style fridge is new, but unfortunately never got cold enough even on the highest setting. The freezer is plenty cold, however. There is also a smaller microwave and an 8-cup coffee maker. Cookware and utensils are basic. Silverware and dishes are enough for four place settings.

The shower has great pressure and can get rather hot if that's to your liking. You do share a wall with another Casita next door, but I never once heard my neighbor. For entertainment, all you have is a Bluetooth radio speaker.

There is no TV, which was missed. I understand that the area will most likely attract nature-loving guests, but I find it a disservice to not feature a television in the property. After all, one could simply decide not to use it, but those who do would be well-served. Fortunately, WiFi is available and is fast enough to stream movies on at least one device.

There is a front porch at each Casita which features two chairs and a small table for lounging. The location is very convenient to area restaurants and two nearby markets. There is an ice machine that is located near the front desk.

There is an outdoor communal space with plenty of lounge seating, cafe lights for ambience, a fire pit and a grill for cooking. In the front desk lobby, there is a small billiards table. There is also a good sized pool that is 8 ft deep on one end with chaise chairs situated in the shaded area.

To note: there are lots of insects in the area, and often times I would encounter large spiders and crickets inside my unit. I never felt unsafe, and it was very quiet at night. The lobby has operating hours and is not staffed all day and night. I didn't arrive until after the lobby had closed, but the lovely staff had arranged for me to get into my unit regardless. Housekeeping is available when desired. Checkout was simple. Overall, I had a wonderful stay at the...

The restoration is very very nice, kind of a retro meets Ikea look, with nice quality items though rope chairs are uncomfortable. It would be nice if each bed (or on the sides of a king size bed) had a reading light of it's own, that worked independently of the other. Not enough towel bars. Two people, two towels, two wash clothes, but only one hand towel. If we had used the towels for the pool, no place to hang them except on the backs of the rope chairs. |Brick in that back door and make a place for the microwave. The pool is super sterile looking with all the color gone and all the vegetation gone as well as the palm tree gone. I hope next time I visit, some vegetation will have been planted, a shade tree maybe, and vegetation without thorns. Enough of that architectural look with the barrel cactus in a row. There used to be so many thornless and varied desert plants and yellow flowering brittle bush and yucca. Now it is so barren, although it did need a good yard clearing of the dead stumps and logs. The weather was super hot (115 degrees) so the pool temp was nice. I will come just for the pool once they create some ambiance there.......but will never come in cooler months if it is unheated. To not be entirely negative, I do recognize all the effort and money that the new owners have put into the place; a huge huge investment. As a regular visitor for about 30 years, these are all things that obviously needed attention and I am happy to see the restoration. The stuccoing of all the crumbling cement block walls of the pool enclosure and the same around the casitas alone must have been a huge sum of money as well as the fence replacement. Maybe save one of the small houses for a live in innkeeper. It is very odd to not have a staff person there.|Please plant some natives or non thorn succulents in the front...

My husband and I stayed at Hacienda del Sol this past weekend and it was wonderful. The construction of the motel started in 1947 and was finished in phases through the ‘50s. On 10 acres, it contains motel rooms, side by side casitas, and stand-alone ranchos. ||I started reading the reviews on TripAdvisor and was surprised by the negative tone. Then I noticed that the negative reviews were pre-2021. New owners purchased the business in 2021 and have been renovating since. You should ignore all reviews prior to then.||The motel rooms and casitas have been careful renovated to retain their old charm but updated to bring them into the modern age (i.e. beds, furniture, detailing). It would be easy to go overboard in renovating these buildings and end up with some version of overly kitschy atomic age, but the new owners have not ventured there. ||The renovations are simple (or plain if you are a Quaker from Pennsylvania) but plain is not necessarily inexpensive. This is plain that is luxury, where less is more. The photos on the web site are true, the buildings and rooms are phenomenal, the attitude for the renovations is just right. One illustration of this is that there are no TVs nor microwaves at Hacienda del Sol.||The hotel is in the midst of ‘downtown’ Borrego Springs, which means it is easily walkable to restaurants, the grocery, the art exhibition center, and the performing arts center. However, being secluded on its ten acres means that it is quiet, too.||The owners are dog friendly, happy to host our two pooches, and even placed water and food bowls on a mat in our room.||I am now a huge fan of Hacienda del Sol. You...