NO FRILLS - JUST A ROOM.

Byline: Eric Noland Travel Editor

TWENTYNINE PALMS - The adobe bungalows are painted in startling pastels: lavender, pink, orange sherbet, mint green, fuchsia. They have names instead of numbers, and oddball ones at that: Ghost Flower, Cinch Weed, Fiddle Neck, Hedge Nettle.

Clearly, the 29 Palms Inn, on the northern edge of Joshua Tree National Park, doesn't get bogged down in pretension. But such is the general sensibility of Twentynine Palms and its desert community neighbors.

The people who wandered through this part of the Mojave Desert in the early part of the 20th century were eccentric souls simply for choosing to live here rather than press on to California's more lush coastal valleys. Today, the lack of convention endures in its mishmash of residents: desert rats, artists, Marines, retirees, laborers.

At the Finicky Coyote, a coffee shop and deli in Twentynine Palms, it's not unusual to see six or seven men crowded around a table set for four, as they pass the morning drinking coffee and discussing the day's news. Diners at other tables are freely drawn into the exchange.

Across the street at the Desert Ranch Market, you might do a double take when the 19-year-old next to you stands up straight and addresses the cashier, ``Sir, may I borrow your pen?'' - ah, of course, lessons learned at the nearby Marine Corps Training Center.

And down the road at Jeremy's Beatnik Cafe in Joshua Tree, the menu includes soups, baked apples, ice cream, tea and about 100 varieties of beer. When you inquire about the accordion-flavored folk music playing on the stereo, the counter man brightly informs you that it is Rico Bell & the Snake Charmers - they'll be performing here in a couple of weeks.

The 29 Palms Inn coincides smoothly with this. It certainly has plenty of practice in that regard, having been established in 1928 at the east end of the Oasis of Mara and operated by the same family ever since.

If you elect to stay here on a visit to Joshua Tree National Park, the word ``amenity'' is not likely to cross your lips. The accommodations are spare. The driveways on the grounds aren't even paved. But it doesn't take long to settle into the simple comforts of the place.

We opted for one of the inn's eight adobe bungalows, which have fireplaces, private sun patios and are reasonably priced: $85 for winter and spring weeknights, $115 on Fridays, Saturdays and holidays.

Although these units were all built in the 1930s, ours was found to be rustic without feeling tired or seedy. It was sparkling clean and appeared to have been freshly painted. And it had a lot of nice touches: dark-red Mexican floor tiles, high ceilings, Arts and Crafts furniture, a comfortable queen bed, rag rugs here and there, and an ancient Coleman heater that chugged away throughout the night, gamely holding back the high-desert chill.

Once it sprang to life, the wood-burning fireplace brightened up a couple of rainy, late-February evenings, and provided a delightful reading spot.

The 29 Palms Inn has a hot tub, housed in a Japanese pagoda (hey, if thematic consistency is important, you might want to try the Motel 6 down the road). It's a welcome feature after a day of hiking or climbing about on rocks in the park.

The dining room is widely considered to serve the finest dinner in the area, which isn't saying much. Ours was found to be pretty ordinary, but maybe it should be a general rule not to order salmon this far inland (a broiled filet tasted as if it had swum all the way from San Pedro). If you stick to the basics, you can't go wrong: chicken breasts cooked with artichoke hearts, twice-baked potatoes, fresh vegetables from the inn's enormous garden, and some terrific home-baked sourdough bread.

Another highlight is the inn's box lunches, which are prepared in time to accompany an excursion into the park if you notify the staff the previous night. This is a lunch like Mom used to fix: hearty sandwiches, homemade potato salad, fruit, fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies.

It's at night that the inn reveals its best attributes. It is a considerable distance from the main highway, such that your night's slumber is not disrupted by road noise. The grounds are dimly lit, deferring to the ocean of stars overhead. The view of the desert mountains to the south is soothing. The air is clear and still.

Hmm, maybe those early settlers knew what they were doing after all.

--Brochure rates for the 29 Palms Inn's 20 rooms range from $70 to $240 on winter and spring weeknights, from $95 to $285 on winter weekends and holidays. In summer (June 15 to Sept. 15), the same ranges are $50-$210 and $65-$255. Information: [phone]; www.29palmsinn.com.

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The names of the rooms at the 29 Palms Inn are as quirky as the inn itself, which dates back to 1928.

Eric Noland/Travel Editor