Hotel berhampiran Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, Twentynine Palms

Located minutes from Joshua Trees’ most popular hikes. Easy walk to restaurants and grocery stores. Basic hotel room. Sparkling pool and jacuzzi. Two big umbrellas and canopied sofa sets provided comfortable lounging space for guests. Though the building blocked out traffic noise, the noise next door could be heard. The air conditioner broke the second night.

We’ve been traveling from NY to CA for a total of 12 days. We stayed at a Best Western Plus for the first time our second night out and were very happy so we decided to look for Best Western properties for the rest of our trip. Upon arrival I asked to see a room. I was denied access but told to look on their website to see a room. Had other reviews often mentioned cleanliness we would have left right then. I asked for a walk up room because both my husband and I have health issues that make walking difficult. We were given a room that required us to park in a parking area around the corner from our room with an incline in order to get to the door. The room was on the back side of the building not visible from parking areas. Most of the property was nicely landscaped and in order but where our room was located there was trash blowing around and large areas with spills from previous days remained uncleaned. Very unappealing. Our entrance faced the west and the door handle was so hot we literally couldn’t touch it. My husband had to cover his hand with his shirt sleeve to get into the room. We carried a face cloth with us so we could use the handle when coming back into the room. Breakfast was disappointing. Not much of an assortment. The outside of the trash cans had dried on drips of coffee and waffle batter on them. There were crumbs everywhere! Even under the tables where the buffet was set up. The glass had fingerprints all over as did the cases where bread and muffins were kept. It appeared we were the first at the buffet so I don’t believe any of the cleanliness issues were from that morning. The staff was friendly. One point for friendliness, one for a clean room. I took one point away for parking and room location, one point for mess outside our room and one point away for breakfast disappointment. I’m not sure we would stay at this property again.

Staying at a genuine desert motel has been a big bucket list item for me. And when I had the opportunity to visit Joshua Tree there was only one choice - the High Desert Motel Joshua Tree National Park. It is everything you would expect of a desert motel - it is authentic! No luxury trims or fancy service or anything you would demand in a big city. Just a desert motel. And if you also want to experience something authentic straight out of a 1960's western movie, the this is your choice.