Hotel at a Glance: The Curve Palm Springs Hotel

At The Curve Palm Springs Hotel, you only have to walk as far as one of the two outdoor pools to get a postcard-worthy view: both pools are surrounded by cabanas, palm trees, and the silhouette of the San Jacinto Mountains. Borrow a bicycle from the front desk to head out and explore—the shops and restaurants along Palm Canyon Drive are a quick ride away.

• In-room amenities include refrigerators, coffeemakers, flat-screen TVs, and free WiFi; some rooms have balconies.
• Outdoor whirlpool big enough for 10
• Have a cookout: The hotel has an outdoor barbecue area and a fire pit.
• Grab a bite at Bend Café and Bar, which serves breakfast daily. Lunch and dinner times vary per day; contact hotel for availability.
• Activity discounts: Arrange through the hotel, and you can get discounts on celebrity tours, a dinner and a show downtown, hiking trips, and more. Contact the property for more details.
• Join the pool party: Live music from 1 p.m. until 8 p.m. every Saturday including DJs and live bands, with $5 drink specials and no cover for guests.
• LGBT friendly: An LGBT pool party takes place in the main pool from 1 p.m. until 9 p.m. every Friday. These parties feature activities that may not be ideal for children.

Palm Springs, California: SoCal Resort Town with Midcentury Charm

A little more than 100 miles east of Los Angeles lies Palm Springs, an oasis of outdoor recreation and old Hollywood glamour. The desert town was once the stomping ground of Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, and the Rat Pack and still attracts A-list vacationers. 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 within an iconic building—the retro-futuristic Tramway Gas Station designed by Albert Frey. Furniture and clothing boutiques along Palm Canyon Drive, the main drag, embrace Palm Springs’ 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 on 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 it to take a ride on the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, whose tramcars 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 encompasses parts of the Colorado and Mojave Deserts. Take a stroll on 1 of the 12 nature trails for a chance to see native animals, such as desert bighorn sheep, snakes, and black-tailed jackrabbits.

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