The Hotel Wren has opened near Joshua Tree National Park in Twentynine Palms, Calif.
Designed by Jessica Pell—founder of Los Angeles-based Manola Studio—the 12-room reimagined hotel from the 1940s blends historic motel culture with modern craftsmanship, embracing the rugged beauty and quiet magnetism of California’s high desert, according to the firm.
“Hotel Wren is my love letter to the desert, a place that still recenters me every time I return,” Pell said in a statement. “Joshua Tree has a way of making you feel both small and completely at home—its ancient rock formations shaped by time, the endless horizon, the sky burning gold before deepening into a field of stars. It quiets the noise and makes you listen. I wanted Wren to reflect that stillness, a space where architecture and landscape exist in quiet conversation, where every material and every detail is chosen with care and intention.”
Refined Simplicity
The property uses rustic elements like hand-troweled plaster, custom terracotta floors, carved woodwork and hand-painted tiles inspired by the high desert’s flora and fauna. The interiors are designed to evoke the desert’s shifting hues—cream, sand, sage, adobe pink, rust, and deep ochre—colors that evolve with the changing light. The company added Santa Barbara-style plaster coats the walls inside and out, while Saltillo tile and fossilized flagstone give the space a distinctly Californian vernacular.
The lobby is designed to serve as both a welcome space and a living room where guests can gather and take in the mountains around Joshua Tree National Park. A fireplace—framed by warm custom millwork with hand-carved motifs by Nik Gelormino—anchors the space, celebrating the rhythms of nature, according to the company. Above, a mural by artist Kim Swift stretches across the walls paying homage to the surrounding landscape.
King or Queen beds have Parachute linens, and rooms are stocked with Wonder Valley bath products, a yoga mat, a meditation blanket, and a pantry of artisanal teas and Canyon Coffee.