Why e book?
If you are trying to find peace and stillness, this stylish and eccentric oasis positioned close to Joshua Tree National Park is the right spot. A historic motor lodge that has been reimagined as a beautiful retreat, friends will benefit from the lush landscaping, trendy rooms with kitchenettes, and a shocking pool with clear mountain views. The decor is impeccable but easy—a design lover’s dream, and a love letter to the desert itself.
Set the scene
From the second you stroll via Hotel Wren’s magnificent arched glass doorway and into the foyer, you’re met with the delicate scent of palo santo and a direct sense of calm. On the suitable, a big adobe hearth is flanked by carved-wood bookcases with quite a lot of hardcovers tucked tastefully into the cabinets. The plastered partitions are coated with painted impressions of the desert terrain—hand-painted yucca bushes and flowering cacti dance from the terra-cotta-tiled flooring to the wood-beamed ceilings. It’s extra of a front room than a foyer in one of the simplest ways doable, and it speaks volumes about what to anticipate all through the property.
Where a lot of the Mojave is delightfully eclectic, cobbled collectively by inventive whims, each single element of Hotel Wren feels meticulously hand-selected. From the handmade tiles within the rooms to the conscious landscaping, every selection is fastidiously curated. And but, nearly impossibly, it feels easy. Through the foyer, the courtyard is wealthy in lush desert greenery and punctuated by majestic palms, with a basic blue pool poised on the middle (authentic to the 1946 property). Lined with earth-tone deck chairs, that is the right area to spend languid days poring via a great e book or just listening to the calls of native birds. Behind the pool and spa, flagstone pavers create pathways to different hidden oases, full with vignettes of out of doors daybeds and picket tables.
What’s most spectacular, nonetheless, isn’t how the rooms and courtyard look (though the phrase breathtaking involves thoughts), however reasonably how these considerate design decisions make friends really feel. There is an plain tranquility that fills each nook. Hotel Wren is really the type of place the place you are feeling your thoughts start to quiet and your nervous system ease.
The backstory
Owner and designer Jessica Pell (founding father of Manola Studio in Los Angeles) was initially launched to the property when she was requested to assist with the renovations. However, she ended up buying it and taking up the whole undertaking herself. At the time, every room of the 1946 roadside motel was utterly colorblocked—right down to the bedding, furnishings, and paint. But Pell had a imaginative and prescient.
Like an impressionist portray, she was going to remodel the property right into a bodily embodiment of the way it felt to wander via Joshua Tree National Park. She pulled inspiration from the hues of the desert, and even color-matched paint to natural matter discovered throughout hikes. Pell additionally embraced the historical past of the lodge—it was previously the Circle C Lodge—drawing from the midcentury Americana soul and the spirit of California itself. Keeping as a lot of the unique construction as doable (together with the casement home windows, pitched ceilings, and kitchenettes), she breathed new life into the as soon as modest roadside motel, reworking it into the primary boutique lodge within the Joshua Tree space.
She took her time with the design, creating customized items for every room and choosing the suitable supplies to convey her imaginative and prescient to life. Each piece of artwork was collected via her personal travels or throughout visits to classic markets. The landscaping was thoughtfully curated to honor the true desert terrain.
The rooms
Peaceful and sun-drenched, every room at Hotel Wren is rooted in desert tones and pure supplies. Much of the furnishings is customized, just like the minimalist picket mattress, which is wearing crisp Parachute linens, and the writing desk, which provides an incredible area to wax poetic in a journal or write a postcard dwelling. The flooring are handmade terra-cotta tiles from Mexico—if you happen to look intently, it’s possible you’ll discover some canine and hen footprints (certainly one of Pell’s favourite hidden particulars).
Each room encompasses a beautiful kitchenette area with a singular brass backsplash and customized wooden shelving. It’s outfitted with a two-burner induction stovetop, mini-fridge with freezer, toaster oven, gooseneck kettle, and all important cooking and servingware. The loos are equally beautiful and serene; the bath and bathe are draped in distinctive customized tilework. The facilities are additionally considerate: On every sink, there’s a basket with an eco-friendly shave equipment, comb, and spare toothbrush, and the loos are stocked with toiletries from the native model Wonder Valley. What you gained’t discover is a TV, an implicit directive to disconnect and embrace the desert calm.
Outside, every room encompasses a non-public patio and fireside, with ample area to lounge and gaze on the stars. You may seize one of many exercise mats provided within the room and take it open air for a yoga movement or meditation session.
Food and drink
Each morning, a tasteful breakfast is served within the foyer. An expansion of bagels, contemporary fruit, and medium-boiled eggs is introduced atop the burlwood entry desk. The bagels come contemporary from native bakery 29Loaves; the proprietor, a former New Yorker, stops by the lodge early every morning to hand-deliver them himself.
Beyond breakfast, Hotel Wren offers extra snacks for friends to get pleasure from. On a aspect desk within the foyer, massive glass vessels are stuffed with packaged nibbles (like fig bars and brownie bites). Around the nook, the lodge’s present store and basic retailer, Windsong, is stocked with native artisan items, together with complimentary snacks like contemporary fruit and boiled eggs. What’s extra, the shop sells all of the substances essential to prepare dinner up a meal within the in-room kitchenettes. So if you happen to need to remain on-property in the course of the entirety of your trip, that’s greater than doable.
If you do select to enterprise out, there are a variety of noteworthy eating places inside a brief drive. Some of the proprietor’s favorites embody Kitchen in the Desert, La Copine, and The Copper Room.
The neighborhood/space
Hotel Wren is positioned a brief drive from the lesser-known north entrance of Joshua Tree National Park; in below quarter-hour, you will discover your self amongst the majestic boulders and eccentric bushes that give the park its title. From this entrance, you even have shut entry to distinctive (and sometimes much less crowded) spots within the park, just like the Fortynine Palms Oasis Trail and Cholla Cactus Garden.
The lodge is 5 minutes from downtown Twentynine Palms, the place you will discover stylish outlets like Very Very, White Label Vinyl, and Hi Desert Times Magazines, amongst others. You’re additionally a mere quarter-hour from downtown Joshua Tree. Here, you will discover a variety of storefronts, however I like to recommend the JT Trading Post, Time Echo Vintage, or Juniper Arts. If you’re embracing a wellness-focused weekend, attempt a sound bathtub on the iconic Integratron or an expressive motion class at Bonita Ranch.
The service
The workers at Hotel Wren go above and past to assist friends really feel snug and comfortable throughout their keep. At one level, whereas lounging by the pool at nightfall, one of many entrance desk managers introduced some burning incense over to me to assist keep off potential mosquitoes. Staff are keen to assist reply any questions in regards to the space, recommend nice hikes close by, or provide restaurant suggestions.
Eco effort
In addition to extra customary practices, akin to utilizing bulk facilities and choosing recycled supplies, the lodge additionally donates a portion of proceeds to native organizations devoted to land conservation, habitat restoration, and ecological stewardship.
Accessibility
The lodge’s foyer, basic retailer, and pool space are ADA-accessible, and there’s a pool and spa carry.
Anything left to say?
Now that the lodge has been open for over a 12 months, Pell is raring to enter the subsequent stage for Hotel Wren. For her, this implies internet hosting extra group occasions and providing day passes to locals. She additionally hopes to launch an artist residency program within the close to future.