Garrett Hottle
TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. (KESQ) A first-of-its-kind desert escape is now open just outside the north entrance of Joshua Tree National Park. The Reset Hotel officially opened its doors Monday, becoming the first full-service boutique hotel built from the ground up in the high desert in more than 15 years.
Located on Split Rock Avenue in Twentynine Palms, the hotel consists of 65 design-forward rooms on 180 acres of raw desert land, and is the only hotel connecting directly to Joshua Tree National Park.
The newly open hotel is on Split Rock Avenue in Twentynine Palms, the hotel consists of 65 design-forward rooms on 180 acres of raw desert land. (KESQ)
The vision behind it all is as much about disconnecting from devices as it is reconnecting with nature.“We’re not just building a hotel,” said Benjamin Uyeda, Reset’s co-founder and designer. “We’re creating infrastructure that lets the desert speak for itself.”Uyeda says the idea behind Reset started with a trend he noticed nearly a decade ago.“I first became interested in Joshua Tree around 2017,” Uyeda said.
Courtesy: Gry Space
“I saw this graph, and it was this perfect correlation between Instagram’s monthly active users and visitor shifts to national parks,” Uyeda explained. “And what I concluded was the more people were on their phones looking at content, the more they had this deep draw to stop doing that and go out into nature.”
“And what I concluded was the more people were on their phones looking at content, the more they had this deep draw to stop doing that and go out into nature,” Ben Uyeda, co-founder and designer of the newly open Reset Hotel in Twentynine Palms said. (KESQ)
“So I think in this weird way, the more we digitally consume, the more we value, like a farm-to-table experience…the more popular farmers markets will become, and the more popular national parks and getting out into nature will become.”
Uyeda lives in Twentynine Palms, a place he helped the project from and a place he believes is emerging as an unexpected hub for creatives.“
“I live here, and I’ve lived here for quite a while and love it,” Uyeda said. “And it even brought a lot of my friends and family out into this area. So I am an evangelist for this area. This area is one of the coolest places to live. In fact, I would clearly say and strongly believe that 29 Palms is the best place in California for creatives to live.”
From its custom-built steel-frame guest units styled to resemble shipping containers to its fire pits, private soaking tubs, and stargazing platforms, Rest leans into the natural landscape rather than competing with it.
Courtesy: Gry Space
Interior designers Emi Kitawaki and Jen Whitaker of Gry Space describe the style as deliberately minimal. “Very minimalist. Functional. Intended to be distraction-free,” explained Kitawaki. “Nature is your background.”
Despite the remote location, the hotel offers modern comforts like Wi-Fi, coffee stations, Flamingo Estate bath products, and a curated on-site bistro set to open in the coming months. The rooms feature private patios designed for stargazing, something Uyeda says is a big draw for guests.
Courtesy: Gry Space
“We’re sitting out on these patios staring at the Milky Way,” he said. “You don’t need a telescope. You can’t get that in L.A.”
Beyond the rooms, RESET’s 160+ untouched acres will feature evolving art installations and creative programming—offering what Uyeda calls “real experiences better than anything you can stream.”
Until recently, the group has focused on honoring the land and providing the local residents, as well as travelers, something other—and something central.
“We did not cut corners on zoning,” Uyeda explained. “We did it the proper way, and we’re proud of that.”
To learn more about the Reset Hotel or book a stay, click this link.
On the agenda for this weeks Twentynine Palms City Council meeting is a proposed 152 acre resort in the Indian Cove area of Twentynine Palms. The meeting is scheduled for 6pm Tuesday, and can be viewed at the following link. for that information head online to our website at kesq dot com.
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