Palm Springs Trixie Motel Review: Staying in the Atomic Bombshell Room

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Last updated: 19th May 2026

Palm Springs is never shy when it comes to colourful hotels. But there’s one place that turns the colour palette volume all the way up – the fabulous Trixie Motel. Ever since we watched drag superstar Trixie Mattel transform her motel on TV we knew we had to stay here for a night. It was the highlight of our Palm Springs trip, staying in the iconic Atomic Bombshell Room for a full-on retro fantasy night. In this post we’ll give you our Trixie Motel review, spoiler alert – it’s honestly even more outrageous in real life than on TV!

 

Our Trixie Motel Review

First Impressions

The moment you pull up outside the motel, you know this is not your average Palm Springs stay. Everything is unapologetically pink, playful, and completely over the top! in the best possible way. Think flamingos, glitter, disco balls, neon signs, leopard print and enough Barbie energy to power the entire Coachella Valley. We felt so privileged because we had the whole place to ourselves for the night, and only one other guest was staying because they had a big event on that evening.

Trixie Motel is located in a quiet residential neighbourhood of Palm Springs with fabulous views of the dramatic San Bernardino mountains rising in the distance, so cinematic!

 

 

The Rooms

Trixie Motel has 7 themed rooms, which makes the whole place feel exclusive and surprisingly intimate. It’s part luxury boutique hotel, part drag performance, part Instagram fever dream. Check in was relaxed and friendly, and before we even made it to our room, we were already stopping every five seconds to take photos.

 

 

The Atomic Bombshell Room

We stayed in the Atomic Bombshell Room – one of the Trixie’s most iconic suites, and it completely delivered on camp and the retro Palm Springs fantasy. The room feels like stepping inside a 1960s sci-fi dream.

If you watched the TV series as we did, you’ll be thrilled to see it in real life and appreciate the design details. Garth loved all the atomic era patterns everywhere, vintage inspired furniture, glittery details, pink accents, mirrored surfaces and quirky little design touches tucked into every corner. It somehow manages to feel campy and luxurious at the same time, which is harder to pull off than you’d think. Phil loved the record player in the room where you can get up to 8 records from the office to play music in your room and create your vibe. It also served as a Bluetooth speaker of course we had to get one of Trixie‘s original LP’s called Barbara, which was bright yellow, and we played that. This is your entertainment as rooms don’t have a TV, we kinda liked that.

The iconic circular bed was genuinely comfortable, the air con was powerful (essential in Palm Springs), and the room felt surprisingly spacious for a motel suite. We both loved how committed the design was. This isn’t a room that added a few themed cushions and called it a day. Every inch of the room has personality. Even the bathroom looks like a movie set. Oh and the room is spotlessly clean.

 

 

The Pool Area

Palm Springs hotels live or die by their pool scene, and the Trixie Motel absolutely understands the assignment. Phil spent most of the day in the pool, which is heated and very warm. He had it all to himself. Garth sat by the pool getting cocktails brought over, accompanied by fabulous nibbles. The staging of the whole place is fantastic. The pool towels are Trixie Motel branded as are inflatable rings in the pool, sadly they didn’t have any of the heart-shaped floaties that we’d seen on some photos that we we’re looking forward to using.

The pool area is pure retro glamour with the concrete floor painted in alternating shades of pink and white. Bright pink loungers surround the water, music plays throughout the day, and there’s a fun social atmosphere. It’s the kind of place where you accidentally spend four hours drinking cocktails in the sun because you simply don’t want to leave. We were impressed to see free sunscreen and water available on the pool deck.

At night, the motel transforms again with all the neon lighting glowing around the property. It honestly feels a bit like staying inside a Wes Anderson film directed by RuPaul. The pool is open 24 hours a day for guests. A limited number of day passes are available to buy if you don’t want to stay the night.

 

 

Barbara Bar

The Barbara Bar is named after Trixie’s 3rd album release, “Barbara”. It has a great atmosphere, so pink! kitsch! wonderful!  Christian, behind the bar gave us a really warm welcome and kept us entertained, he was super fun, helpful and very attentive. The signature cocktails are genuinely awesome, Phil loved the cocktail presentation with all garnishes on the drinks, like pink rose petals, the attention to detail is fabulous.

Garth loved the framed photographs of Trixie Mattel with celebs like Elvis and Leonardo DiCaprio, very funny and creative – they were real, weren’t they?!  The bathroom or Power Room as Trixie calls it, is the most over-the-top loo you will ever have seen.  Go, even if you don’t need to.  You will want a selfie in there!

The bar is open from midday to late.

 

 

Sunroom & Outdoor Event Space

Just off the bar is an adjoining sunroom used for events or breakfast.

 

 

Office & Gift Shop

The office and gift shop is where you check in and out, you’ll find it’s also home to Trixie Motel’s gift shop. Inside, you can view Trixie’s fabulous collection of dolls adn of course her winning crown from Drag Race. There are all sorts for sale from Trixie cosmetics, candles, bags, keyrings, and clothing, all matched up with the themes of each room. We opted for a Trixie Motel keyring as a souvenir and turned it into a fridge magnet for our collection. We noticed the office shop is roped off from guests, so day visitors can visit to buy something without being a guest of the motel, they can also come into the Barbara bar, but if you want to go out to the pool deck or see the rooms you need to be a gust or have a day pass. We noticed there was a steady stream of people during the morning.

 

 

Breakfast

Breakfast is served from 8am to 11am in the Barbara Bar. Christian asked us if we were ready to eat and in a matter of minutes served us a continental breakfast in a beautiful basket, of course, everything is Trixie’s signature pink. It had croissants with jam (or as they call it in the US, jelly), butter, Greek yoghurt, and granola. There’s a self-serve coffee, tea and an orange juice station where you can help yourself to as much as you want.

 

 

Trixie Motel Food

Trixie only serves bar snacks for food from 11am – 10pm. You can order pizza, sausage rolls, chicken nuggets, hummus with dips, popcorn,  ruffle crisps with a garlic dip (which we had by the pool during the day) or nachos or fries. You can order food in, but it can only be consumed in your room. We decided to go out for dinner and walked to the 1501 Uptown Gastropub, which is only a couple of minutes away. We both had the grilled steak, chimichurri and fries, delicious!

 

 

Trixie’s Cactus Garden

Before you go, make sure you check out Trixie’s Cactus Garden just outside the motel on the corner. It’s a fun little photo stop filled with quirky desert plants and more of that signature pink and kitsch Trixie aesthetic. Even if you’re not staying at the motel, it’s worth wandering past for a few photos.

 

 

Phil and Garth’s Top 5 Trixie Motel Tips

• Tip#1: Rooms book up far in advance, especially at weekends.
• Tip#2: The motel is adult-focused, so ideal for couples or friend trips.
• Tip#3: Free parking is included.
• Tip#4: The 7 themed rooms are all different, so it’s worth choosing carefully.
• Tip#5: Check-in is 3pm and the check-out time is 11am.

 

Is the Trixie Motel Worth It?

Yes, if you’re looking for a unique Palm Springs experience. This isn’t the place to book if you want something quiet, understated or traditional. The entire point of the Trixie Motel is escapism, fun and maximalism and that’s exactly why we loved it!

It’s expensive, but we thought it was worth it, especially if you did what we did and pay a bit extra for an early checkin from 1pm, so you can maximise your time at the motel. It feels designed for people like Garth who appreciate the creativity and design, and for Phil the kitsch camp and humour, plus a little bit of chaos alongside their luxury hotel stay. The Atomic Bombshell Room in particular felt like one of the most memorable hotel rooms we’ve stayed in during our travels.

 

 

Final Thoughts

There are plenty of beautiful boutique hotels in Palm Springs, but the Trixie Motel offers something completely different. It’s playful, theatrical, nostalgic and gloriously extra from start to finish. We had so much fun staying here. The Atomic Bombshell Room felt less like booking a hotel and more like checking into an immersive retro fantasy world – one that fully embraces the weird, wonderful energy Palm Springs does so well.

Would we stay again? Absolutely! YES!

 

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