Hidden in the desert surrounding Joshua Tree National Park are lodgings as unique as the Joshua trees themselves, those shaggy, spike-leafed yuccas. California’s Mojave Desert attracted homesteaders in the 1930s with the promise of almost-free land — all they had to do was build a small house and the plot was theirs. Today the abandoned cabins have not only been reclaimed, they’ve been transformed into artful lodgings around the park that draw climbers, hikers, bird watchers and stargazers from around the world.

“Spin and Margie’s Desert Hide-a-Way,” ten minutes from the park’s west entrance, is one of the most unique of these inns. After a day of scrambling over boulders in the park, my brother and I were anxious to get to our weekend home. Just off the 29 Palms Highway in an oasis of desert willows, the inn’s jewel-colored buildings were nestled inside an adobe wall. We entered the courtyard through a gate below a sign reading Paseo de las Delicias — stroll of delights. Pots of cactus and patio chairs ringed an open-air fireplace in a courtyard, and at the periphery, doors led to four suites. Three of the four, including ours, had a private patio.

Rooms open onto a communal courtyard with chairs and a fireplace in the center.

Ours, called the “Sonoran Traveler,” was a kaleidoscope of colors and comforts. The living room walls were forest green and deep mustard yellow, while red-striped pillows marched across the sofa bed. The bedroom walls were deep turquoise and tomato, and the kitchen was, appropriately, hot-chile red. Innkeepers Mindy Kaufman and Drew Reese had painstakingly transformed every inch of the inn into a colorful oasis, with down quilts, fluffy towels, music CDs and videos. The well-equipped kitchen had a cook top and small refrigerator, pots, pans, and plates — plus a mini pantry with all the necessities.

We had picked up sandwiches in town, so we gathered plates, glasses and a bottle of wine, and headed out into the gathering dusk to light the already laid fire in the courtyard. The light from our fire threw shadows across the cactus garden and lit up the handmade tiles that rimmed each door of the inn, all under a stargazer’s sky.

We awoke the next morning to find the cool blue San Gorgonio Mountains filling our west-facing window. After coffee, we explored the inn and peeked into the other suites before the rest of the weekend guests arrived. “The Desert Rambler,” the “Mojave Wanderer” and the “Western Nomad” were variations on our room, each with a unique color palette.