Terra Cotta Inn Trip Report
Living in the desert myself, I had heard of the many nudist places in Palm Springs, but hadn't ever had the opportunity to visit any (nor a huge desire to until the past couple of years) until this past May. I was invited to an awards vacation with my boyfriend's company and we had one free day to spend however we wanted. Golfing, soaring, shopping, botanical garden tours (who would pick that)? Etc., or a convertible for the day. We jumped on the convertible right away and he contacted both Terra Cotta Inn and Desert Shadows to see if we might visit for the day. We received a warm welcome letter from Tom from the Terra Cotta Inn and also got a response from Desert Shadows to check when we got to town to see if they'd let us visit. I should have realized from that very first email that Tom is truly one of the most gracious hosts anyone would ever want to meet. I write this trip report from a very newbie in the nudist world. I have visited several clubs in Florida (Paradise Lakes and Cypress Cove) and the two here in Arizona.
We got our rental car and with emailed instruction in hand, we set out to find Terra Cotta. We had perfect instructions, and I was surprised as we drove up to an almost totally residential area of town. We were greeting at the front and welcomed and escorted to the office. I quickly scanned the place and it was smaller than the few other places I'm familiar with. Cozy, I thought. We were introduced to Tom, and he offered us a "tour" and showed us to our "room" for the day. I wasn't expecting a room, but he proceeded to show us around and took us to room 22 as he explained their procedure for day guests. They keep a room for day guests to use, and it's available for use by all day guests. Still, what a GREAT concept, we had private restroom facilities including a shower, a small kitchen with fridge if we wanted to use it, and a nice spacious 'cottage' type of room. Terra Cotta is not new with sparkle and shine, but definitely clean, well maintained, very charming in a Southern California type way, and again, very spacious. We quickly put our stuff down and grabbed our towels as Tom continued to tell us some of the history about the place as well as some of the guests who were currently visiting. This man was about the friendliest guy I've ever met. He mentioned somewhere along the line that he use to be an accountant. I love it when I meet people who have really met their calling and left the "corporate" world. I just can't see Tom as a bean counter..........he is definitely more in his element here at Terra Cotta.
Terra Cotta includes a light (although looked very filling) breakfast as well as snacks and wine in the late afternoon, all included in their room rates. I don't remember all the exact room rates, but you can find them on their web site: http://www.sunnyfun.com/index.html
We ventured out of the room after our tour, and I was able to see that all the rooms faced inside to the property and the only opening was the open spacious sky. They had a grassy area, a built in hot tub (we did actually sit in it, even though it was about 106 outside that day), a "cabana type" area with a masseuse, giving massages all day long, a mist system which does help cool the air off, and a nice swimming pool. The greatest thing about Terra Cotta was the people who were there. We found lounge chairs and settled in......soon (10 minutes for me) I needed to cool off and we went in the pool. Aahhhhhhhh........so wonderful. They had all kinds of floats, noodles and such. We grabbed a couple and were about the two most content people I've seen in ages. We hadn't been in the water 20 minutes, when I started thinking to myself, I sure do hope he doesn't want to leave here. We had originally planned to visit Terra Cotta in the morning and then head over to Desert Shadows in the afternoon so we could see both. I was so comfortable and relaxed, I didn't want to move. About 5 minutes later, Denny says, "Do you really want to go over to Desert Shadows?" Ahhhhh....I was happy.
We spent the remainder of the day in and out of the pool, and meeting some of the friendliest people you'd ever want to meet. I think that is attributed to Tom and his wife, Mary Clare. They have developed a small, intimate, friendly atmosphere to meet in the sunny desert of Southern California. I think now my return visit will have to be scheduled sometime for the winter months. Like Phoenix, Palm Springs is a GREAT place to visit in the winter.
We had to have our rental car back by 5pm, so we headed out about 4:30. AS we were leaving, Tom was again being the social director, serving wine and strawberries in (Yes, IN) the pool. I only wish we had had longer to stay. It was a great day trip, and I hope to be back to check it out for an extended weekend soon. Be sure to check out their site, as it's much more filled with the details than I remember as I type this report.....bottom line.....definitely check out Terra Cotta for as long as you can if you are in Southern California.....it's a great place!!!