Name: Spin and Margie's Desert Hideaway
Address: 64491 29 Palms Highway, Joshua Tree, CA 92252, USA, Joshua Tree, Joshua Tree, Joshua Tree, CA 92252, United States of America
Rating: 10

Location

Joshua Tree Courthouse

Hi-Desert Medical Center

Palm Springs International Airport

Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport

Spin and Margie's Desert Hideaway

We stayed in #2.  Bed was comfy, bathroom small but fine.  We didn’t cook, but kitchenette looked serviceable.  It was clean, colorful, and cheerful.  The pool area was super nice, wish we had time to hang there.  Easy drive to Joshua Tree park.  If I’m in the area I will stay there again, perhaps longer.

I didn't want to stay in Palm Springs because I wanted to escape from the trappings of "the city," so decided to stay in Joshua Tree. There aren't many places to stay in Joshua Tree and Spin and Margie's is #1 on Tripadvisor and they had one room left, so I gave it a shot. Cute little spot in the middle of the desert, close enough to all the breakfast spots and hiking at the National Park, but far enough away that it feels like an escape. Simple but super cute cabins that made me feel like I'd gotten away from it all. Next time I come back, will definitely stay again. March is the perfect time of year to visit. Perfectly priced.

We spent a week at Spin and Margie's in Suite 4 at the end of January 2020. Bright sunshine, chilly at night, but very close to the park. Spin and Margie's is a fun and funkie place. Decorated in an esoteric desert style, each room is unique and the courtyard spaces are bright and welcoming.

Suite 4 is made up of one big room combined for sleeping and for relaxing with a book, the TV, music or games. It has a full kitchen, well equipped, and a large bathroom with a large walk in shower and a separate bathtub. The bathroom opens onto a private courtyard, perfect for relaxing when the sun is high (remember, we were there in the winter)

If you are looking at a nice, out of the way but convenient to the park, spot, this is the one for you. Stacey is a great hostess, one of the best vacation experiences ever.

I visited spin and margies with my two boys (9 and 11) and friends with kids as well. The grounds were ideal for kids to roam around and play in the pool/Baci ball/horse shoes. Heads up for small kids though, the pool may not be heated, you will want to call ahead and check. The rooms are extremely well equipped for families (kitchen, fridge, movies, music) clean and charming. It is 5 minutes from the town of Joshua tree and 30 minutes from the National park which is a dream for scampering across boulders, light climbing and hiking. We will absolutely come back and stay at spin and margies again!  

We stayed in Suite 1 (Desert Rambler) for two nights in mid June 2019.   This place is hard to find, but worth the effort to find it. It is a beautiful, quirky, eclectic place to stay.  Desert weirdness at its best.

Our was a party of 2 & we stayed in cabin #5 (smallest cabin amongst the rest) which was perfect for us. Although this place is a tad difficult to find after dark, Google maps work great & there is a small sign on the main road indicating you need to turn into a dirt road. Few blocks ahead is the entrance to this place with TripAdvisor advertisement that you cant miss. You enter & park & cabin #5 is just near by. Location also hosts a gorgeous swimming pool, accommodation is quiet & every cabin has its own private garden with lounge chairs. TV, heater, robes & bathroom floor heater make your stay cozy. Coffee maker & fridge adds to the comfort. Place very unique & is a tad pricey but guess such small inns need severe maintenance. Also cafe & restaurants are about 5-7 mins away so stock up if you need anything. Overall we were pleased with the stay

We had visited Joshua Tree for the day and knew we’d love to spend more time. Fast forward 20years(and to our 20th anniverary tour) we came back and we were on the search for an incredible place to stay and boy did we find it in spades. From the first look, you know you’re in for a treat. It truly is an oasis and a feast for the eyes. We loved our accommodations- very spacious, perfectly appointed and comfortable. Our first morning we were greeted with a rainbow and an email from Stacy checking to make sure all was good and she made us feel like family. We loved our stay even with the crazy weather(rain,high winds and cold) but it never bothered us in our hideaway. After torrential rains overnight, Stacy called us to make sure we were okay and if anything needed tending. It is this attention to detail that shines through in every aspect of Spin and Margie’s. The rooms were clean and cutely decorated, a great location to the park  & downtown(and surrounding areas) and perfect our anniversary tour. Our place was extra roomy for us but would work nicely if you were traveling with kids. 
Our only wish is that is was a wee bit warmer so we could have enjoyed the adorable private patio with the array of deer and our protector Felix the bull. 
We know if we are headed back to the area we will definitely stay again and happily recommend to all! 
Thank you Stacy and the incredible Spin & Margie team!

My wife and I and two young kids shacked up here for three nights to explore the Park and surrounding area, and couldn't have had a better time. Clean, quiet and spacious suite with ample cooking facilities and a great new pool that the kids loved in spite of how cold the high desert was the days we were there over Christmas. Government shutdown meant the park was free to get in to (bonus!) Next time we might put the kids in their own room and try the Airstream. Highly recommended overall.

Joshua Tree

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Perfect stay while in Joshua Tree

Just What the Doctor Ordered

Wonderful winter break!

Perfectly Joshua Tree

Desert getaway indeed!

Perfect Hideaway for our getaway

Awesome!

desert experience in summer

Our experience and Spin And Margie's Desert Hideaway was mixed. The property was nice, and just what we want in a desert getaway -- quiet, somewhat secluded, with enough space to feel private and enjoy a few days in Joshua Tree.  
  
That said, there were several things about our visit that were pretty frustrating and disapointing. The majority of the issues really boiled down to attention to detail and thinking through the guest experience. Maybe our experience was normal, or maybe it's just normal in the slow season (our trip was in late January and we were the only folks on the property for two of the nights). On the plus side, these issues should be easy for management to address with a little care and elbow grease; they're not inherent to the property itself. 

Our frustration started on our arrival at the property. There is no welcome desk, or staff of any kind, present at check-in -- which I don't mind at all. However, the parking area is essentially unlit and unmarked. For a first-time visitor, arriving after dark, figuring out where the main building is located, figuring out where to park, and finding your way to your room, is more challenging than you'd think. Adding a small map of the property, with the parking and route to rooms clearly marked, would have been really helpful -- and, I'm so glad I brought flashlights, as finding our room with just the light from my phone would have been even more of a pain. 
  
When we found our door, retrieved the key, and stepped inside, we were greeted to a similarly pitch-black, and freezing-cold room. All of the lights in the room were left unplugged, so the first step was to navigate with flashlights to the desk lamps, find the cords, and figure out where to plug them in. Perhaps in the off-season the lamps are left unplugged to save on electricity. One simple solve for this would be to have housekeeping visit the room when a guest is scheduled to visit, and plug in all the lamps. Even better, for guests scheduled to arrive late, would be leaving a single light on, since the rooms are otherwise so dark. 

The next frustration was the heat. Upon arrival, the vent in the ceiling was left open, so the room was about 40ºf when we arrived. There was a thermostat on the wall clearly labeled HEAT running to a gas heater. After about 10 minutes trying to light the pilot light, I realized that the gas line was completely disconnected -- the room is meant to be heated with a more newly installed electric air conditioner. Figuring out how to turn on that heater was, itself, more difficult than you'd think. Simple solves for these issues would be: have housekeeping close the ceeling vent and turn the heater to, say, 55º f on nights where guests are to arrive; changing the label on the old heater from "heat" to "disabled," and writing very clear directions on how to turn on the new heater for those cold nights in the desert winter. 
  
The cleanliness of the room was a mixed bag. We felt the bed linens were clean and not gross. The room was dusty, but it's a small private hotel in the middle of the desert, so that's perfectly understandable. But, the bathroom was a problem. There were spiderwebs and egg sacs in the shower, which was pretty off-putting. Cobwebs I can handle, but these were thick, extensive, and ready to burst. Also, though the sink was clean, the curtains above it were stained and gross. Overall, it felt like the room had been cleaned in a superficial way, but was sorely in need of a real deep cleaning. When I'm out in the desert, I'm not looking for the Ritz; but when I'm paying $180/night on top of a $78 cleaning fee, I would have liked more attention to detail. 

Continuing in the bathroom, the pipes were in bad shape. The toilet flushed fine, but the shower and sink were draining incredibly slowly. When the shower is running for even a few seconds, there's standing water, and after a minute or so your feet are completely submerged. I understand that the property is on a septic system, and clogs happen, but this went past annoying to making the shower almost unusable. Again, not looking for the Four Seasons experience, but after a long day of hiking through dusty and dirty Joshua Tree, to have the shower be so bad was a bummer. If I were the property manager, I'd try adding Green Gobbler to the housekeeper's weekly duties, and see if that keeps the septic system in better shape.  

The last thing I'll say, for any travelers coming from far away, is to remember that, like many properties near the north side of Joshua Tree National Park, this place is located VERY close to the highway. The pictures you'll see online do a great job of disguising that fact, and the main core of the property is set off a bit with a sort of courtyard design. On the other hand, from our room, the rear door is about 200 paces from the highway. The room is mercifully quiet, but it does somewhat detract from the experience. If you're imagining a retreat into the middle of the desert, with few signs of people for miles in every direction, you'll need to look a bit further north and further away from the park entrance.  

In sum, our experience at Spin and Margie's was a mixed bag. I've read the glowing reviews going back many years, and I believe all of them. I really liked the property overall, and for most of our time there we felt like we had the run of the place entirely to ourselves, which was great. But, I'm not sure I'll be returning for my next trip to Joshua Tree. So many of the issues we experienced really boiled down to details and care, but adding them up, it was death by many cuts. If I had been paying $80 a night, these little things might have been more excusable, but for a $500 weekend away, I'll want to look for a little more care.

On the other hand, happily, I think the majority of these issues could be resolved with a few policy changes and an afternoon's worth of elbow grease. If the attention to detail was raised -- even on off-season weeks -- I'd be much more likely to return.

Mixed Bag at Spin and Margie's

This place used to be owned by people who care. It is a dump now. The mattresses are a complete joke, rooms were dirty, spider eggs everywhere, towels are old. When we pulled back the sheets there was hair everywhere. Disgusting. The pool is dirty, the lights around the property don't work. It is so sad because it was magical before. We cleaned prior to settling in due to Covid and the amount of dirt we got off the tile floor was disgusting.  It is such a shame because there are few places to stay in Joshua Tree. We will be staying a Super 8 for half the money. We go there to enjoy the park so why pay for such neglect and denial. Shame on the new owners. Mindy would be appalled.

Spin and Margie's Desert Hideaway

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