About
An independent desert guide.
Hotel Terracotta is an independent travel guide to clothing-optional resorts, starting with Greater Palm Springs.
This domain once belonged to The Terra Cotta, a well-known clothing-optional resort that closed in 2019. People still look for it. Rather than leave them at a dead page, this site tells them what happened and helps them find somewhere that still fits.
We don't own or operate any resort. Listings come from resort websites, visitor-bureau listings, published reviews and news reports, and are re-checked regularly. The date at the top of each page shows the last full check.
How we rate
Star ratings and review counts come from Tripadvisor, or Google where Tripadvisor has too few reviews, and are re-read at every update. The "what guests love" and "worth knowing" notes summarise recurring themes from those reviews in our own words; each profile links to the full set so you can read them yourself. The mood meter and editors' picks are our own judgement. We have not stayed at every resort, and we say so.
How this site is funded
Some links may be affiliate links. If you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. Resorts may also pay for a featured listing, which is always labelled. Payment never changes the facts we publish, including a resort's audience, rules or closure.
Corrections
Run a resort, or spotted something out of date? Email hello@hotelterracotta.com. Corrections go live as soon as they're confirmed.
Privacy
This site has no accounts and no sign-up forms. We use Google Analytics to count visits and see which pages and resorts people read, including clicks on outbound links. Google Analytics sets cookies and collects your approximate location, device and browser, but not your name or email. You can opt out with Google's browser add-on or by blocking cookies.
Photo credits
Photography is used under the Unsplash License. Photos are illustrative and do not show the resorts listed.
- Palm silhouettes against a desert sunset · Justin Scocchio
- A palm-lined road leading toward the mountains · Caroline Ross
- Pool with lounge chairs and umbrellas · Ruth Bourke
- Bare desert mountains under a blue sky · Jordan Steranka
- Aerial view of a pool surrounded by palms · Karsten Gohm
- A pink front door on a white mid-century house · Radek Skrzypczak
- A blue door framed by desert plants · Don Stouder
- A row of lounge chairs beside a pool · Andrew Valdivia
- Looking up into tall palm trees · Ev