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Review of the Saguaro - A Joie de Vivre ...

Do not be fooled by the photos, this is no hip and...

Do not be fooled by the photos, this is no hip and serene hotel.

Where to begin? First, the hotel closed the pool for maintenance during our January stay and didn't notify us until 10 days before arrival via general email. This is advertised as the pool place in Palm Springs. As we pre-paid in full in October, we should have been warned. We didn't find out about a cancellation offer until the day before our flight and it was because we called to inquire about something unrelated.

Second, during check-in, the desk tried to "upgrade" us from a mountain view to a pool view. Because who wouldn't want to see a construction zone instead of the mountains? Thankfully, we caught this and insisted we wanted our pre-selected room.

Third, the overall condition is terrible. I'd be shocked if there's a facility manager. The odor in the halls and elevator is a mixture of chlorine and musty carpet. The walls are completely scuffed and dirty everywhere you turn. Simply cleaning the carpets, walls, and fresh paint would be helpful. There were no mattress protectors/covers beneath a flat sheet used as a fitted sheet so we bought cheap bedding from Target!

Fourth, the bathroom shower barely worked with a impossibly hard to pull lift and loose drain stopper. The toilet was so loud when flushing that we worried it would stop working any minute.

Fifth, the walls are paper thin. We could hear entire conversations of our neighbors (and their rap music).

Overall, Palm Springs is a spectacular destination. The single let down of the entire trip was this misleading hotel. Put the money towards a higher star hotel or stick with a chain. Both Ace Hotel and V Hotel where pool shuttles were being offered looked immensely better from the outside.

Go to Palm Springs. Skip the Saguaro.