The artist who used to run the motel as a labor of love has sold the place to a nice but clueless new owner. She does not appear to know the area very well at all. Frankly, getting owners who know the hidden spots of the area is the main reason I usually like kitschy motels like this. She pretty much steered us in the wrong direction when it came to the entrance to one of the most popular trails in the park - an entrance that was less than 1 mile down the road from the hotel. She was also somewhat unresponsive in my initial attempts to contact her and was completely unavailable in subsequent attempts to extend our stay in advance (she lost probably $140 in extra nights due to that).

Also, in order to gain more revenue from extended stay guests, she is in the process of renovating the hotel. In some ways, this will be very nice. The shower heads will be raised in the bathroom (they currently come to just above my belly button, and I am a 6-foot tall man). For those who want it, there will be a TV. The rooms will be painted and furnished to look more like a normal hotel room.

This is all very nice, but I can't help but think that something will be lost from the days when it was a kitschy hippy hangout where people like U2 would stay for the ambience.

There were some very nice things about the motel:

The outdoor hot tub gives you excellent views of the mountainside.
It is in a relatively prime location.
The price is certainly right (although I suspect it will increase after the renovations).

The negatives, however, push me to not recommend this hotel. In addition to the owner and the overall change in ambience, there were some other issues:

The maid completely missed our room one of the two nights we were there.
More importantly, the traffic noise coming from 29 palms highway was louder than at our home - and we live on a busy street in Chicago!
Overall, I cannot recommend the Harmony Motel. What is bad about the motel looks permanent. What is good about it is either going away or, sadly, already gone.

Our room was very simple, meticulously clean, with tasteful artwork throughout. There were no distractions of phones or TVs, which enables visitors to sit outside by the pool, converse, and enjoy the view. I liked having access to a fridge in the community kitchen. The pool is nice and cool for those hot desert days and has a view of the mountains and city. What a great place to hang with friends or meet new people!