Desert Pearl Inn, a favorite near Zion National Park

The Desert Pearl Inn is one of my favorite hotels in the West. It’s in southern Utah at the threshold of Zion National Park.

The rooms are huge, practical and stylish; most have balconies that look over the red cliffs of Zion and roiling Virgin River. There’s a swimming pool for long, hot summers in Utah’s Dixie; a gourmet coffee shop; and plentiful woodwork made of old-growth timber from scavenged railway ties.

What is more, it’s got to be one of the few hotels west of the Rockies with bidets — yes, I said bidets. That’s because Zion is very popular with European travelers.

Desert Pearl owner Robin Palmer estimates that 25% of her guests are from the Old World and expects even more this year as the euro continues to gain strength against the dollar.

Palmer also believes that, with Americans traveling more, bidets no longer come as such a surprise. “I think they’re quite civilized,” she said. Rooms start at about $98 per night (pre-tax), depending on the season.

The Desert Pearl Inn is on Hwy. 9 in Springdale, Utah. Info: (888) 828-0898, www.desertpearl.com.

— Susan Spano, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

[Photo: Desert Pearl Inn]

Permalink | E-mail | Print | Add to My Trips

This entry was posted on Monday, March 17, 2008 at 2:34 pm by Susan Spano and is filed under Arizona, National Parks, Outdoors & Adventure, Rocky Mountain States, Utah, Weekend Getaways. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.