Restored Motels in California

Hotel Wren

Twentynine Palms, CA

A 1940s frame reimagined as individually designed rooms, each with a private gas-fireplace patio on a heated saltwater pool. No televisions, adults 21 and over, and the kind of quiet that feels intentional.

Alamo Motel

Los Alamos, CA

Terracotta floors, clawfoot baths, and a fire pit in a 1940s frame rebuilt in classic Central Coast style. The wine bar where the pool used to be is the detail that makes the whole thing click.

Azure Sky Hotel

Palm Springs, CA

A 1959 desert retreat where built-in beds float above stone tile and a twelve-person hot tub anchors a pool terrace built for lingering. The mountains rise right behind the water, and the whole place is tuned to a slow, quiet register.

Cambria Beach Lodge

Cambria, CA

A roadside lodge on Moonstone Beach Drive reimagined around surf, wheels, and timber, with sun-bleached floors, in-room fireplaces, and beach cruisers to borrow. Mornings start with pastries and a ride down the boardwalk, evenings end with the sun dropping into the Pacific from an ocean-view room.

Cuyama Buckhorn

New Cuyama, CA

A 1952 high-desert property restored in Mid-Century Western style with a farm-to-table restaurant, a barrel sauna, and Michelin Selected recognition in 2025. The design is specific to this particular stretch of California.

Farmhouse Paso Robles

Paso Robles, CA

A 1947 frame restored as a boutique retreat of cottage-style rooms around a landscaped courtyard of olive and citrus trees and fire pits. Fresh local pastries in the morning and bikes to borrow.

Hope Springs Resort

Desert Hot Springs, CA

Natural mineral hot spring pools, Japanese-influenced minimalism, and no televisions in a mid-century desert frame made for this kind of quiet. Adults only, and a very different experience from what surrounds it.

Jacumba Hot Springs Hotel

Jacumba Hot Springs, CA

A Prohibition-era hot springs hotel restored in adobe and exposed vigas, whose three spring-fed mineral pools brought a bypassed border town back to life. Between the high-desert restaurant, the live music, and a painted vintage trailer at check-in, it feels less like a hotel than a place that was rediscovered.

Le Petit Pali Brentwood

Los Angeles, CA

Cottage buildings around a courtyard garden on Sunset Boulevard, restored in a European-influenced style with breakfast delivered to the door each morning. Free parking in one of the few pockets of LA that genuinely has it.

Les Cactus

Palm Springs, CA

Named for a cheeky French pop song and dressed in the same playful spirit, this 1930s desert getaway keeps its bright pool humming with music and its rooms notably crisp. It trades polish for genuine cheer, the kind of easygoing stay you book once and keep coming back to.

Los Arboles Hotel

Palm Springs, CA

Step through the gate and Palm Springs mid-century gives way to a tiled Spanish colonial hacienda, restored from ruins into a hushed courtyard oasis of pool, hot tub, and hammock-strung patios. Wood-burning fireplaces and mature trees make it the romantic, quiet counterpoint to the desert's louder scenes.

Miracle Manor Boutique Hotel & Spa

Desert Hot Springs, CA

A tiny 1950s desert retreat built over its own naturally heated mineral springs, with two geothermal pools, an in-house spa, and no televisions anywhere. Days here move at soaking pace, and the mountain views go completely quiet once the sun drops.

Mojave Resort

Palm Desert, CA

A 1957 Palm Desert motor court reborn adults-only in sunburnt orange, with a cocktail-shaker-shaped pool at its heart and fire tables that glow at dusk. Every door opens onto the courtyard, and a breakfast box waits outside it each morning, all a short walk from El Paseo.

Mojave Sands

Joshua Tree, CA

Rooms hand-crafted over a decade by a former furniture designer, with hand-sculpted black walnut bed frames, record players, and a koi pond in a gated desert courtyard. Every detail made here.

Orbit In

Palm Springs, CA

A 1957 courtyard compound furnished with genuine Eames, Saarinen, and Noguchi pieces, arranged around a quiet heated pool at the foot of the San Jacinto Mountains. Each afternoon the house Orbitini gets poured by the water, and design pilgrims trade notes on loungers as the light goes gold.

River Lodge

Paso Robles, CA

Restored in 2024 where rooms open onto rose gardens, hammocks, and fire pits, with an adults-only pool and Cal-Italian poolside dining. A 1947 frame that finally found what it was for.

Skyview Los Alamos

Los Alamos, CA

A 1950s hilltop property with sweeping views of wine country, a working vineyard, and rooms around a central courtyard. Restored in 2016 with the original yellow MOTEL sign intact.

The Astro

Santa Rosa, CA

A 1963 restoration into a MICHELIN Guide property, with original MCM auction pieces throughout and every furnishing for sale. An edible garden replaced the parking lot.

The Green Room Hotel

Oceanside, CA

A flat-black-and-white surf bungalow retreat where borrowed boards and cruiser bikes make the beach feel like an extension of your room. Nights gather around a cedar hot tub and a string-lit fire pit, with a curated playlist and owners who treat you like family.

The Pacific Motel

Cayucos, CA

Restored by a contractor and interior designer who owned it together, with quality linens, private patios, and radios in every room. A short walk to the pier.

Tradewinds Carmel

Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA

A serene Asian-Californian retreat wrapped around a meditation courtyard of bamboo, ginger, and a cascading fountain, tucked a few quiet blocks off Ocean Avenue. A breakfast basket arrives at your door each morning, and the whole place commits fully to a single idea about calm.