Project Info
Project Name: Reset Hotel
Location: California, US
Architects: Benjamin Uyeda, Adam Wininger and Gry Space
At the edge of Joshua Tree National Park, a new desert retreat redefines the idea of escape. Reset Hotel, located in Twentynine Palms, comprises 65 modular guest rooms designed to evoke the feeling of “living on Mars,” while remaining deeply rooted in the raw beauty of the California high desert.
Shipping Container Aesthetics, Desert Spirit
The hotel’s architecture takes inspiration from the dimensions and look of shipping containers. Rows of minimalist, metal-clad units line the 180-acre property, yet only 10 acres are developed, leaving the rest as untouched desert wilderness for guests and wildlife to roam freely.
Rows of minimalist container-style suites blend into the high desert landscape
Each guest room is stripped back to essentials: white walls, wooden shelving, foldaway desks, and bathrooms finished with penny-round tiles. Mountain View King suites occupy full containers, framing the desert horizon through expansive windows and offering private patios with bathtubs, fire pits, and loungers. Compact double units split a container in half, separated by corrugated fences for privacy.
“There are no televisions or single-use plastics - only stillness, light, nature, and comfort,” explained the Reset team.
Minimalist interiors with oak shelving, white walls, and concrete details create calm
Private patios extend living spaces outdoors, complete with fire pits and bathtubs
The Clubhouse as Social Anchor
At the heart of Reset Hotel is the Clubhouse, clad in dusty-brown containers that set it apart from the guest units. Inside, guests find the reception, a lounge, bar, covered terrace, and fire pit, designed as a place for gathering and slowing down.
The Clubhouse anchors the site with a warm desert palette and communal energy
Behind the Clubhouse, a 1,600-square-foot saltwater pool and jacuzzi provide relief from the desert heat. Cabanas, shaded areas, and stucco walls in earthy tones ground the experience in the landscape, while Gry Space’s interiors add refinement through locally sourced ceramics, custom-designed furniture, and subtle textures.
Saltwater pool and shaded cabanas offer cool relief in the high desert heat
Local ceramics and custom furniture bring authenticity and warmth to the communal spaces
A Vision of Stillness
Reset Hotel was co-founded by Adam Wininger, Shannon Ching, Sumeet Parekh of HP Investors, and designer Benjamin Uyeda, who also led the site masterplan. Interiors, branding, and creative direction came from Los Angeles-based Gry Space, founded by Jen Whitaker and Emi Kitawaki.
Together, the team envisioned Reset as more than a hospitality venture: it’s an architectural meditation on minimalism, landscape, and atmosphere.
“Our design approach was simple: create the infrastructure that lets nature take centre stage,” Uyeda said. “We used real materials that make sense in the environment and designed moments that help guests experience stillness without distraction.”
Reset embraces simplicity: No screens, no clutter - just stillness and light
Mars, but with Soul
The interiors of the communal spaces carry Gry Space’s signature restraint - stucco walls, hand-patinated metal panels, and a muted desert palette that blurs into the rocky backdrop. “We wanted the design to feel as if humans were living on Mars,” said Whitaker and Kitawaki, “but with warmth, refinement, and continuity across branding, space, and photography.”
By pairing radical simplicity with deep sensitivity to place, Reset Hotel has created a new kind of desert hospitality: one that feels futuristic yet timeless, isolated yet connected - an escape into stillness at the edge of the wild.
Photo Credit: Gry Space
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