A nice getaway
By A Yahoo! Contributor, 6/14/11
Upside: Liked the resort a lot.Nice grounds,eight smallish pools/hot tubs.A block off main hwy so close to all connections/attractions/not far from downtown.The area also has an Art Centre 2 blks away.You have a garage/2 cycles to use,bbq /fairly large balcony/the place is kept very clean.Two bedroom had breakfast rm/ dining area,full kitchen/lots of utensils/cookware/all the necessities such as paper towels,dishwasher and soap,dish soap, garbage disposal,even salt and pepper.Two full bathrooms and an extra washroom. Also was a pull down bed in a lvng room cabinet,3 TV's/washer and dryer.There were lovely blossoming bushes/trees /water fountains property .a pleasant fragrance in air because of it.Little hummingbirds everywhere. Across from the reception a lovely lounge with lg screen TV/small reading alcove with various books,games to borrow.This is adjacent to the first pool.Facility has vending machines near pool for laundry soap /softener sheets,candies,snacks/drinks.
Appeared to be fair amount of activities avail. such as basketball,pool exercises, tennis,exercise room/ice cream sundae some pms or coffee ams,The staff seemed friendly enough, tried to please when we were a little early for check-in, directions or other questions.
Downside: BEWARE! There is a travel concierge desk adjacent to the reception with brochures on activities to do in the area.This is the ONLY thing that we did not like-the fact that our plans to take the Best of Best Tours did not happen as the very polite lady behind the desk offered us a better option-to take the discounted trip offered by Gayle's Tours instead. I took the info sheet and after reading thru' it decided that although it was cheaper and included two meals...breakfast and lunch that we had plenty of food in the fridge and that the Gayle's Tours missed the Celebrity Tour and actual Oasis and San Andreas Fault that we both wanted to see.I relayed this back to the Travel Concierge.She informed me the tour was being reorganized to include this and the info would be available next day,that because we had already inquired, we would get a substantial discount.Next day I checked back ,sure enough there was a new faxed sheet with Celebrity Tour, Visit to Windmill Farm, Morongo Valley and PioneerTown two meals still included. It left at 7:30 am ,returned at 1:30 pm. I'm thinking that is an awful lot to cram into that many hours with the 2 meals,but the price for us at the resort and booking in advance would only be $ 50.00 each instead of $ 79.00 -129.00.As I went to tell the concierge that we were still interested in the Best os Best Tours,she had the actual Gayle on the line and had me speak with her about the itinerary. She assured me that we would go to Morongo Valley which was part of the San Andreas Fault and we would see the rare Fan Palms and take an optional hike etc. OK, so we fell for it! Let's just say that if something seems too good to be true then IT IS!.Also you get what you pay for, right? We enjoyed the trip although it was not as promised. We did get to see a few celebrity homes, but did not have a visit to the Windmill farms.Our bus merely parked on the side of the road near them and our guide spoke about them. Our breakfast was about an hour late.I am diabetic so luckily had a granola bar with me.Breakfast area was very pretty but we were given a whole of 15 min.to actually line up for food,eat it ,try to fit a few min. to view the scenery,take pics/use washrooms Unbelievable!On to Morongo Canyon,lovely.5 minutes info, 5 minute walk past the Palms and Fault and told we had to leave,that there wasn't enough time for the hike. UGH! Lunch good-hamburger at old Biker hangout /Pioneertown-old TV western film sets.All in all Gayle did not have to pay any entrance fees as the other tours did,no jeep ride and a con on what you really get.We were given coupon for ice cream sundae at Oasis.Noone was avail. for that for the rest of week,so girl at reception kindly made it for me.