Travel Diary: Palm Springs — Love, Robin Young

The Gene Autry Pool at the Parker Palm Springs

So….at the beginning of this summer, I had zero travel plans. If you know me, you know this is highly unusual and that I am probably nearing a full-on panic attack because I-always-have-a-trip-lined-up-and-if-I-don’t,- my-life-may-be-over! Just kidding; no really….

Where to go? I knew I needed a change of scenery and I was overdue for a mother-daughter trip with my 25-year-old daughter, Natalie. We’d spent the last 6 months renovating our house, so I needed to consider the cost of the trip, as well. Napa? Los Angeles? Santa Barbara? I was researching these destinations when I remembered a blog post I saw a few years ago featuring The Parker Hotel in Palm Springs and I knew one day I had to visit!. I had been to LA, Santa Barbara and Napa, but I had never been to Palm Springs. A quick Google search of the Parker Hotel was all it took for me to make the decision. My daughter and I would go to Palm Springs.

(Side note: It turns out that no one wants to go to the desert in the middle of summer (duh!), so the airline and hotel prices were very reasonable for our late July trip.)

Norma’s Terrace at The Parker Palm Springs

I’ve posted the highlights of our trip to Palm Springs, if you’d like to see…

Friday-

We arrive at The Parker, get an early check-in and head straight to Norma’s for lunch. Natalie orders the shrimp quesadillas and I order the beef fajitas - we are from Texas, after all. The servings are huge and delicious, but our waiter forewarned us! We top it off with a glass of Whispering Angel Rosé…vacation has officially begun!

This is exactly what our room looked like! Dreamy…

We get settled into our cute, Jonathan Adler-designed room. The room felt more like a cool LA bedroom than a hotel room! We decide it’s too hot to go to the pool just yet (it’s already 110 degrees) so we took an Uber to a few shops I’d put onto my radar.

After walking around in the heat, we were thirsty. This called for a stop at the Parker’s Lemonade Stand for an ice cold cocktail!

My daughter, Natalie, living her BEST life with a Champagne Lemondrop.

We chose from several lemony-themed beverages: Muddled Lemon, Main Squeeze, Champagne Lemondrop, Parker Colada or Shanty (beer and lemon juice, anyone?). Yes, please!

It was too hot for a game of Pétanque, which was near the Lemonade Stand. It’s basically the same as Bocce Ball, but it sounds so mysterious and French, doesn’t it? It was also too hot for croquet, table tennis and yoga. Instead, we tried out the hammocks surrounded by stately palm trees in the Palm Court…

For dinner that evening, we hit up a local Mexican food restaurant that is family-owned, Las Casuelas Terraza.

Saturday-

Ya’ll. The Parker may be one of my favorite hotels, ever. After a good night’s sleep, we were back at Norma’s for breakfast. So. Good. The service at this hotel was spotless for our entire trip. Today, our goal was a “pool day” and we achieved all of our goals!

This pool is where we spent most of our time in sunny Palm Springs. The other pool is the Gene Autry pool, but it was closed for renovations. When you are surrounded by beautiful desert mountains, palm trees, and bright pink bougainvillea everywhere, you pretty much think you’re in heaven. Add a sparkling turquoise pool, lemons (they are the official Parker Palm Springs mascot), and a great poolside book, you just might be!

Natalie enjoying the cabana at the Silicon Valley pool.

We met the nicest people from all over the world and had the most relaxing day. The staff at the Parker pampered us!

Before heading to dinner, we heard there was a “secret” wine bar at the Parker. How intriguing. To find it, you had to look to the right of Norma’s restaurant and there was a little obscure doorway that opened up into a small dark wine bar, Counter Reformation. They served wonderful wines, champagne and tapas-type nibbles. It reminded me of a small Parisian wine bar. So cool!

We had dinner reservations at Birba, an Italian restaurant that specializes in cool interpretations of Italian specialties and wood-fired pizza. The setting is an outdoor garden patio with banquettes, misters and craft cocktails. The food here is delicious! Birba is a sibling of the local favorite for breakfast and lunch, Cheeky’s. I had really hoped to visit Cheeky’s for their famous bacon flight (yes-a bacon flight!), but Norma’s won us over. Next time, Cheeky’s!

Sunday-

Today was another “pool day”, but first we had a delicious breakfast at Norma’s and then we stopped off at the hotel’s spa, the Palm Springs Yacht Club. My daughter, Natalie, had a massage appointment booked, so we shopped around in this adorable spa. It’s one of the coolest spas I’ve see; think nautical theme x Jonathan Adler (he really designed the entire Parker Hotel!). Here’s a peek:

After the spa and spending most of the day at the pool, Natalie and I decided it would be fun to visit the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway! Honestly, we wanted to get out of the 115 degree desert heat and see some amazing views of the valley. It was so worth it! The tram takes you 8,516 feet up from the Coachella Valley floor to the San Jacinto Peak in about 10 minutes! And guys….it was 76 degrees up there when we went. Ahhh! It is the world’s largest rotating aerial tramway - who knew? The views were spectacular from up there - wow. At the top there are restaurants, a museum and hiking trails. I’m adding those hiking trails to my bucket list!

We were really excited about our dinner plans for our last night in Palm Springs. We made reservations at Mr. Parker’s, the Parker’s main dinner restaurant. We had peeked into it earlier (they kind of keep it hidden during the day) and it just looked so COOL. Dark and mysterious with decadent art throughout, we knew we had to go. We had befriended other guests at the pool that are regulars at the Parker (lucky!) and they told us Mr. Parker’s was one of the best places to visit for dinner in Palm Springs. Why leave the hotel? It did not disappoint! The atmosphere, service, wine selection and food was worthy of a truly memorable meal in one of our new favorite places.

Oh, Parker Palm Springs….you are full of surprises! We found out earlier in the day that you can request a s’mores kit at the front desk and make s’mores out by the fire pit! Well, guess what we did? It was 98 degrees at 9 pm by that fire pit, but we couldn’t pass up the experience. This was the perfect way to end a perfect trip. We might have even had small talk with a television star by that fire pit…not for long, though. None of us stayed out there more that 15 minutes.

Monday-

Today was a sad day because we had to leave, but we got to have another breakfast at Norma’s, swing by the spa for some last minute shopping and get in some last-minute pool time. Until next time!

Honorable Mentions-

I had done so much research for this trip, and truth be told, there are so many amazing places to stay, eat and visit in Palm Springs that I wanted to share some places that I did not get to experience, that I feel are worthy of visiting next time!

Restaurants:

Workshop Kitchen + Bar, Mr. Lyons (highly recommended by fellow guests), Cheeky’s, Rooster and the Pig (recommended by several locals!), Sherman’s Deli and Bakery, Wexler’s Deli, Purple Palm Restaurant

Things to do:

Palm Springs Architecture Tour (check out PS Mod Squad, PS Architecture Tours, and The Modern Tour (or grab a map at the Palm Springs Visitor’s Center and do your own tour!), Palm Springs Art Museum, Sunnylands Center and Gardens

Stay:

Ritz-Carlton Rancho Mirage, Ace Hotel and Swim Club, Colony Palms Hotel, Sands Hotel and Spa, L’Horizon Resort and Spa