I've wintered in the Palm Springs area for the past 10+ years. I have been to Desert Hot Springs once. It was my first and definitely last visit (so maybe that counts as two trips). In my opinion, the whole city is a slum. The local news basically runs a loop at the beginning of each news cast "Shooting in Desert Hot Springs...". I have no idea what Sams RV Park is like. It could be incredible, but there is no way the neighbor will be. I would no more stay in Desert Hot Springs than I would stay in the Watts neighborhood of LA. Don't care if the best resort in the world was located there and they were giving me the penthouse suite for free. The OP should ask their relatives if they would recommend staying in Desert Hot Springs. Then, at least, they will have given a face to the name that suggested staying there.