California's Quirky Desert Lodgings

Art and nature thrive at this collection of thick-walled adobe bungalows and wood-frame cabins on 70 acres within the Oasis of Mara. There’s no lodging closer to the Twentynine Palms Visitor Center of Joshua Tree National Park, and no place that better captures the artistic essence of J-Tree. Walk the property and you’ll discover hand-carved signs that deliver both practical and quixotic messages. Gaze at artist Makoto Hashigami’s “Spirit of Mara” mural depicting a Native American woman carrying water from the oasis. Visit the art gallery at the 29 Palms Creative Center, or sign up for a workshop.

Owned by the same family for five generations, 29 Palms Inn offers a comfortable set of cabins, including two that date from the 1920s. The relaxed grounds also include a two-acre organic farm, an enclosed gazebo sheltering a hot tub, and a sprinkling of hammocks. A houseboat floats on the palm-shaded pond, which attracts so many bird species that a local naturalist leads guided walks on weekend mornings. The inn’s boho restaurant, right next to the pool, serves artisanal cocktails and sourdough bread as tasty as San Francisco’s signature loaves. Families hang out by outdoor barbecues, and well-behaved dogs are welcome in select cabins.

Got an extra $24K? Or maybe a dozen or so friends who want to split the tab? Book a stay at this Moroccan-themed estate, where the legendary entertainer and creator of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune lived large. Sure it’s spendy, running a cool $8,161 per night with a three-day minimum stay (four during some prime-time dates), but you’re sleeping in a billionaire’s 5,400-square-foot home, with 13 palatial bedrooms spread out among the main house, guesthouses, and pod-like guest casitas.

Sip cocktails with your crew next to the massive infinity pool of this 39-acre luxury retreat.

Need to keep busy? Swim in the massive infinity pool with a cabana that seems to float on the water’s surface. Play bocce ball. Check out the 16-stall horse barn racetrack. (Griffin raised and raced Thoroughbreds.) Savor the views of the Santa Rosa Mountains from multiple terraces. Throw a cocktail party under the circular skylight in the great room, where you can hang out with your besties on a pair of enormous curved coaches.

Griffin, who owned the Beverly Hilton and several other posh hotels and resorts, modeled his estate partly after fashion designer Yves St. Laurent’s villa in Marrakech. The compound sits on 39 acres, so there’s room to stroll around, or even go for a paddleboat cruise on Lake Merveilleux (“Lake Marvelous”), Griffin’s 2.5-acre lagoon.

Most people visit Tecopa for a quick soak in the old mining town’s artesian mineral waters, but now there’s a reason to linger: One of three luxury canvas teepees at the shady China Ranch oasis three miles down the road could be your unconventional lodging in the Mojave Desert.

“I am providing a place where you can get in touch with nature, which will change the way you think. It will make a better human of you.” — Cynthia Keinitz, owner, Cynthia’s lodging near Death Valley

Owner Cynthia Keinitz, a former head of a successful design firm based in Las Vegas and Chicago, decided to ditch the rat race and reconnect with herself and nature. In the Amargosa Canyon, 38 miles south of Death Valley Junction, she bought a circa-1920 cottage and named it Ranch House. Her trio of canvas teepees sits in a leafy grove of cottonwoods, just steps from the cottage, where guests swap tales of their desert adventures over breakfast (available for an extra fee). Bathrooms and outdoor showers are shared. There’s also an outdoor kitchen with a shared fridge and microwave.

But the teepees are the stars here. Don’t think cramped quarters—each teepee is 22 feet wide and sleeps four. Turkish rugs, plush linens, and heated mattress pads for winter nights make them surprisingly homey. While coyotes howl in the distance and desert winds blow, you’ll be snug as bugs inside. The teepees have no cell service nor internet, but no matter—the digital world can’t compare to the excitement of the nighttime desert sky when you peek outside.

Get up early and hike from your teepee door into Amargosa Canyon, where birds and wildlife thrive along the Amargosa River. Head back to Tecopa to sip a date shake from the adjacent China Ranch Date Farm. Check out the date museum, and then load up your car with fresh dates for the drive into Death Valley. 

It may be the driest spot in North America, but Death Valley has its secret stashes of watery bliss, and one is at this low-key ranch resort in the south end of the national park. Book an overnight stay at this Western-themed lodging and you can relax in the chemical-free pool, naturally heated by warm underground springs and kept at a constant 82°F.

Don’t confuse the Ranch with the similarly named—and much more luxurious—Inn at Death Valley, one mile away. The Ranch (formerly known as The Ranch at Furnace Creek) is Death Valley’s economy lodging, but it’s got plenty of reasons to check it out. Of course there’s that inviting pool, but there’s also a borax museum, where you can study up on the 20-mule teams that first put Death Valley on America’s radar. (The land was once owned by the Pacific Coast Borax Company.) Or play a round of golf next door at Furnance Creek, the “world’s lowest golf course.”

The 224-room lodging is part of a small desert community, with a post office, general store, two restaurants, tennis courts, and a saloon. Horseback and carriage rides are offered at Furnace Creek Stables. Death Valley National Park’s excellent Furnace Creek Visitor Center is within walking distance, and guided walks, naturalist talks, and interpretive programs are offered daily from mid-October to mid-May.