San Bernardino County, United States

Pioneertown Motel

Price per night from$214.40

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (inclusive of taxes and fees) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (USD214.40), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Pioneertown Motel Photos

Style

Wild West wonder

Setting

Sandswept serenity

Explore

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Star power is Pioneertown Motel’s not-so-secret weapon. For a start, its dark skies are ideal for stargazing on peaceful evenings by the fire. And then there are the movie stars such as Gene Autry and Roy Rogers who stayed here when the town was still a working Western set. These days, it’s music stars you’re more likely to bump into, playing sets at neighbouring Pappy & Harriet’s, where everyone from Arctic Monkeys to Paul McCartney have filled the house. The hotel's abiding star quality, though, is its lo-fi loveliness – inviting you to slow down, take a hike, ride a horse. There’s no tech or TV – just sprawling desert grounds, a horseshoe pit and coffee on tap.

Smith Extra

Get this when you book through us:

US$20 to spend at the motel's gift store.

Facilities

Photos Pioneertown Motel facilities

Need to know

Rooms

19

Check–Out

11am, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.

More details

Rates exclude breakfast.

Also

Today’s hotel owes much to the labours of locals including furniture maker Dan Anderson, landscaper Tony, builders Aaron, Harrison and Ryan, and artist-photographer Jane Wilder. Music buffs should aim to check in on weekdays during Coachella, when bands from the festival with downtime serve up sets at Pappy & Harriet’s.

At the hotel

Lounge, horseshoe pit, wood-burning stove and outdoor seating, water refill station, gift shop. In rooms: free WiFi, mini fridge, camp chairs, Grateful Desert bath products.

Our favourite rooms

With beamed ceilings, chunky wooden furniture, rustic woven throws and cowhide rugs throughout, all rooms beguile equally and only differ in the set-up of beds. King Rooms at the rear of the hotel have juniper-dotted desert views that stretch all the way to the San Bernardino mountains on the horizon. If you want to stay where Gene Autry once gambled the night away playing poker, request room nine.

Poolside

There’s no swimming pool at this desert hotel.

Packing tips

Boots not sandals (they’re bound to stay dusty); denim, ponchos and plaid, and something embroidered or embellished to wear for an evening at Pappy & Harriet’s.

Also

The hotel has an ADA-compliant room with ramp access and an adapted ensuite including a roll-in shower.

Pet‐friendly

One dog per room is welcome, from US$25 a night for each pet. See more pet-friendly hotels in San Bernardino County.

Children

Welcome. Extra beds ( for over-twos, US$35 a night) can be provided in most rooms; you'd need to bring your own cot for those younger than two.

Sustainability efforts

This unique stay, set in the desert, does much to sustain the community in which it’s based, having worked with local artisans, builders and landscapers to refurbish the hotel and working with local suppliers where possible.

Food and Drink

Photos Pioneertown Motel food and drink

Hotel restaurant

There’s no restaurant at the motel, but room one is the Canteen, where coffee and tea are on tap and free, 24/7, and you can refill your bottles with spring water.

Room service

There’s a mini fridge in every room where you can store breakfast basics, as well as beer and wine.

Location

Photos Pioneertown Motel location
Address
Pioneertown Motel
5240 Curtis Rd, Pioneertown
Pioneertown
92268
United States

At the western outskirts of Joshua Tree National Park, Pioneertown Motel is in Morongo Valley in the High Desert of California.

Planes

Palm Springs (PSP) is the nearest airport, 40 minutes away by road. From either San Diego or Los Angeles (traffic allowing) international airports, the hotel is a two-and-a-half-hours drive away.

Trains

You’re in the high desert now, with no railroads near enough to be relevant.

Automobiles

The hotel offers free parking on site.

Other

Private jet and air charter flights will take you as far as Yucca Valley, a few minutes’ drive from Pioneertown.

Worth getting out of bed for

In the High Desert of California, this is a place for stargazing, hiking and horseback riding. Explore the trails in Pioneertown Mountains Preserve or nearby Joshua Tree National Park. Head to Yucca Valley for a spot of shopping or to take one of the local studio’s yoga classes. You’re less than an hour from Coachella here – ideal for when the world-famous musical festival comes to town annually in April. 

Local restaurants

A former biker burrito bar that’s now a legendary music venue on your doorstep, Pappy & Harriet’s serves burgers and dogs, Tex Mex, steaks and salads with tables indoors and out. It’s open Thursday to Monday and it’s worth checking its online calendar ahead of your stay for music gigs and tickets. The motel’s sister business, Red Dog Saloon, epitomises the typical Western watering hole in looks – probably because it starred as one in movies and on TV – and is now open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, serving tacos, quesadillas, draft beer, whiskies and agaves.

Reviews

Photos Pioneertown Motel reviews

Anonymous review

By Mr & Mrs Smith

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this desert hotel in Pioneertown and unpacked their cowboy boots and bandanas, a full account of their movie-set break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Pioneertown Motel in California…

Where the Mojave sands roll towards the San Bernardino foothills, you’ll find Pioneertown: a permanent film location built in the 1940s to cater to the growing demand for budget Westerns spilling out of Hollywood. Pioneertown Motel was part of this original set-up, hosting actors such as Gene Autry and Roy Rogers who came to work here. These days, thankfully, no acting skills are required: you can roll into town, check into your fit-for-a-sheriff motel room – still housed in the original planked buildings, made of railroad sleepers – kick back with a Canyon coffee and press pause. This is a place for lazy days and peaceful pastimes: wander the trailheads in the Pioneertown Mountains Preserve or head out into the hills on horseback; catch dinner and a gig at Pappy & Harriet’s, then return to the motel to pull up a chair by the fire and stargaze until your craned neck says it’s bedtime. 

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Price per night from $214.40