Sahara Motel of Desert Hot Springs

if i could give a negative rating, it would be huge! if you go there, you’ll wish that the health inspector would have shut this place down! worst experience ever!

i can’t give this establishment any stars… it just doesn’t warrant any (oh, i see, i have to give it at least one in order to submit the review) …it’s really bad! i read some reviews before going there, but they were from last year or 2 yrs. ago. i thought they would have cleaned up their act… NOT SO. The lobby/​reception area was a MESS and smelled like cat urine. there were cats ALL over the place. smokers everywhere… and the customer service was deplorable! the owner kept screaming at us that hotwire charged us the wrong rate… TOO CHEAP, TOO CHEAP, she kept saying… she wanted to charge us more and only took cash… SCAM CITY. it was Valentine’s weekend and we made a spur of the moment decision to attend a concert in the desert, this was the only room available under $ 200 — we called hotwire demanded a refund… and drove back to LA to sleep in our own bed! STAY CLEAR OF THIS PLACE!!!

We didn’t expect much from this place. Just needed a place to stay for a night or 2. When arriving there’s no guide direction to the office which was low key on the right side. We checked in & spoke with the owner & told her about the mistake on our reservation & we wanted to check out a day early. Idk she understood because she was lacking her English when she responded. Me & my bf had no clue what she said. So whatever we checked in the room. The light was broken switch was broken. We had to use a lamp near the bed, the TV did not work. The shower head was completely broken. The water went everywhere, there was no trash cans at all. It was just a mess !!
Upon leaving we went to the office & spoke with the owner again asking her if she could refund us for 1 day because we are leaving a day early due to an emergency. She told her she couldn’t refund and to call
because we made the reservation there. Ok that’s fine, we’ll call
but since we left a day early we wanted a receipt when checking out. She said she couldn’t provide that for us & her daughter who was in the office told us «hotels don’t provide checking out receipts «. Apparently she hasn’t stayed in a hotel before because she look like she live in her moms motel/​hotel spot. ALL HOTELS PROVIDE checking out receipts. I understand it’s your moms business but customers are always right. Since she didn’t provided that for is we called
& spoke with customer service. They had called the hotel & asked her to provide us one. Since we left we didn’t wanted to drive back.
This was an absolutely horrible place to stay. We spoke with everyone who was checking out as well & they will never come back. Definitely won’t be getting much business anymore especially how the owner spoke with her customer & to
. The owner is grimey as heck !
Save yourself money, time, & stress & sleep somewhere else.

You don’t come here for the comfy, fancy beds. You come here because of the pools and this place is pretty much nostalgic.
I hate ghetto hotels. This place is pretty ghetto. But I come here because I grew up coming here with my family (any Korean family as been here). I enjoyed the pools and BBQing outside. It was such a great memory that I came back with my boyfriend (who’s family used to come here as well) and recreated our memory.
I’m excited to bring my kids here and to go back to enjoying and creating memories before they start realizing how ghetto this place is. Haha

If I could give this place negative stars… I would. The lady at the front went from Yelling at someone on the phone to yelling at her employees. telling them to break into the room with a SCREEDRIVER!!! They even charged us for one night stay after we walked out of this shithole… I’m sure that’s the only reason they have stayed in business… anyway DO YOURSELF A FAVOR and sleep in your car if it’s between that and that DISGUSTING ROACH MOTEL…

If I didn’t have to give this place a star, I wouldn’t. God awful customer service. The owner was rude and the building was run down and dilapidated. Apparently they also own the motel across the parking lot because that’s where the room we were staying was. It looked abandoned. Absolutely nothing like the pictures. The room was not cleaned and ready for check in even though it was nearly vacant of other patrons and due to flight schedules we didn’t check in until 6 pm and we still had to wait over an hour for the room to be cleaned. We decided to just stay somewhere else and offered to pay the cancellation fee for a refund of the rest of what we had paid. Instead the owner became increasingly rude and agitated and told us to leave and just dispute the charges with the bank and then refused to talk to us further and even walked away from us mid sentence.
Stay away at all costs. Save yourself the trouble.

Honestly, this place is not the most luxurious place on earth, so if you’re looking for nice puffed up beds and clean bathrooms, this is not the place. But, I still gave this a place a four because the hot springs are nice and the atmosphere in general is comforting. Most people would like the decorations, but I find it interesting and special to the place. Overall, if you are booking this place with high expectations, you will be disappointed, but if you’re looking for a unique place, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

if i could rate this the way i wanted it would be a negative 100. The grossest most disgusting place we ever tried to stay at. Walk in and the lobby is filthy.
Our first room wasn’t even cleaned and smelled horrible. The second room they tried to give us smelled strongly of bleach.
We tried to leave and the manager said she could not refund us. We booked for two nights which added up to 300 dollars. We left and ended up having to depute the charge.
Please people stay away!

I came here 10yrs ago so I knew this place is not a great place. However water was ok and clean. However we came here today and no one there. We were the only guests on Friday afternoon. This place is ABSOLUTELY DISASTER!!!
Dirty shitty rundown place. So many insect and bugs in the pool and my wife almost threw up saying that this is the worst place in her life.
They dont accept credit card so i had to pay $ 2 additional for them to use credit card. They charged $ 1 for tower and believe me they even asked us to deposit for shower room key! Haha. This place is even joke and should be closed right away. Disgusting and dirty. I had to shower because i felt so dirty after pool. What a joke!

The worst place ever!!! Discussing place!!! this place is something from a horror movie!

Would rather sleep in my car. We made a reservation here because every other hotel was booked due to spring break. We made a reservation on
and paid 124 $. When we arrived they had no knowledge of our reservation. There were about 20 cats roaming around, on the counter and in the bushes, it reeked of cat litter. I am allergic so this was not pleasant. They have no computer system, it’s all run off of the owners daughters phone. Other people around us were having the same problem with their reservation. We call
and after an hour it’s sorted out. She hands us a key to room 11, we collect all our things and head to the room, when I open the door the chain lock is on from inside and a man jumps up out of the dark yelling ‘stop right there!’ She gave us someone else’s room key. At this point we’re really scared. We go back to the reception and tell her, she just says sorry and hands us another key, we are scared to leave our valuables in the room because she could easily give someone else our room key and have no clue. As we go to leave and drive 20 minutes to Palm Springs for some food some of the employees ask us if we are in room 19, no we are in room 23 but they have no clue which rooms are occupied and which aren’t so they are frantically knocking and opening each door. When we return were greeted by all the stray cats again, we go to take a shower and there are used shampoo packets in the bathroom, there is no hot water! As I’m taking a freezing cold shower within a minute the drain in clogged and I’m ankle deep in filthy water. There are only 4 TV channels and 3 of them are Korean, as the hotel is ‘run’ by a Korean family. This is the most poorly run motel I’ve ever seen, stay far away!

UnilocalERS, DO NOT GO HERE. IF YOU PLAN A VACATION IN THE AREAS, FIND A DIFFERENT PLACE TO STAY IN. This place deserves zero stars.
Despite all the one star reviews, I thought that one night couldn’t be THAT bad so I booked the hotel through expedia.
When I arrived at the hotel, the lady told me that they did not have any mote single king rooms. I asked her how that was possible if the room wAs booked a week in advance, and she literally said «I didn’t book it, expedia did.» According to the owner, she told all the websites (

expedia, hotwire) that she no longer had available rooms for single beds, but the websites still let people make reservations. To me, that sounds like straight up bullsh*t and it seemed as if they wanted to rent out more expensive rooms.
She offered us a double queen room at a much higher price. She also said if I cancel, I still had to pay the full price of the room. I tried to look for other hotels in the area, but they were booked for the night, so I paid extra for the upgraded room and stayed for the night. We bought cup noodles and microwaveable rice at the counter ($ 3 a piece, cash only; definitely overpriced).
She made a big fuss about how she was giving us a room with a good view, but the room condition was whack. Shower drain was not cleaned, trash can was not emptied, we didn’t have toilet paper in the bathroom, and there were food left in the kitchenette sink. Towels were not clean, there were used shampoos in the tray. The kitchenette sink was leaking, so they left a white tray underneath the sink. The rooms were definitely not very well maintained, the spa pools were VERY dirty, and the experience was horrible. I will never come back here again.

Stupid hotel. I booked this hotel through
and they didn’t game me the room. Very rude. No customer service at all. No respect at all… Don’t go there please

What a terrible experience!
Short version:
1) the building should be condemned it is in such bad condition. Broken doors walls walkways etc.
2) exposed high voltage wires. Broken appliances. Smoke detector disabled and taken apart.
3) couldn’t take a shower because the drain was completely clogged.
4) no towels, washcloths, soap etc.
5) dirty rooms. Old food splattered in sink. Dirty knife on counter. Dead bugs. Used shampoo packets scattered in bathroom. Room smelled like cat poop.
6) would not honor the price that I pre-​paid for on Hotwire. Was told to pay more money or check out.
More details:
Booked on Hotwire. Called a few days early to verify room details. The call went to someone’s cell phone. She said she wasn’t in the office but would call me back later. After no return call I called the next day and got a full voicemail box. Finally she called back from another number and said she was in LA so she couldn’t check my reservation. I told her I needed to make sure my room had 2 beds because Hotwire didn’t specify any details. She said don’t worry we have rooms with two queens. I asked again if MY room included 2 beds and she just said again «don’t worry we have two queen beds in the room».
I showed up to check in and the power was out. I showed the clerk/​owner my reservation confirmation from Hotwire. She said the price was wrong and she couldn’t give me a room for that price. I told her that if she couldn’t give me a room she needed to refund my purchase, to which her daughter (?) who was helping her said that I cannot cancel the same day. What?! She was refusing my room but wouldn’t stop the charge?! I told her I was late for work and either had to check in or get a refund so I could get a hotel somewhere else. She gave me keys and said I could stay the night but we had to discuss it tomorrow. Since I was on a time crunch I had no choice but to take the room and go to work. When I got back from work at 3am, the power was back on.
When I entered the room I noticed that it smelled like cat poop. There were 2 broken space heaters scattered around the room. There was a wall clock that was sitting on the table with a battery next to it. The smoke alarm battery was removed and was taken apart. The room had a kitchenette. Both sinks had debris and old food splattered inside. There was a used dirty large knife on the counter. The microwave had a broken power cable that was sloppily twisted back together and was unplugged along with the fridge. Given that there was no smoke detector and how dangerous the power cable looked, I did not plug anything back in. There were no towels or washcloths! No soap and there were used shampoo packets scattered around the bathroom. The lamp had a styrofoam cup over the lightbulb to diffuse the light! This was at 3 am so nobody was available to complain to at the office.
The next morning I went back to the office and spoke to the same lady again. I told her about the condition of my room and told her that if she could give me another room that was clean and not trashed, I would even pay the extra $ 30/​night she had wanted the night before. She told me to check later after other people checked out. So I got some towels from her and went to breakfast. When I got back she said she had another room ready and gave me keys to go look. The other room was still dirty. There was a lot of hair in the shower drain grate and in general was not much better. So I went back to the office and told her that I would just keep the first room. She said no I could not. She told me to pay an extra $ 60/​night for the old room or check out. At this time she was telling other customers in the office to also pay more even though they had paid an even higher price than I did! I stood there and watched her yell at a lady that was trying to check in with children and had booked on Expedia. While she was telling her she had to pay a higher price, she picked up the phone and had the same argument with another customer over the phone. I told her I was checking out. I went back to the room and told my co-​worker that we had to check out and told him to grab a quick shower if he wanted before leaving. He went in the bathroom and came out a minute later. The shower drain was completely clogged and flooded within a minute!
We took our stuff and dropped the keys at the front desk. I then called Hotwire to complain and told them what happened. They tried to call the hotel and spoke to the same lady I had dealt with. She was rude to them, yelled at them on the phone and then hung up on Hotwire! They tried to call her back and she forwarded their calls to the same full voicemail box I had gotten a few days before. At this point I am waiting to hear back from Hotwire to see how they will handle it. I assume/​hope they will fully refund me.

I hate this place. I’ve always hated this place. Am I the only Korean kid who was dragged here by their parents as a child for the last 20 years? I feel like I’m not.
I don’t understand why older Koreans love this place. I get that there’s natural hot springs here, a place to bbq, and an area that’s like a bath house. Maybe that’s why?
The «hotel rooms» are real dirty, the décor outdated and some parts of the place are that just not fully functional. The bbq area is aight. Think of a public park bbq area only without the grass and more stray cats.
Why two stars for this gawd awful place you ask? Well one star for the fact that I can marinate in hot water and one more for all the weird almost surreal nostalgia of my childhood this place gives me.
I recommend that you come for the hot springs, small talks about how weird the décor is, and a bbq sesh (you bring your own food) and leave by the end of the day.

Hello Guys.
This is best spa in hot spring. Let s point that first we are going to natural mineral water spa So…
Because There is real natural mineral water in all pool and hot jacuzzi in Sahara
family had real good experience in this Hotel spa. Many different kind spa, Pool, Hot jacuzzi, dry Sauna. and water falls .Big BBQ cook area, Basketball field many more good GooD things. you can feel freedom too. you can Bet me. hotel room many choices you can do too

Yes, the reception area should be your first clue. The woman that checked us in was gruff, I kept my fingers crossed that they lost our reservation. I got talked into trying out this place…, It’ll be an adventure, just like camping. The number on our room door was duck taped on, seriously! I didn’t want to touch anything in the room. IF I ever had to come back here it would be just for the WATER. It’s the only reason they are still open with such glaring deficiencies.

Don’t expect too much from this place.
the outdoor settings are real cute! But the pool needs some hard core scrubbing and rooms need major work done.
Even with the «remodeled» rooms… its not. Its sad how they lack in maintaining this beautiful spot. Just sad :(
If you still plan on stopping by. these are your MUST HAVES:
— Your own sleeping bag
— Fly catcher (every room has ALOT of them!)
— Utensils & cookware
— towels
— portable gas stove — in case
Don’t do the following:
— Purchase anything from the front desk (its all previous guests left overs they left behind)
— Walk bare in your room
— hug the pillow at night… (when you look at it, you’ll see why)
The following are what you will see & experience (so do not freeeaaakkk out!):
— AC torn apart/​broken/​remote less/​cant adjust temp
— Some windows don’t have screens
— Might receive your room key BUT once you open the door you see other guests belongings or ½ way done room service (s)
— clogged toilet
— previous guests food: in refrig & microwave
I had fun but I might think again real hard if I want to come back again…

The place is filthy ! Dirty dishes, flip flops on the floor, all signs in Chinese or Korean, receptionist screaming chinese/​korean to workers, did not acknowledge me waiting in line for 15 min, pieces of paper everywhere on the counter, a huge TV on the floor, the furniture is borderline Goodwill at worst, what the hell am i in the UNITED STATES or some 3^rd worl country???
Booked through price-​line, thank god there were no rooms available (found out after waiting in line for 15 min) …but at that point I wanted to run !!! 200 $$$/​per night ?? WHAT ???
HORRIBLE DIRTY PLACE and I think the receptionist was drunk too.
WHAT A SHAME!!!

Like an oasis in the middle of a desert… quite literally.
Don’t expect a luxurious and fancy spa/​motel experience. Look at where you are. You are in a small, run down town in Palm Springs that reminds you of a scene from Desperado.
What you get at Sahara Motel of Desert Hot Springs is an unique, fun and affordable getaway. Hot mineral water jacuzzi, mineral water fountain, sauna and swimming pool. The front desk also has an array of Korean cup ramen, snacks, drinks for purchase in case you get hungry. If you happen to have brought a cooler of marinated Korean BBQ ribs, there is a BBQ pit area where you can get your grilling on.
The palm trees, pool chairs, canopies and outdated décor (e.g. old, out-​of-​order microwaves by the swimming pool) make you feel like you are at a resort in Southeastern Asian country. I cannot guarantee everyone will feel the same way as I did, but I truly enjoyed my time here. Oh, the owner lady is super friendly, too which is a plus.
I would not personally come here for the motel, but I would definitely patron Sahara again for the hot spring experience.