El Morocco Inn and Spa Resort - Desert Hot Springs, California

Kimberly N.

This is perfect for what it is a boutique hotel where you go to relax and get away. You are not far from PS and RM.
It's not a new super fancy resort, it's an intimate place with waters to transport away the stress of life outside the walls. The rooms were clean.
There aren't a lot of rooms, I was told it was the most packed he ever saw it when we went.
The breakfast was simple and perfect. The staff was responsive to requests.

Full disclosure:
I think the message was overpriced but that's "whatever".. take don't take it.. (?discount code?🙄🤗)
The cats were fighting and you could smell them on the outside furniture😑.

The truth is I don't want you to go because I want to keep it to myself and limit demand so prices stay reasonable.

The foregoing was an umcompensated review by a person that can be extremely "picky" and understands hospitality.

Taj S.

I just revisited El Morocco Inn for the first time in 10 years. It hasn't changed much. There was a service aspect that seemed missing though - it seemed that there wasn't a dedicated person working the front desk anymore. The therapist who helped us check in said they would give us a tour but never did. They also gave us the incorrect rooms and when we asked them about it, they said they didn't have any other open rooms. Later we saw there were a few rooms that were never checked into.

Other things we missed was the ubiquitous snacks they used to have, the happy hour, no more rose water and nightcaps at the end of the night. There is also a strong smell of bleach that I don't remember being there.

I have a lot of memories at this place and will definitely come back. I'll just be sure to bring my own snacks and maybe my own rosewater.

Alan G. S.

We enjoyed every minute, hated to leave. Staff makes you feel welcome and cannot do enough for you. Amazing place with incredible atmosphere and ambiance with attention to every detail. Feel like we are back in Morocco. We definitely will b back. Thanks for a great getaway.

Bobbi J.

My initial review I was very hurt and upset at the lack of care or humanity for us being affected by the wild fires in LA and us needing to cancel our reservation due to our family being personally affected.

I am still upset by this, I am upset that they have no intention of refunding us the $330 cancellation fee when we initially reached out with ample time for them to fill the rooms still. They did offer to give us a credit but we were told it needed to be used within two months and were being pushed to choose a new booking date when we had already told them we had no idea when we’d be able to arrange travel. It just isn’t a realistic expectation with what is currently happening.

I am upset that we were not met with more compassion and understanding during such an unprecedented disaster. It’s truly disappointing. I wish it could have been different and I could have had better things to say.

I am keeping my review at one star based on lack of any true effort to help us during such a devastating time.

EDIT- the reply from the establishment to this review is not accurate- we sent a request to waive cancellation fee (the fee was first night or $330) a week and a half before the stay.

We spoke on the phone with the establishment, who said they didn’t know how to do this, said they couldn’t see the request to waive fee.

We spoke with an agent at bookings.com who told us exactly how they could navigate their booking.com host portal to waive the fee, we called the establishment back and told them verbatim how to do it. Not only when I spoke to them did they seem uninterested but they argued with me about it like I was making it up. Then they said they would “look into it”.

Two days went by with no response after they said they would try. We even tried to call and leave a message to check in with no response.

We contacted booking.com again and they personally sent a request to the establishment to waive the fee.

We still had no response and it was getting close to the booking and we didn’t want to end up paying for the entire stay so we were forced to cancel our booking without the fee waiver thus being charged the $330 fee.

*** you can literally go to booking.com host hub help section and it walks you through exactly how to pull up a reservation and accept the cancellation fee waiver. I did looked into it after the entire fiasco just to see, it was not hard to find and it was the exact same instructions the booking.com agent gave me to give the establishment.

If you as an establishment don’t know how to use your third party vendors software that is an internal problem. It is extremely frustrating to see you still blaming them when we as the client took every measure to work with you and booking.com and booking.com seemed to have no issue they said all you had to do was accept the cancellation fee waiver like we told you how to do.

We even received a response from booking.com customer service saying they had a response from your establishment saying that you would not waive the fee and that they (booking.com) were very sorry that this ended this way and they hoped our father was okay.

Even if you had offered us a larger window to rebook (like 4 or 6 months) after us telling you there was no way we could plan a trip within two months with what we are dealing with that would have been helpful and you could have done that but also did not. There was a lot more in your power than you are eluding to.

I feel like I am being lied to and taken advantage of and your establishment is trying to look like the good guys when it just doesn’t appear that way from our end.

Laurie K.

Great breakfast, although we missed it the first morning since they don't serve it until 9am. Would be nice if you could get breakfast earlier. Friendly staff and guests. We loved the kitties, but you'll have to be patient and bring Churu or squeeze up treats if you want to pet them. I do hope the owners will spay and neuter the cats and give them names! Nice hot tub but chlorinated, comfy rooms but beds are a bit firm and they could use bigger pillows.

Mean G.

Lovely place, not in the greatest neighborhood but feels like walking into an Oasis in North Africa. There are so many places to rest and relax, curl up with a good book, sit in the mineral baths, sauna, hammocks. It's just amazing.

Carrie A. R.

I've never been to a place like this before! Was here for only one night but would've loved to have stayed longer. I met a couple in the pool who said they've been visiting here every year for 15 years as a get away and I can see why. The atmospheric ambiance is immaculate. I really loved how they have a cozy film corner where the movie is Casablanca looped on repeat all day and night, very kitchy and cute. The breakfast wasn't great, mid at best. I was expecting and hoping for more in that department. Otherwise I was very impressed and would absolutely recommend! I came here as a solo traveler and was completely comfortable.

dean D.

I have to say that this was such an enchanting inn in the desert. I recommend a room on the second floor so you can view the desert mountains . Everything about this place transports you to Morocco from the lighting fixtures to the black and white movie Casablanca playing with subtitles. The room has mood lighting to create a warm ambience and so smart to have electrical outlet jacks on each night stand to charge phones and devices. The microwave, fridge are such nice amenities to have available. I loved my living area with a moroccan round brass coffee table to relax and enjoy the mint lemonade that the inn provides guests. The other amazing thing is that the hot water for shower and sink is fed by the hot springs and the heat is immediate. I loved the compimentary breakfast with bagel , fresh avocado and grapefruit with french press coffee and pineapple juice all poolside . Phil and Debbie just care for the guests like family. Their hospitality shines as bright as the desert sun. I will return as this is a special place