May 07, 2023
Palm Springs Vacation for Elizabeth's Spring Break!
One of the perks of living at home still and working full time as an influencer is I can join in on any and all travel plans with my family! Elizabeth chose to have spring break with our family because my Mom was planning a Palm Springs vacation. Elizabeth and I have been to various parts of California before, but never Palm Springs and it was a great get-away with good combination of relaxing and sight-seeing.
We stayed at The Parker Palm Springs, a gorgeous boutique hotel with an interesting history. In 1959, the first Holiday Inn in California was built on the property. Gene Autry, a movie star and singer, owned the California Angels baseball team and purchased the property in 1961 to house the team during spring training. Gene lived on the property even after he sold the property in 1994. The Autry's home still stands and reservations can be made to stay there.
Merv Griffin, a famous talk show host, purchased the property in 1998 and it was named Givenchy Hotel and Spa. The resort became a popular spot for celebrities to visit. It changed hands again and then in 2003, hotelier Jack Parker purchased the resort and hired Jonathan Adler, a designer, to redo the resort. Jonathan completed a second interior redesign in 2017.
My parents stayed in one of the twelve villas which featured an outdoor patio, a bedroom/bath, large living room and a kitchen. Elizabeth and I shared a spacious room in a building on the property. The deco is fantastic and a treat to experience.
Though the property is not very large, the creative use of hedges and landscaping turned the space into many paths with twists and turns that lead you to a number of fun spaces. There is a bonfire every night with s'mores delivered on request. When you turn off the main path, you are suddenly on a beautiful croquet lawn with equipment beautifully displayed, a little lawn seating area with an umbrella for catching some shade after a game of croquet.
There is another shaded space with little bistro tables and a couple of Pétanque courts set up. Pétanque is a french game and you throw heavy balls attempting to knock your opponents ball out of the way.
With each twist and turn, you come upon so many charming spaces. There are little hidden seating areas with fountains, a large Jonathan Adler gold banana sculpture and two beautiful outdoor pools. Each outdoor pool has a unique vibe. One is surrounded by poolside rooms with adorable patios. There are blue and white canvas cabanas and umbrellas and even a little spot for two to dine outside!
The second outdoor pool is adults only. It has music playing a couple pagodas with seating areas if you want to order lunch by the pool. The service is great with wait staff circling and asking if you need food or drinks.
There is an oversize chess board and a ping pong table near the most adorable outdoor Lemonade Stand. You can eat at the bar on striped bar stools or sit at one of the tables. The lemonade drink menu is fantastic with creative alcohol and non-alcohol choices. My favorite was a non-alcohol mint lemonade drink.
The main building has a fun gathering space with intimate seating areas and a beautiful fire. We ended up eating dinner there a couple of nights because we liked the ambience and the small plates of food.
There is a miniature bar near the entrance to the hotel. It is meant to resemble a jewelry box and that it does. There are just eight barstools and it was fun to order a drink and sit in the lobby and people watch. We ate breakfast at Norma's each morning and dinner there a couple of times.
Another little gem of a spot, was a little bar called Counter Reformation. We popped in there and had a cocktail one of the evenings before dinner at Parkers. The dinner at Parkers was not our favorite, but the ambience was fun to see. The room is extremely dark and upon entering we each received a little pen light in order to read the menu.
The most surprising spot for us, was the spa and indoor pool creatively titled the Palm Springs Yacht Club. Everything is in white and blue. There is a large sign hanging on the wall with the Parker Manifesto, which is really cleverly written.
Each time we entered the spa, the people working greeted us by saying, "Welcome Aboard!" The indoor pool was lovely with an outdoor seating space, darling indoor seating areas and blue and white striped lounge chairs. We enjoyed wonderful spa treatments during our vacation!
While we spent most of the week talking, relaxing and reading, we did venture out for some fun activities. The first night we attended the BNP Paribas Tennis Open in Indian Wells. We had fantastic box seats and were able to enjoy the men's finals tournament. The tennis tournament is a two week long event every March. It was an entertaining way to kick off our vacation.
We also thoroughly enjoyed driving around and exploring the mid-century modern architecture in Palm Springs. Equipped with a list of addresses, we spent an afternoon tooling around the downtown and looking at beautiful homes and buildings.
A must see if the Kaufmann Desert House. It is located at 470 West Vista Chino. The home was commissioned in 1946 by Mr. Kaufmann, the same man who commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to building Fallingwater house in Pennsylvania. The Kaufmann Desert House was the spot of photographer, Slim Aaron's famous 1970 photo titled, Pool Gossip. More recently is was in the opening of the movie, Don't Worry Darling.
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We made a point to drive by the Palm Springs City Hall located at 3200 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way and the Palm Springs Visitor Center on 2901 North Palm Canyon Drive for a taste of the mid-century modern architecture.
If you have time, Palm Springs has the largest concentration of mid-century modern homes. There is a neighborhood with many beautiful white homes with different brightly painted doors. The white homes are so interesting to see with the beautiful mountains and palm trees behind them.
The houses on Camino, Alhambra, Yosemite, Alto Circle, Toro Circle, Flor Circle and Azul Circle are a treat to see. We enjoyed driving around the neighborhoods and appreciated the modern designs. 1100 East Sierra Way has pretty and well known pink door.
One afternoon we drove about an hour to the Mission Inn Hotel & Spa in Riverside, California to meet my parents' friends for lunch. The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa started as an adobe boarding house in 1876 and became a full service hotel in 1900. Over the years, the hotel has hosted many U.S. Presidents and celebrities and it was a mid-way meeting point for our friends to meet for lunch.
On the way home, we stopped at the Desert Hills Premium Outlets and did a little shopping followed by an In-N-Out Burger stop!
The final stop before heading home was the Palm Springs International airport. The airport is a fantastic example of mid-century modern architecture and design. We had such a great vacation together in a fun new spot!