Hotel at a Glance: Desert Vacation Villas
Though the condos at Desert Vacation Villas have amenities—including full kitchens—guests aren’t likely to spend much time indoors. The foothills of the San Jacinto Mountains make the perfect setting for outdoor activities. You might play ping pong right outside your condo or pedal to a nearby golf course on one of the resort’s free-to-use bicycles.
- In-room amenities: Two bathrooms, two bedrooms, and a private patio or balcony
- Go swimming in the heated outdoor pool, then relax in the outdoor hot tub.
- Walking distance to nearby restaurants such as Rick’s Desert Grill
- Watch a movie from the resort’s DVD lending library.
- Dine outside using poolside barbecue pits.
- Take a short drive to tennis courts, canyon hiking trails, or casinos.
Palm Springs, California: SoCal Resort Town with Midcentury Charm
Palm Springs is an oasis of outdoor recreation and old Hollywood glamour located about 100 miles from Los Angeles. Once the stomping grounds of Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, and the Rat Pack, the town still attracts A-list vacationers today. A stroll through the Movie Colony—which had its heyday between the 1930s and 1960s—will take you past the former homes of Dean Martin, Bob Hope, and Marilyn Monroe.
Palm Springs is also the birthplace of desert modernism, a Bauhaus-influenced architecture movement. You can explore the area’s famed midcentury-modern landmarks on a self-guided tour; grab a map at the Palm Springs Official Visitors Center, itself housed in an iconic building—a retro-futuristic Tramway Gas Station designed by Albert Frey. Furniture and clothing boutiques along Palm Canyon Drive embrace Palm Springs’s trademark aesthetic—what you might call Mad Men West. Nearby, the small but impressively curated Palm Springs Art Museum features works by Pablo Picasso and Robert Rauschenberg along with significant contemporary and Native American collections.
The sun shines more than 300 days a year in Palm Springs, which means you can play a round of golf or hike in the nearby Agua Caliente Indian Canyons no matter the season. It’s worth taking a ride on the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, whose cars rotate 360 degrees as they carry passengers to Mount San Jacinto’s Mountain Station, located 8,516 feet above sea level. About 40 miles northeast is the nearly 800,000-acre Joshua Tree National Park, which spans parts of the Colorado and Mojave Deserts. Hit one of the 12 nature trails for a chance to see desert bighorn sheep, snakes, and black-tailed jackrabbits.
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