By JANELLE BROWN

YOU should have seen this place when we bought it," Rhoni Epstein said, looking across the patio of her 1954-vintage hotel. "There was no roof, just two plywood boards. There was tar on the floors, sand on the deck, a leak in the gas line. We had to rip out the pool and retile it."

These days, though, the Sagewater Spa in the hills of Desert Hot Springs, Calif., – just north of Palm Springs – is a restful modernist haven, all pristine white and cool green. Hidden behind the high walls that screen the seven-room hotel from the outside world, guests soak in the mineral waters of the pools and receive massages in their rooms. BMW's and Mercedeses are parked out front; in the evenings, on the softly lighted patio, guests share the Champagne and foie gras from their minifridges.

Palms Springs is a town with no shortage of hotels; if anything, there is a glut, particularly of the faded-motel and budget-chain varieties. There has long been, however, a lack of any that could remotely be called cool. The town now caters more to AARP members, college students on spring break and vacationing golfers than the youthful hipster crowd that originally put it on the map.

Thanks to midcentury modern revivalism, though, the young and stylish have again started to pay attention to Palm Springs, a town with modernist architectural jewels by the likes of Albert Frey, Richard Neutra and William Cody. Hipster hoteliers, in turn, have begun to snap up run-down mid-century motels that dot the landscape of Palm Springs and Desert Hot Springs, turning them into tiny and secluded getaways for the aesthetically discerning.

These revitalized motels offer a boutique hotel experience unique to Palm Springs: at hideaways like Sagewater Spa, Orbit In, Desert Star, Hope Springs and Miracle Manor, the rooms are few, the personal attention high, and the overall aesthetic as close as you can get to the mid-century desert heyday.

Of course, you will not find Sinatra in the next room, but the furniture, at least, is authentic to the era. At the Orbit In in downtown Palm Springs, for example, each room is named after – and filled with furniture by – a modernist designer. Bertoia's Den is furnished with his famous wire-frame chairs.

The tiny Desert Star, in South Palm Springs, also fills each of its four minimalist studio apartments with Eames side tables and George Nelson bubble lamps and thick white shag rugs.

Its owner, Steve Samiof – who, with his wife, Misako, also runs the spa Hope Springs in Desert Hot Springs – calls his aesthetic "store-front modern," and says it is helping to draw a younger crowd that is changing the face of the town. "I think there's a different clientele coming to the valley," Mr. Samiof said. It used to be golfers, but mostly we get young people who care about design."

The buildings of most of these hotels have barely changed from the day they were built, though most have been carefully restored and appropriately updated (often, as Ms. Epstein will attest, with much agony). The hotels share the same design – U-shaped buildings surrounding a courtyard with a pool, hidden from the street by tall gates.

The buildings may have a few contemporary touches – say, the sunken Jacuzzi with a crystal-filled fire pit at the Orbit In – but if you squint you can imagine the shapely starlets in modest bikinis who might have sunbathed there some 50 years ago. Some, like Desert Star and Hope Springs, have even kept the original street signs out front. Also recalling Palm Spring's past is a sense of privacy and exclusivity.

Hidden from the world outside, these hotels are tiny oases where you cook in your own private kitchen, drink cocktails on the patio and socialize with the select few who are staying with you (at hotels this small, there is no avoiding the other guests).

At the Desert Star, in fact, you need to arrange a check-in time with the Samiofs to make sure they will be there when you show up.

"We really wanted our own particular brand of hospitality," said Ms. Epstein of the Sagewater. "It feels happy here, and there's something really cozy."

Outside the walls of the hotel, of course, Palm Springs is still populated by a largely blue-haired crowd, and ticky-tacky tourist shops abound. As Mr. Samiof puts it, "There is so much hype about Palm Springs but there's not that much reality – just a few good motels." But who needs to go into town when everything you need – refreshing pool, strong cocktail, hot desert sun and attractive young fellow guests – is at your hotel?

BOUTIQUE HOTELS IN DESERT HOT SPRINGS

SAGEWATER SPA 12689 Eliseo Road, Desert Hot Springs, (760) 251-1668
www.sagewaterspa.com. Rooms are $185 to $250.