Pioneertown Motel — Hotel in Yucca Valley

My wife and I stayed 3 nights at the Motel while visiting Joshua Tree National Park.|First the positives:|- Very comfortable bed and pillows|-Good water pressure, small but adequate shower.|-Quiet place, we were practically the only ones there the first 2 nights|-Pioneertown is interesting, reminds me of places I went on vacation as a kid back in the 60's|-Red Dog and Pappy & Harriet's are fun places with reasonably good food||Now the negatives:|-My bad for not reading the FAQs or reviews more closely but there are no TVs. I get the whole "disconnect from life thing" but I like watching the news in the morning. Put TVs in the room, let the guest decide if they want to turn them on.|-Speaking of mornings, I also like coffee to start my day. Our first two days there was no coffee available in the canteen. Town is a 10 minute drive, a long way for a cup of coffee.|- The weather during our visit was interesting: cold, rain, snow and wind. The Motel can't control any of that but they could have better heaters in the room. Ours did heat the room but it did so by turning on for a minute then off for a minute, all, night, long.|-Wifi is provided but the signal in our room was very weak and frequently dropped. Since there is no cell service we were depending on wifi to make calls.|- I mentioned the good water pressure, nice for the shower, not so nice in the very high, shallow sinks. We quickly learned to turn on the water very lightly, otherwise you get soaked.|- They claim to have someone on-site 24 hrs/day. While that may be true, good luck finding them. We needed clean towels, couldn't find anyone. When we finally did find someone and asked for clean towels it took 5 hours to get them.|-As previously noted, during our stay we had rain and snow, again- out of the Motel's control. They could however, maybe consider paving the parking lot as it became a soupy mess after the rain. Perhaps hauling concrete up to Pioneertown is expensive but I imagine they spend a lot of money regrading the parking lot after every rain.||Conclusion: It is what it is, they advertise themselves as a quaint, relaxing place and I'll give them that. But at this price point I expect a...

This place is amazing! The natural setting is obviously gorgeous, but the owners have made the hotel itself truly wonderful in a unique, rustic and historic way. We spent one night for my birthday this past weekend. It was exceptionally windy and cold, and as we arrived a bit early, our room was not ready yet. The woman at the front desk was super friendly and went out of her way to give us options, and suggested Room 1, aka the lounge, as a place to wait and stay warm until housekeeping was done with our own room. It was nice and toasty in there with tons of books and board games (and coffee!) to use while we waited. She even had one of the owners bring our room key over to us in the lounge when everything was ready - such amazing and old school hospitality! We stayed in Room 18, on the back side of the property, which had incredible views of the desert and night skies. The bed was honestly one of the most comfortable I’ve ever slept on. The decor was also very pleasing. There was a mini-fridge to store drinks / snacks and the closet was equipped with chairs to bring outside for star-gazing and extra blankets. As their own website states (and I only mention this because I’ve seen people complain) there are no televisions in the room. This was an upside personally, as I really wanted to disconnect and just enjoy the scenery and ambiance. For what it’s worth, if this is a potential deterrent for some, they do give you free access to their WiFi upon arrival and it worked very well... so you could always use that if you wanted to watch Netflix or catch up on news/work/etc. The shops in the western town set were really neat to see and everyone we encountered in them was also very friendly. It’s not even a 5 min walk to Pappy & Harriet’s for delicious food and cocktails, a very cool and interesting spot. All in all I’d highly recommend this place for 1) someone looking to relax and get off the grid on a solo trip, 2) a romantic getaway for couples or 3) a group of friends looking to explore the Joshua Tree area and have fun over drinks and board games and conversation. We’ll definitely be...

This is definitely a "you go for the experience" hotel. It's not advertised as a luxury hotel or some sort of spa resort, more of a "It is what it is" hotel. It was very clean, the bed was comfortable, staff was great. They could use some W-D 40 on the door hinges, and they could better seal the doors. The doors are real timber and quite secure, just there are cracks you can see light through. Floors are bare concrete with 1 thin cowskin rug, and a small woven rattan rug next to each side of the bed. Windows walls and roof are uninsulated (its a rustic feel hotel after all) and the A/C units have a hard time cooling the rooms down in the summer heat. They need to plug some of the holes around the A/C units and replace the old units with more efficient, higher BTU models. My room did cool down eventually and it does cool off outside at night. To find food and drink Monday - Thursday you will have to go into Yucca Valley because nothing is open in Pioneertown. Pappy and Harriets says they are open Mondays and Thursdays, but I wouldn't bank on it. Just figure on eating at Del Taco or Papa Johns, down in Yucca Valley, for all your meals. We went to IHOP in Yucca Valley at 10am, and could not get seated do to lack of staff. There were plenty of seats open, just the kitchen was not able to put out food fast enough. There really isn't a breakfast lunch and dinner option in Pioneertown. The Red Dog Saloon looked more closed than open. So be aware. Getting food in the area is going to be a PITA. For star gazing the outdoor environment is excellent. Be advised, BYO cushions for the wood chairs as none...