The Palms at Indian Head

We love to stay here. This weekend was another great experience. The rooms are nice, big, and the beds are really comfortable. The rooms aren’t swank, but it is clean, was cool enough over a very warm weekend, quiet, it met our needs. Our room overlooked the desert, amazing to see this view in the morning. The hotel is mid century which I love. There is a little museum that features local artists. They have lots of little places you can sit and enjoy. a coffee bar like space, a space with a fountain, and of course next to the pool.
The pool temp was perfect. The pool is huge and beautiful, surrounded by palms. Nightime stargazing here is beyond belief.
The bar serves the best drinks ever. The restaurant is fabulous.
We have stayed in the suites in the back with our kids. I prefer the rooms with views, but for a family that includes teens they worked out well, we had plenty of room to spread out. When you stay, the palms gives you a voucher for breakfast at the red Ocotillo restaurant in town.

We had a lovely dinner here on the terrace near the beautiful palms and tropical foliage. The prix fixe menu had terrific selections for a reasonable price. The food, presentation and service were excellent. We ate dinner at four restaurants in Borrego Springs during our stay. The Palms at Indian Head is our top pick.

The hotel staff is rude. After commenting that we were waiting for their restaurant to open, the girl at the desk suggested that we go and check out the pool. Old and dirty, but it is the desert. My girls (ages 12,14 & 17) found the croquet sticks/​balls in the grass next to the pool. After playing for a few minutes, staff comes out and rudely tells me that this is for guests only. «Tell your children to stop». By the looks of the hotel, there weren’t any guests. She could have told us before we went out there. One star.

The cocktails here ROCK! Cool atmosphere in a nostalgic 50’s hotel. It once was as a Hollywood hideaway and the spirit of the era still survives in a fresh new way. It’s a hidden treasure, off the beaten path and well worth the discovery! Try the Manhattans! Hats off to Judy, the bartender, for serving up the «swankiest» drinks in town! :))

The New Year’s day dinner was perfectly delicious and served by a very nice waitperson. We love the little art gallery and the authentic mid-​century vibe. It’s a little oasis at the edge of a very big desert. Check out the stars in this wonderful dark-​sky community. It’s definitely going to be one of our go-​to places!

The best pianist around is in beautiful Borrego Springs at the Palms Resort! Joe is amazing and always delights the crowd with his improvisational mad skills. If you are in the area, you must come by the Palms Resort and see Joe on a Friday or Saturday evening!

Completely unacceptable.
Called to make reservations but could never get through to a person. Assumed they were just busy and made reservations online. Online reservations mentioned that the restaurant was season and to call to see if it was open (refer back to why I was making reservations online in the first place).
Arrive to find absolutely no one in the hotel. Empty. Restaurant closed. Bar closed. And this was at check in time! Find an envelope on the desk with my name on it. Our keys are inside. A form to fill out with our vehicle information, a list of two nearby hikes to take, and a 10% coupon to a local restaurant for breakfast.
Open the door to the room and it’s immediately obvious that the mattresses are ancient. Even with the bed made you can see the body size indents on each side (it does indeed prove to be a sleepless night as the mattress is completely unbearable). Decide to take advantage of the pool and spa since they’re the only things open. They are gorgeous and if I could rate this place on the pool/​spa alone it would get five stars. We shower after the dip in the chlorine and the drain is too slow to keep up with the minimal water pressure. Yuk!
If all you want in a hotel is a nice place to swim or lounge about in a hot tub this is the place for you! If you actually want to shower without standing in a puddle of your own chlorinated filth or if you actually want to sleep at some point in your stay, look for literally anywhere else (I ended up sleeping in one of the big chairs in the room because the mattress was really that bad).

Charming Owners — Not!
This is what they had to say when I disputed 50% of the room rate/​cancellation fee which they had previously agreed to credit me. I had no problem with them keeping the other 50% as I had to cancel within 48 hours and not their required 72 hours.
Straight from the correspondence the owners submitted to the credit card company:
What a Jerk.
Hahaha! This guy just doesn’t get it.. .. What a pain in the butt.
How’s that for customer service?!

we loved this place. can’t wait to come back. the pool, the settings, the 50’s feel. it was fantastic.

Let me start off by saying I’m not picky. I have stayed in quirky older places in San Diego and San Francisco. What a dump! No one at the front desk just a folder on top of some scratchy towels and the room keys. Got to the room and the key would barely unlock the sliding glass door. The walkway to the rooms is covered with sheet roofing and rugs. The room was hot! Granted it was forecasted to be 117 degrees but a hotel in the desert should have better air conditioning. The large room fan did not help. The mattress was old and hard. We spent less than 5 minutes in the room. Went to the front desk and picked up the ‘courtesy’ phone but it was disconnected. How does a business run this way?! Do not stay at this place!

The Palms is a cute little hotel, perfect for those who want to get away from the busy craziness of urban living. It is at the border to the state park, so it’s very quiet and dark at night which is just wonderful for stargazing and to watch the surrounding wildlife. The pool is well temperatured, the staff is very accommodating and helpful, the rooms are clean and cool, and very retro chick but down to earth.

Once again another beautiful weekend at the palms we requested beautiful weather and we got it peaceful stay. When we leave all we think about is when can we come back again

My wife and I first discovered The Palms 18 years ago and spend a wonderful weekend among the palms, the desert backdrop and the friendly staff. First things first, this is an antique of a place and the reflection of days gone by IS the charm of the hotel. As an author I revel in the history and the story and the pure spirit of the place. And that pool! You can imagine Fred and Ginger waltzing around the deck. Oh, and the restaurant… delicious. In nearly two decades we have embraced this hideaway as the best weekend retreat we know. In fact, my wife and I use the poolside to relax and edit our novels, as well as soak up some well deserved sun. I am shocked by the poor reviews of this hotel and can only assume these people are looking for some spit shine, cookie cutter and antiseptic place that makes them feel like they’ve found the city out in the desert. Too bad these folks missed the point of The Palms completely. We just returned from another two night escape and again feel rejuvenated and refreshed by the experience. We plan another visit soon. It’s that kind of place. My opinion… don’t change a thing!

My fiancée and I just had a lovely two night stay at The Palms. It was a few days before Christmas, and we were the only guest in the 11 room hotel! Marcela greeted us and offered to show us a few rooms so that we could choose our favorite. We chose one of the rooms on the upstairs level overlooking the pool and the desert and mountains beyond. The room is all windows on one side, with gorgeous views. The stars here were amazing, and we enjoyed a lovely evening in the jacuzzi star gazing and relaxing.
The hotel has a fun 1950s décor, and was once the destination for Marilyn Monroe and Bing Crosby (though the original bldg burned down and was rebuilt). It was relaxed and had a great feeling of access to the outdoors with the large deck and pool area overlooking the desert.
Only two suggestions for improvement:
1) the pool is not heated during the winter, and the water is cold! (temperatures drop to the 40s overnight, and the pool keeps that chill all day). We were disappointed by this since after a hot sunny day we’d been hoping to take a swim, but it was too cold.
2) The room is all windows facing east. The curtains were in about 7 separate panels, that didn’t slide well (they were cloth around the rod, rather than the metal sliders). We could never get them to fully close, there were always gaps between the panels, which reduces privacy and also lets in the morning sun. It would be worth investing in curtains that cover the full window and easily slide back and forth on metal hangers.
Other than those two small areas, we absolutely loved The Palms! We will be back again :)

I love Borrego, and used to love The Palms at Indian Head. My favorite time to go was in the summer. I used to get up early and hike from there up into Palm Canyon. I’d pack a little breakfast, and hang out by the water and eat, enjoying the solitude. It used to be that I recommended the place to people interested in visiting Borrego, but no more. I stopped in one day with a friend and was verbally insulted by a staff member at the front desk, in the presence of both my friend and a local business owner who was conversing with the boorish gal behind the counter. I was so upset by the encounter I wrote a letter to the manager, and never heard a thing. They used to be my go-​to when visiting the area. Now, I wouldn’t consider staying there. For those without young children I now recommend the Borrego Valley Inn.

After reading all the great Unilocal reviews on this place I booked three nights for the two of us in January 2013. I’d like to have great things to say as well. Perhaps I was just expecting too much.
It was a special request multiple times to have internet. A special request to have hot water in the shower. A special request to have the spa heated up for their 3 hour a day window of opportunity, only to find after two days that it was out of service. Would they have noticed if we hadn’t pointed it out? Two hours to get our dinner in the restaurant, with a medium rare filet presented medium well.
On the positive side, there’s a lot of charm in the place and the setting is fantastic. The bed was comfortable and there are clean towels every day even if you follow the advice on the sign and hang them up to use again. The staff is friendly.
Talking to the owner about the little things made it clear to us that he’s more concerned about his profit margin than making this a great place to stay. We understand. So take your choice. Make him happy by coming with low expectations and rolling with it, or make yourself happy by booking elsewhere.

Its so interesting. I used to be like some of you folks who think of the Palms as a «timeshare» and a hidden gem. It was our hideaway– we referred friends from out of the area and spoke highly of the facilities, the vibe, etc. Well, after at least 5 visits to the Palms, the last visit was a nightmare. Mainly due to what’s known as «Room #7». I should have known something was amiss when wewere told to drive our car to the back of the facility. Then– we saw it– JESUS H CHRIST! It must have been built as an owners residence or maids quarters. I can’t believe that they would actually use this as a room and were going to charge us $ 168/​night. It’s poorly ventilated, dirty and dark. There is one single window. The steps are rickety and its separated from the A/​C unit (which blows very loudly by a single chain). Someone had literally just smoked a joint, as the room lingered with the smell (eh, I’ll be dude-​like. That part didn’t bother me too much, and mom is an old hippie, but maybe this would have been a deal breaker for others).
It took my mom and I less than one minute to turn around and walk back the stairs. She was upset and couldn’t even believe this would be an option for guests, so I went back to ask the front desk clerk if there were other options. I had booked this room about 5 weeks in advance, and I know there are a handful of rooms, but they were sold out. The front desk clerk did inform us of their policy that if we weren’t satisfied, we wouldn’t be charged, so fortunately we didn’t incur any expenses.
The most upsetting part was that we didn’t get a single apology, only this explanation: «Well, there’s no way to know what room you will get. If you had called to make your reservation, we would have explained this „style“ of room». She did help us call and found that the Borrego Springs Resort had vacancy.
So, come on guys. Perhaps you should update your website to let your guests know this? No one wants to drive out here and get this suprise. My mom and I are both really easy going, but our vacations are few and faw between, and a room that was easy to access with a pool view was all we wanted. This was a total bummer. As much as I love the pool at the Palms and have many good memories, this soured my love for the place.
Moral of this story– be SURE to request a pool view room. I didn’t know this WAS NOT an option, but now you do.

Absolutely beautiful views! Wonderful and clean hotel. Nice restaurant and bar. Relaxing getaway with a huge pool. If I win the lottery I’m going to buy it!

We stayed at the Palms for the first time over the 3-​day President’s Day weekend in one of the 2 casitas off the pool. We loved our room because we had privacy, a wood burning fireplace with plenty of wood provided, a door out to the pool, spectacular views, a spacious sitting area, and we could park our motorcycle right next to it. We sat at the pool reading and/​or working on the computer one afternoon and we had a road runner run by, rabbits nibbling the grass next to us and all kinds of birds in the palms surrounding the property. The quiet was wonderful and the stars were so close at night you felt you could reach out and touch them.
We enjoyed meals at both of the restaurants on site – a free breakfast was provided each day for guests of the hotel. The food was very good and I would say the meals at the Krazy Coyote steak house were exceptional. If there was one downside to our visit it would have to be the service, which was very slow, especially on Saturday evening, our first night there. Sunday was a vast improvement.
This was one of the nicest and most restful weekends we have spent anywhere and we will definitely be back!

My wife and I have stayed here twice. Each time we had a great visit. Like the other reviewers it is not a Ritz but 100% a 5* for what it is. A nice sized friendly place to stay right off the state park. Both times we walked up the canyon in the park and Both times we saw the «goats» just how lucky can you be. That said we had some great meals at the restraunt. Good (cool) swims in the pool and some GREAT sit around in the sun (or shade for me) and read your book without being bothered.
A great place to visit and spend a weekend.