Death Valley Visitors Guide - 12th Edition

R einvention, renovation and an emphasis on the natural world around them are continuing themes for the entrepreneurs running hospitality businesses on the south- eastern edge of Death Valley National Park. In Tecopa, Shoshone and Death Valley Junction hotel proprietors are focusing on their unique geography, history and eco-biology to offer visitors an unusual desert experience. Delight’s Hot Springs Resort is one of the oldest continually running businesses in the small town of Tecopa with four individual, private hot mineral water pools that have been the heart of its existence for decades. The pools are sheltered within a courtyard, protected from the wind and sun. Now, for visitors who want to experience the hot springs waters out in the fresh desert air, owners Wes and Courtney McNeal designed and built a large outdoor soaking pool. The elegant new feature is made up of several smaller, hotter pools flowing into a central pool maintained at or a little below 100 degrees and has a lovely, unobstructed desert view. While the private pools at Delight’s are clothing optional, the outdoor pool is suits required. Delight’s offers six historic adobe cabins and three studio rooms. The property includes an RV park and an onsite BBQ restaurant and brew pub. The Tecopa Hot Springs Resort found its niche bringing music outside. It’s home to an outdoor stage where a live house band plays every weekend through the cool weather season and other bands perform at special events. The Tecopa Take Over, held every year in November, is a growing desert music festival held on the grounds. The Resort offers 16 motel rooms, 4 cabins with kitchenettes, tent camping and RV spaces. Also on site is the Tecopa Bistro, an American fusion restaurant featuring farm to table ingredients grown in Tecopa, and an art gallery in the Resort office. Across the street from the Resort, the Tecopa Hot Springs Campground offers tent camping, RV spaces and two camping cabins with comfortable beds and air conditioning. It also hosts a couple of colorful vintage trailers bookable through Air B-and-B. Also in the heart of Tecopa, the Tecopa Palms RV Resort is open for RV parking and social activities in the club house this season, while pools are temporarily closed. Call for more information. Out on the edge of Tecopa, Villa Anita is an immersive art and lodging experience. It is a combination B-and- B, performance piece, and living work of art. The proprietors, artist David Aaron Smith and photographer Carlo Roncancio, and their partners live and work at the Villa along with guests, volunteers, interns and other artists. The sometimes gothic, sometimes earthy, sometimes startling and always creatively original architecture and décor draw artists, film makers, adventure seekers and even wedding planners from all over the world. The structure is an ever expanding maze of art piece rooms constructed of many found objects, including vintage 10 Death Valley Vistiors Guide • 12th Edition Tecopa has four hot springs resorts offer- ing a variety of rejuvenating experiences. PHOTO BY BILL NEIL The recently remodeled Shoshone Inn of- fers a touch of comfort in the desert. PHOTO BY ROBIN FLINCHUM The newest soaking pool at Delight’s Hot Springs Resort. PHOTO BY ROBIN FLINCHUM Visitors to Villa Anita get a unique, im- mersive desert art experi- ence. PHOTO COURTESY VILLA ANITA Quirky, Comfy Lodging Brings the Outdoors In and Vice Versa CONTINUED ON PAGE 11