Mountainside Hacienda-Style Lodgings in Private Desert Oasis

At the dawn of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, and other big-screen legends often escaped from the limelight of stardom by retreating to the lush hideaway of La Quinta Resort & Club. These early beginnings entertaining Tinseltown’s elite proved to be formative years for the desert oasis, and today many of the 41 shimmering pools scattered across the property are named after the starlets that once swam in them. The modern resort dazzles travelers with shopping, numerous restaurants, and championship golf courses, but just as in days past, visitors can expect to find quiet seclusion among the palm and citrus trees of the resort’s expansive grounds, which are nestled near the foot of the Santa Rosa Mountains.

After check in, visitors meander across manicured lawns and gardens that stretch between hacienda-style casitas resembling the resort’s original adobe structures, with sloping red-tiled roofs hanging over whitewashed walls. Inside the Deluxe Casitas, a decorative ristra greets guests as warmly as a fireplace, and roughly 460 square feet of space provides the road-weary plenty of room to stretch out. Each room has access to one of the resort’s many small pools, and most casitas open through charming french doors onto a private patio or veranda, where the aromas of surrounding blossoms complement romantic evenings under a canopy of stars.

A vibrant garden of bougainvillea surrounds the Mission-style complex of Spa La Quinta—crowned one of the Top 50 Spas of America. Here, two wall fountains frame a 200-gallon saltwater aquarium in the lobby, creating an aura of tranquility that continues throughout treatments as therapists use organic products during soothing facials and massages. Steps from the spa, competitors volley tennis balls on several courts flanking the resort’s fitness center. Elsewhere, water flows over an artificial waterfall as shoppers amble through the resort’s flowery Plaza, where Polo Ralph Lauren and other clothing stores nestle next to gift boutiques such as the vintage-inspired candy shop Lollipops.

Designed by Pete Dye, the two championship golf courses on the La Quinta grounds—which are augmented by the three courses of the nearby PGA West club, including the TPC Stadium course, ranked as one of Golf Digest’s 100 greatest public courses—give golfers ample opportunity for heart-to-heart conversations with their pitching wedges. Players can stroll across the Scottish-links-style fairways of the Dune course or aim around rock formations while teeing off from lofty heights on the Mountain course, which was named one of Golf magazine’s Top 100 Courses and challenges golfers with tricky island greens and sinister 19-foot-deep bunkers.

When it’s time to refuel, shoppers, spa-goers, golfers, and all other resort guests can convene at La Quinta’s six restaurants. Twenty6 constructs bistro favorites using classic approaches and local ingredients, and Morgan’s in the Desert dishes out sophisticated plates of seafood, steak, pasta, and other elegant edibles. Noshers lounge in Mission-style chairs before a feast of regional Mexican cuisine at Adobe Grill, where authentic south-of-the-border touches among the elaborate ironwork and traditional art pieces complement the work of the master tequilero creating signature margaritas using more than 50 handcrafted tequilas.

La Quinta, California: Fine Art in the Shadow of Majestic Mountainsides

Hiking through La Quinta reveals the desert city’s commitment to art and culture, and through the local Art in Public Places program, a variety of sculptures, murals, and paintings have been installed around many parks and walkways. The Civic Center Campus in particular beckons to nature and art lovers with a geyser shooting up from a placid lake and well-crafted art pieces decorating the trails. Viewers can peer down at Native American–themed mosaics and encircle the Spirit of La Quinta sculpture, an installation of five bronze figures holding hands inside of a fountain.

La Quinta’s proximity to Palm Springs also makes it a gateway to the active pursuits, thriving nightlife, and fine dining found there. In addition to the town’s famous manmade attractions, it offers a plethora of natural diversions, including picturesque desert hikes, stunning canyons, and massive enclaves of flora and fauna.