Turtle Back Mesa

A tiny naturist bed and breakfast with just three rooms, on a desert mesa between Desert Hot Springs and Indio, about forty kilometres from Palm Springs. The Southwest-style house, run by its owners Ernest and Marlyn, has an inner courtyard with a pool onto which the rooms open, sheltered from prying eyes; the property's well draws natural mineral water at 59 degrees, which fills two outdoor hot tubs overlooking the desert and the mountains, heats the pool and, in winter, the floors. The rooms have no television or phone, breakfast is prepared by the host and massages and treatments can be booked. Around it are trails, the Nature Conservancy preserve and Joshua Tree National Park, and the hosts point out where you can hike naked. Guests describe it as a quiet place, a little out of time, where you feel like a guest in the home of a very attentive elderly gentleman; some find the rooms dated and the shared bathroom inconvenient, and a couple of guests received a less than warm welcome.