Nestled underneath the palm trees of California’s Coachella Valley is the newly renovated Mojave Resort by Practice Hospitality. With 25 rooms and a 21+ age restriction, the Mojave Resort provides guests with an intimate experience, allowing them to peel away their pressures and anxieties and focus on the people around them. Sharing a name with the nearby desert, the Mojave Resort acts as an oasis, an escape from the dry routine of daily life. 

When it first opened in 1957, Mojave Resort was known as the Galla Villa Motel, attracting Los Angeles’ stars to Palm Desert with its tranquil days and nights. Like Palm Springs, Palm Desert’s history is filled with past celebrities hoping to sweat out the grind of Hollywood. Today, the Mojave Resort honors their history through design. Midcentury glamor exudes from every corner, including a vintage orange-and-white color scheme and the cocktail shaker-shaped pool. Infused with a modernist aesthetic, the Resort plays between retro and contemporary, transporting guests back to the lavish desert resorts of the 1950s. Each architectural choice traces back to 1950s California, while ensuring guests enjoy modern amenities. 

The resort town of Palm Desert is easily accessible through the Mojave Resort’s central location and complimentary bicycles. The nearby El Paseo Shopping District extends the Resort’s luxury with designer shops, and three art galleries allow guests to explore innovative works inspired by the desert scenery. Natural attractions, such as Indian Canyons, connect the Resort to its original inspiration of the landscape. 

Onsite, the Mojave Resort prioritizes a connection with the desert and other guests. Rooms open up directly to the pool courtyard, where guests can smoothly slide between the desert heat and their air-conditioned room. Next to the pool, firepits sit among plush orange chairs, offering community under the clear night skies of the desert. The lobby bar, equipped with complimentary welcome drinks and matching carpet and wallpaper, greets guests as they shake off their stress. Paired with daily breakfast boxes delivered to the front door of each room and sunset salutes featuring complimentary drinks, the Mojave Resort sets the backdrop for a desert getaway filled with Californian nostalgia and laidback luxury. 

How has the Mojave Resort built upon the legacy established by the original Galla Villa Motel? What specific parts of the Galla Villa's ethos were preserved while developing The Mojave Resort?

The Mojave Resort honors the Galla Villa’s roots by preserving the spirit of its midcentury architecture and its role as a desert hideaway. We didn’t just renovate—we restored, keeping the intimacy and ease that made the original property feel like a well-kept secret. The low-slung lines, open-air pathways, and communal layout remain, now reimagined with elevated finishes and landscaping, and thoughtful touches that speak to today’s traveler. The ethos of warm sophistication and California cool lives on—only now, there’s better beverages and more comfortable beds.

What does hospitality mean to you? How does that definition change across properties?

At its core, hospitality is about creating space for connection—between people, places, and moments that matter. It’s never one-size-fits-all. At Mojave, that means sunset cocktails, quiet corners for reading, and packages that entice you to stay a little longer. Across our portfolio, hospitality shifts to reflect the soul of each property and its location, but the goal is always the same: make people feel like they belong.

What is the most attractive part of Palm Desert for a hotelier? What unique facets of Palm Desert culture were incorporated into The Mojave Resort?

Palm Desert is a place of contrasts—natural stillness and social energy, timeless glamour, and laid-back ease. That duality is magnetic. At Mojave, we leaned into it. You’ll find nods to retro California design and rituals by the fire tables, but also thoughtful amenities and programming that reflect the pulse of El Paseo just steps away. This isn’t just a place to stay—it’s a love letter to the desert and the people who are drawn to it.

The intimate footprint of The Mojave Resort lends itself to community within the hotel space, whether it be the firepits or the complimentary drinks at check in. What feeling would you like guests to depart with?

We want guests to leave feeling lighter. Like they found something—a sense of ease, inspiration, or just a better night’s sleep. Mojave is meant to feel like the kind of place you tell your friends about, but maybe not everyone. A little secret, a little sanctuary, where time moves differently and you remember what it feels like to unwind.

What's in the future for Practice Hospitality, and how does The Mojave Resort fit into that future?

At Practice, we’re focused on crafting soulful hotels that are deeply rooted in their surroundings. Mojave is a blueprint for what that looks like: design-forward, story-driven, and always guest-centered. It’s not about scaling sameness—it’s about scaling thoughtfulness. This year and next, we are opening hotels in the mountain biking mecca of Bentonville, Arkansas and on a breathtaking beach in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. As we grow into these diverse destinations, you’ll see how these hotels are different yet so like Mojave—each one distinct, but all connected by a commitment to hospitality that’s intentional, imaginative, and real.