AutoCamp Joshua Tree Review: A destination getaway for campers and non-campers alike
Have you ever been curious about camping, but either didn’t want to sleep on the floor or didn’t want to go a night without a decent shower and access to a toilet (or all of the above)? Maybe those things made you think that camping just wasn’t for you. At least that’s how I felt for the longest time.
But then I found out about AutoCamp! Whether you love camping or have never been, AutoCamp is a fun camping experience with locations throughout the country that offer the charm of spending some quality time outdoors combined with nice amenities and accommodations to keep you comfortable during your stay.
Check out my YouTube video of this weekend trip too!
What is AutoCamp?
AutoCamp might be best described as a little community of mini tiny home-like hotel rooms set in beautiful outdoor areas that give guests an “upscale” camping experience. I’d say it’s one step below glamping, but one step above wilderness tent camping in terms of amenities and fancifulness.
All of their locations are adjacent or close to national parks and beautiful outdoor landscape destinations.
Each airstream or cabin is set a decent amount of distance apart from others to give each party a nice peaceful area. On the outside there’s a small outdoor fire pit and a picnic table with seating. On the inside each airstream has a bathroom with a toilet and shower, a mini kitchen with a microwave and mini fridge, a couch that can be converted into a bed, and a bedroom with a queen size mattress. The cabin kitchenette’s also have a mini stovetop.
Booking a Suite
Booking a suite on the website is very easy! All you have to do is choose your location, choose the dates, and decide on which suite you want to stay in. Different locations have different offerings, but I believe airstreams are available at all of them. I suggest checking to see if there are any existing promo codes or special codes to get some additional discounts. There may be seasonal ones available, but one that I know if is the AAA/AARP discount which offers 10% off your stay.
Classic Airstream vs Premium Airstream
For my trip, I decided to book the Premium Airstream at AutoCamp Joshua Tree. I believe the main difference between the Premium Airstream and the Classic Airstream is the location within the grounds. When you walk the grounds, there is basically a single main walkway with airstreams on both sides (an inner group and an outer group of airstreams). I believe the premium airstreams are those that are on the outer section which would likely give guests more quiet and more distance from other guests.
I’m personally glad we went with this option because our airstream was on the outskirts of the property, which gave us the clearest view of the night sky. Perfect for watching the meteor shower!
If you’re not particularly keen on being more on the outskirts, the Classic Airstream may be a good option, since the amenities and airstream itself are the same for both.
Camping Preparation
Since this was my first time camping, I wasn’t too sure what to expect, but I definitely wanted to be prepared.
Packing List
Here’s what my packing list looked like for this trip.
Food
Food prep was a big part of this trip for me (if I’m being honest, it was pretty much the biggest part).
I was excited about the outdoor fire pit because cooking outdoors is not something I’ve ever done, and I just felt like it was such a quintessential part to camping that I wanted to make sure I utilized it to the fullest.
I also knew that the airstream was very small and I didn’t want to be spending the whole time preparing and cooking food, so I tried to prepare as much of the food as possible so that all we had to do while we were camping was cook and enjoy.
To do that, I planned out each meal and figured out all the ingredients I needed for everything. In the week leading up to the trip, I cleaned, cut, and mixed everything that I could prior to cooking and packaged everything in pre-portioned containers to make things easy on us once we needed them.
Also, because I knew the airstream only had a mini fridge, we made sure to bring a cooler and a big bag of ice that we got from Costco to keep food cool that wouldn’t be able to fit in the fridge. It was a good thing we did because we had way more food than there was fridge space and the ice bag lasted us all weekend.
My AutoCamp Experience
Checking In
Checking into the space is very easy. Ahead of our check-in time I received a text message from AutoCamp that gave me a code to enter the grounds when I arrived. Once inside, we could park anywhere in the parking lot.
We entered the main clubhouse which you can’t miss through these huge doors and the check-in desk was right at the entrance. The woman at the desk checked me in and gave me a little map of the grounds to show me where our airstream was located and also gave us some dining and hiking recommendations. She also let us know what amenities were complimentary that we could check out while we were there.
Amenities
AutoCamp offers quite a few complimentary amenities that I thought really added to the great atmosphere.
Every morning at 8:00AM they have a complimentary outdoor yoga session that’s next door to the clubhouse. I didn’t partake, but I thought that was nice! They also have bicycles that are parked out in the parking lot that guests can use for free as well if they want to ride around the surrounding areas.
Every morning they also have complimentary granola and coffee and tea in the clubhouse as well. I definitely appreciated the complimentary coffee.
On some evenings they live music at the clubhouse as well.
AutoCamp also has a small pool area that’s right next to the clubhouse too, though this one does require payment for entry.
The Clubhouse
The clubhouse is the main building at AutoCamp which is where the check-in desk is. This is also where guests can buy essentials from the little market area inside that has things like toiletries, campfire goods, souvenirs, and snacks and drinks. They also offer a little quick service restaurant area where guests can purchase food like pizzas, sandwiches, and the like.
The check-in desk is open 24 hours a day, but the kitchen and market close at 7:00PM and 10:00PM respectively.
Our Airstream
Through one entrance of the clubhouse is the parking lot and the main entrance. Through the other side of the clubhouse is the grounds where all the airstreams are located along with a nice large patio area with outdoor chairs that’s just a nice area to hang out. There’s a main path that brings you to all of the airstreams, and ours was located fairly deep into it.
To bring all your stuff to your airstream, AutoCamp has these cute red wagons that you can use to transport your items from your car in the parking lot to your suite, since you can’t drive directly onto the grounds. It’s a bit of trek if you have a lot of stuff and your suite is far away, but it’s nice of them to have these!
Room Tour
Once you step into the airstream, you’re in the sitting room/kitchenette area. Here there is a couch that can open up into a bed. To the left of the couch are some cabinets that house the microwave, mini fridge, and some of the cooking utensils. Then there’s also the small sink and additional drawers that have utensils. Above the sink are the bowls, plates, and cups that you can use during your stay.
To the right of this room is the bathroom. The bathroom has a sink, a toilet, and a walk-in shower area. Shampoo, conditioner, and body wash are provided along with two sets of bath towels and a hairdryer, and hand soap and lotion. The sliding door of the bathroom also has a full-length mirror in the bathroom side.
On the other far end of the airstream is the bedroom which has a queen bed and two small bedside table areas that have some room for storage and two side lamps. This room also has a TV in it that you can use to watch TV or cast from your devices.
The airstreams also have bluetooth speakers built into them that are both in the living room area and the bathroom. You can connect your devices to it and play music for a little in-suite ambience. This was a cute little feature, though in practice, because the air conditioning was running literally all day and night, any music played on the speakers are easily drowned out by the A/C. We ended up using our own bluetooth speaker that we brought with us for better sound and because we could move it around as needed.
What’s it like staying in an airstream?
Okay, so was it really as cool and glamorous and it appears? I think not, but it does have its charm.
It’s really not so bad, but let me just lay out the cons or the discomforts first.
Because the airstream is essentially a singular room on wheels, you can feel every movement when someone else is walking or moving around. I would be on one end of the room and my partner would be on the other, and just their movement would make the whole place feel like it was shaking or swaying as if I was on a cruise ship and the waves were crashing about. It’s an odd sensation, and if you’re sensitive to movement, it’s not great. Personally though, once I got used to it, it wasn’t so bad.
Next, the air conditioning is extremely loud. Now, I’ll take loud A/C over dying of heat and sweating any day, so I made my peace with this. However, if you’re a sensitive sleeper, the A/C will most definitely keep you up all night. Our first night was particularly rough because I wasn’t expecting it to be so disruptive. Again, if it’s between that and being extremely uncomfortable in what is essentially a giant tin can, I’ll gladly take the loud sounds.
And finally, and I’m not exactly sure what the cause of this was, there are just so many random clicking and popping sounds coming from the airstream (or at least I think that’s where it comes from?) I also noticed this mostly during the night when I was trying to sleep, but I would just keep hearing random mechanical clicks and pops (that’s the best way I can describe it), so if it wasn’t the A/C, it was those random sounds that would wake me up or keep me up.
Most of these issues might be more sensitive sleepers, so if that’s not you, then this experience might be awesome right off the bat!
Now onto the good stuff!
In general I found that it had just about everything I needed. All I really need are a bed and a bathroom, and I think I’m good! The space is small as expected, so I think it fit me and my partner comfortably enough, though I think the space isn’t big enough for more than 2 adults comfortably (I think they allow you to house up to 3 adults?).
For such a small space they had a decent amount of storage space for us to put our stuff, which I appreciated. And I would say for the most part, I felt really comfortable and settled into the space once I got used to its quirks.
Our Meals
This trip was the very first time I have ever used an outdoor fire pit to cook food, so I was excited!
The AutoCamp website does note that guests should use compressed wood logs or charcoal for fires, so we decided to use the compressed wood logs that they sell at the clubhouse. If you’ve never used those before, I would highly recommend it. The fire from these logs is much cleaner and not ashy like those from charcoal, and it’s way less smoky and smelly. I would also recommend coming prepared with a fan that you can use to maintain the fire.
While we were cooking, I was very glad for all the food prep that I had done prior to us leaving for our trip. Inside the airstream, the counter space is very small and limited, and while you do have the outdoor picnic table to work with, there are lots of huge ants crawling about that I wouldn’t want to attract to any of the food (along with lizards and scary looking beetles). So when it came to the food, since we had everything prepared, it was easy to bring the food out to cook on the skillet or the fire.
Overall it was a pleasant experience, though we did have a few hiccups and stumbles the first time we tried to start our fire. Once you get the hang of it though, it’s a lot more straightforward! When in doubt, look for a YouTube tutorial!
I think it’s also worth noting that the AutoCamp staff can also help you start your fire if you’re struggling or don’t know how to, which I think is really nice!
And if cooking outside on a skillet is not for you, the clubhouse has a kitchen where you can order hot cooked meals as well. Or you can grab some refrigerated foods in their marketplace to warm up in the microwave. And of course, you can always leave the grounds to check out nearby restaurants and establishments. So you have options!
Stargazing
The main reason we booked this trip was to catch some meteors from the Perseids Meteor Shower (even though we were a week late for the peak), so we really wanted to be in a place that was dark enough for that.
Joshua Tree National Park is about a 30-40 minute drive from AutoCamp and it’s open 24 hours a day, so that’s probably the perfect place to go for stargazing away from the light pollution. However, we didn’t really feel like making the drive since we wanted to watch the meteors around 3:00-4:00AM. This proved to be the best time because the weekend we were there, the moon was shining so bright, so our best chance would be after the moon set.
AutoCamp itself has a decent amount of lights that are always on, and it makes sense for safety purposes. But they’re pretty low lights that aren’t too intrusive, so we ended up just watching from right outside our airstream. And because we had the more secluded area, we were far away enough from the lights and other guests that we had some pretty great views of the stars.
Overall Impressions
I would say I actually really loved my trip to AutoCamp. It felt like camping, but with training wheels.
It offered all the things that have kept from giving camping a try and then some. Having a clean private room with a bed and a shower were a must for me, especially because of the heat. But it also gave me some much needed separation from the creatures and bugs that existed outside of the airstream. (I thought June bugs were scary, but the beetles at Joshua Tree are a whole other beast.)
I got to do all the camping things that I actually would want to do and nothing more, like cooking tasty food, having s’mores around a campfire, and watching the stars in a peaceful place.
Plus we got to see some pretty great sunrises and sunsets while we were there
And I got to do all of this with peace of mind that I was in a safe place with trained staff that could help me if something went wrong.
AutoCamp had all the comforts I could ask for while still maintaining a very simple atmosphere, and I had a lot of fun just being there and enjoying my time.
Will I be back? I think so! I might even consider visiting their other locations to see what the other spots have to offer!
Got any additional questions about my experience? Drop a comment below or send me a message and I’ll be more than happy to elaborate!
