Hotel at a Glance: Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa

Massive water slides. A 27-hole golf course. A 20,000-square foot spa that offers botanic treatments. Whether you’re traveling with family or visiting for a romantic couple’s getaway, there’s no shortage of things to do at this resort just outside Palm Springs. Kids can splash around in jetting streams of water at Splashtopia, the onsite water playground and pool area (re-opening on 12/18/14). Meanwhile, adults can lay out in a cliffside jacuzzi at the playground, or enjoy some quiet time in the adults-only swimming pool. 

• Awards and accolades: TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence in 2014
• Farm-to-table dining: At the resort’s signature restaurant, bluEmber, you’ll be more than satisfied tasting the chef’s inventive spin on California New American cuisine while dinning on the award-winning patio.
• Replenish your body and soul at the richly appointed Spa Las Palmas. New heights of relaxation will be discovered with our exhilarating treatments that use pure essences of desert botanicals and organic oils.
• Tee off: The resort’s 27-hole golf course sprawls over rolling fairways surrounded by palm trees and mountain views. 
• Pet-friendly guest rooms are outfitted with satellite TVs and high speed Internet access. Dogs 50 lbs. or smaller can tag along (fee applies). 

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 350 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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