Sahara Hot Springs Family Park & Inn

I don’t usually write reviews, but felt that this resort and staff deserved acknowledgement for the outstanding service we received during our recent stay The hotel and outside areas were very clean and upkept daily. The food was also very good. Bearing in mind, we didn’t go on holiday to eat fish and chips and roast beef. We tried all the local dishes along with more European fare. There was always a great selection to choose from and freshly cooked. Our room was cleaned and restocked daily and the housekeeping staff were very friendly. Every member of staff, from the man who put the cushions on our sun beds at the beach, to the Hotel Management team were approachable, friendly and professional. Nothing was too much of a problem for them and they all ensured that we had a memorable holiday. I would like to give special thanks to: Khaled, General Manager Najla, Customer Relations Ahmed, lunchtime waiter Firas Chouaibe dinner waiter Abdel Waheb, barman La Brise Haussem, La Brise Cashier Fakhri, La Brise Head Chef Hammadi, Beach man Zouhair, hotel bar Nassreudini , hotel bar Thank you all so much. I will be sure to recommend you and your resort to my friends

I checked into the motel and within one hour, I left to find other lodgings.All pools and spas are open with no restrictions and none of the hotel staff wore masks. They are a family-owned business, and they were watching t.v. and eating in the middle of the lobby. There was no way to the front desk without coming in direct contact with several people not wearing masks. There was no hand sanitizer available in the office either. Once we received our room key, we walked through the pools to our room. No social distancing rules or guidance was suggested, posted, nor being practiced. Families had their hotel room doors propped open and were cooking in their rooms, bringing food out to the pool deck, and socializing with other families from other rooms. Not one mask was observed to be worn by either staff or patrons. Chairs and tables were not positioned to encourage social distancing. We opened the door to our room and found that the chain lock was missing half of the mechanism and did not work. The appliances in the "kitchen" had electrical cords dangling from overhead. The corners had spider webs complete with spiders and dead flies (obviously, the room hadn't been cleaned in quite some time.) The linoleum going into the kitchen was lifting, causing a trip hazard, the linen had fresh dirt on the top comforter, and "decorative" pillows were provided that were worn through with no cover and were disgusting and dirty. Everything had stains from the counters, to the furniture, and the floors. The toilet would not flush, the air conditioner installed at eye level next to the door was filthy (I do not think the filter had ever been changed) and at the perfect place to hit your head. The final issue was the missing smoke detector. I asked twice for the smoke detector to be replaced; however, they refused to acknowledge that it was missing. I do not know what the other rooms looked like; this was room 12. It is obvious that they are not following enhanced cleaning guidelines, social distancing guidelines, nor face covering guidelines per the county and state guidelines. Final blow- they refused any refund. I paid in advance for 2 nights. I will be following up with the Better Business Bureau.

Most reviews of this hotel are bad. Very bad. But they’re all from people who expected a resort stay for cheap, and were disappointed that they got what they paid for. The REAL value of this place lies in the fact that nobody goes here and management operates at all hours. It’s a resort stay, all right - the perfect LAST resort stay. Where else could you possibly go at 11:45pm on a Friday night, after trying (and failing) to get a camping spot at Joshua Tree National Park? After driving for two hours through ghostlike Joshua Tree forests and watching miles of campers resigned to sleeping in their cars? Where else could you find vacancy for three adults and one very large dog? I’ll tell you: this is the only one. I know because I tried every single other hotel in a 50-mile radius on Memorial Day Weekend, right after the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, and not a single other place had vacancy. Management was remarkably friendly. They called me back after I left a voicemail immediately. They opened the gates for us at midnight, even though a “closed” sign had been zip tied on. They explained that the dozens of cats roaming the hotel at night were indeed quite friendly. Management personally led us to our room, past the shrine of plastic fowls, barely masking her discomfort with the dog. The room had two beds, a TV, a bathroom, and a small kitchen. The beds were fine. The kitchen stove worked. There was no soap, but whatever. Some of the fixtures were broken. The disrepair and lack of attention to detail with comforts docks a star from this review. In the morning we noticed the live macaws by the front desk. There was no breakfast, but there was probably coffee. Staff was busy cleaning the four pools, which are actually quite pretty, and the cats had dispersed. Checkout was uncomplicated. This is probably not the cleanest place in Desert Hot Springs. It’s probably not the cheapest. But it does have a Room of Requirement aura and flexible management policies, should you find yourself stuck in Joshua Tree on a holiday weekend with nowhere to go.