PALM DESERT REPORT
May 29th, 2006 | 02:44 PM
#1
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Joined: Apr 2003
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PALM DESERT REPORT
Husband and I returned May 16 from a 17 day driving vacation (husband LOVES to drive as he has a Z06 Corvette - read: pack judiciously). We live in Vancouver, BC and our ultimate destination was Palm Desert where we were to spend one week.
Highlights from the best of our stops on the way down and back and of our Palm Desert accommodations are as follows:
MENDOCINO
We've been through Mendocino several times but never actually "stayed" there. On the way down to Palm Desert I had booked us one night at The Headlands Inn. This was a very nice inn. We got a mid-week rate and the breakfast was delivered to our room and was delicious (stuffed french toast). The weather had recently changed thankfully (from rainy and bad to beautiful sunshine). When I got up in the morning it was so, so pleasant to walk around the property and just stroll the street ... as it was spring the flowers are very abundant. Breakfast wasn't served until 9:00 a.m. which was kind of late for us but it was worth it. We got on the road again by approx. 10:30 headed for Carmel.
CARMEL
We have stayed here many times. This time I booked us in to Casa de Carmel. I made sure we got a top floor, end unit (this has become a bit of a "thing" with me ... it can truly almost ruin my vacation to have other peoples "noise" overhead or right next door ... I know, pick, pick). The room was nice and the bed comfortable (king size). There was no breakfast served (I hope I didn't miss it) but that was fine because we got on the road early. We did have dinner at Il Fornaio which was very mediocre. I have eaten at Il Fornaios in Beverly Hills and Las Vegas and both were so much better than this one. We should have eaten at Little Napoli where we've always had very good meals.
PASO ROBLES
I had booked us two nights at The Hampton Inn and Suites for a good mid week rate of $119. We had done the wineries in Paso before but enjoyed them so much we wanted to do them again. The Hampton Inn was very nice and everything I expected. They have their breakfast in the main lobby downstairs just like Holiday Inn Express, etc. Totally acceptable and handy. Some of the wineries we visted were: Turley (our second visit ... now I have two of their nice Reidel glasses), Justin (not a nice glass) but a beautiful place, Tablas Creek, Wild Coyote (interesting looking B&B), Mastantuono (tasted a nice raspberry sparkling wine), Opolo, Norman. Had dinner at McPhee's one night and everything we had was very good. The restaurant seemed to be very popular.
BEVERLY HILLS
I booked us one night at The Beverly Hilton. The room was very nice and we had a pool view. The 42 inch plasma wasn't all I thought it would be ... maybe I expected too much (besides I don't think I really even watched it but for CNN for a few minutes). We had lunch at their restaurant upstairs upon our arrival because I was starving. Very old schoolish and virtually no one there. A couple of older women were quite a distance from our table but we were "entertained" by their loud arguing for the length of our lunch.
We had dinner at "Lola's". It was pretty funky but my meal was very good (spaghetti with meat sauce) and my husband's halibut was apparently outstanding. I had a pomegranite martini which was kind of disappointing. The service was very laid back but good. We took a cab to and from the restaurant ... somehow it was $15 to get there but $25 to get back. Hmmm???
PALM DESERT
Now this is where the relaxing started. We had a two bedroom two bath condo at the Marriott Desert Springs Villas II. Again, I asked for and received a top floor, end unit. We had a golf course view and it was so, so pleasant. As it was spring there were baby ducks and geese wack, wack, wacking about. The weather was fabulous. The first 4 days high 90's and the last 3 days it was in the 100's. I can't say enough about our unit and its situation. The view was so relaxing and it was so "quiet" at night. The main pool area had a kids pool plus what seemed to be an adults only. Don't know whether I enjoyed laying by the pool or laying on our deck more.
We ate one night at Ruth's Chris steakhouse. I have never eaten at one of these restaurants. I have been missing out on some delish steak. I had the petit filet and my god, if it had kept regenerating on my plate I would have just kept eating ... it was so flavourful and tender. The place was jammed (our reservation was for 8:45 and we had to do the obligatory time in the bar first).
We made two dining errors ... one night to Babe's at The River in Rancho Mirage and another night at the Elephant Bar (bleecch).
Had lunch twice at the Tommy Bahama cafe at the Il Paseo shopping area. The food was good but expensive. We ate on the deck both times and it was very pleasant.
Had a dinner at Las Casuelas Nuevo (sp??). I wasn't too impressed. Service was very friendly but the food was uninspired.
Went over to the JW Marriott and had a look around ... it was pretty from a distance but up close ... peh. And with my issues with noise ... I never would have made it over there.
We went to the Living Desert which we thought was very well done. Enjoyed feeding a giraffe his morning treat.
Didn't go up the tramway. I was too scared. Went up to where you take it from and looked around but stopped there.
Went to The Desert Hills outlets ... again ... peh.
Left very reluctantly to try to make it home in 4 days.
CAMBRIA
Stayed at Moonstone Landing. Have stayed here before and it was still a nice spot. Had lunch at Robin's and it was so good we went back for dinner which wasn't. Too bad.
MENDOCINO
Here we are again. This time we took our chances and did a "walk in" at The Whitegate Inn. We ended up staying two nights here. It was really, really great. The house is chock full of Victorian stuff and our bedroom was quite "fussy" but the bed was very comfortable (feather bed). The breakfasts in the dining room in the morning were first class. We had french toast stuffed with apples and a side of chicken chorizo sausage and fresh squeezed orange juice. The second morning it was a frittata of tomato, black olive and feta with a starter of a half pear that had soaked over night in orange juice and was then baked in the oven and served sitting in a brown sugar sauce ... god it was good.
We ate at Cafe Beaujolais and at 955 Ukiah. Both were good but I preferred the food at 955 Ukiah.
They set out wine and appies every afternoon at the inn and then when you come back in the evening there is sherry, homemade chocolate chip cookies and mints. We stood in the hallway with another couple for an hour and had a very pleasant time (made quite a dent in the sherry bottle).
We did a few wineries in the Anderson Valley. I love gwertztraminer and bought this wine from the Navarro winery and from the Lazy Creek winery. The Navarro winery was absolutely beautiful ... they had a huge arrangement of fresh old fashioned roses in the BATHROOM for heaven's sake ... they smelled heavenly. I highly recommend visiting this winery. I also bought a bottle of their gwertztraminer grape juice to serve mixed with Pellegrino and a lime juice ... I haven't done it yet but intend to soon.
We tried to make it to Portland, Oregon from Mendocino but as we didn't leave until after our delicious breakfast (served at 9:00) we only made it to Salem. Then it was all the way home to Vancouver from Salem.
I can almost stand up straight now after all that time in the car ... but as always, I forget about all the driving after a while and want to do it again.
I enjoyed Palm Desert so much I would actually consider buying a timeshare there. We stayed in someone else's timeshare that they couldn't use.
Highlights from the best of our stops on the way down and back and of our Palm Desert accommodations are as follows:
MENDOCINO
We've been through Mendocino several times but never actually "stayed" there. On the way down to Palm Desert I had booked us one night at The Headlands Inn. This was a very nice inn. We got a mid-week rate and the breakfast was delivered to our room and was delicious (stuffed french toast). The weather had recently changed thankfully (from rainy and bad to beautiful sunshine). When I got up in the morning it was so, so pleasant to walk around the property and just stroll the street ... as it was spring the flowers are very abundant. Breakfast wasn't served until 9:00 a.m. which was kind of late for us but it was worth it. We got on the road again by approx. 10:30 headed for Carmel.
CARMEL
We have stayed here many times. This time I booked us in to Casa de Carmel. I made sure we got a top floor, end unit (this has become a bit of a "thing" with me ... it can truly almost ruin my vacation to have other peoples "noise" overhead or right next door ... I know, pick, pick). The room was nice and the bed comfortable (king size). There was no breakfast served (I hope I didn't miss it) but that was fine because we got on the road early. We did have dinner at Il Fornaio which was very mediocre. I have eaten at Il Fornaios in Beverly Hills and Las Vegas and both were so much better than this one. We should have eaten at Little Napoli where we've always had very good meals.
PASO ROBLES
I had booked us two nights at The Hampton Inn and Suites for a good mid week rate of $119. We had done the wineries in Paso before but enjoyed them so much we wanted to do them again. The Hampton Inn was very nice and everything I expected. They have their breakfast in the main lobby downstairs just like Holiday Inn Express, etc. Totally acceptable and handy. Some of the wineries we visted were: Turley (our second visit ... now I have two of their nice Reidel glasses), Justin (not a nice glass) but a beautiful place, Tablas Creek, Wild Coyote (interesting looking B&B), Mastantuono (tasted a nice raspberry sparkling wine), Opolo, Norman. Had dinner at McPhee's one night and everything we had was very good. The restaurant seemed to be very popular.
BEVERLY HILLS
I booked us one night at The Beverly Hilton. The room was very nice and we had a pool view. The 42 inch plasma wasn't all I thought it would be ... maybe I expected too much (besides I don't think I really even watched it but for CNN for a few minutes). We had lunch at their restaurant upstairs upon our arrival because I was starving. Very old schoolish and virtually no one there. A couple of older women were quite a distance from our table but we were "entertained" by their loud arguing for the length of our lunch.
We had dinner at "Lola's". It was pretty funky but my meal was very good (spaghetti with meat sauce) and my husband's halibut was apparently outstanding. I had a pomegranite martini which was kind of disappointing. The service was very laid back but good. We took a cab to and from the restaurant ... somehow it was $15 to get there but $25 to get back. Hmmm???
PALM DESERT
Now this is where the relaxing started. We had a two bedroom two bath condo at the Marriott Desert Springs Villas II. Again, I asked for and received a top floor, end unit. We had a golf course view and it was so, so pleasant. As it was spring there were baby ducks and geese wack, wack, wacking about. The weather was fabulous. The first 4 days high 90's and the last 3 days it was in the 100's. I can't say enough about our unit and its situation. The view was so relaxing and it was so "quiet" at night. The main pool area had a kids pool plus what seemed to be an adults only. Don't know whether I enjoyed laying by the pool or laying on our deck more.
We ate one night at Ruth's Chris steakhouse. I have never eaten at one of these restaurants. I have been missing out on some delish steak. I had the petit filet and my god, if it had kept regenerating on my plate I would have just kept eating ... it was so flavourful and tender. The place was jammed (our reservation was for 8:45 and we had to do the obligatory time in the bar first).
We made two dining errors ... one night to Babe's at The River in Rancho Mirage and another night at the Elephant Bar (bleecch).
Had lunch twice at the Tommy Bahama cafe at the Il Paseo shopping area. The food was good but expensive. We ate on the deck both times and it was very pleasant.
Had a dinner at Las Casuelas Nuevo (sp??). I wasn't too impressed. Service was very friendly but the food was uninspired.
Went over to the JW Marriott and had a look around ... it was pretty from a distance but up close ... peh. And with my issues with noise ... I never would have made it over there.
We went to the Living Desert which we thought was very well done. Enjoyed feeding a giraffe his morning treat.
Didn't go up the tramway. I was too scared. Went up to where you take it from and looked around but stopped there.
Went to The Desert Hills outlets ... again ... peh.
Left very reluctantly to try to make it home in 4 days.
CAMBRIA
Stayed at Moonstone Landing. Have stayed here before and it was still a nice spot. Had lunch at Robin's and it was so good we went back for dinner which wasn't. Too bad.
MENDOCINO
Here we are again. This time we took our chances and did a "walk in" at The Whitegate Inn. We ended up staying two nights here. It was really, really great. The house is chock full of Victorian stuff and our bedroom was quite "fussy" but the bed was very comfortable (feather bed). The breakfasts in the dining room in the morning were first class. We had french toast stuffed with apples and a side of chicken chorizo sausage and fresh squeezed orange juice. The second morning it was a frittata of tomato, black olive and feta with a starter of a half pear that had soaked over night in orange juice and was then baked in the oven and served sitting in a brown sugar sauce ... god it was good.
We ate at Cafe Beaujolais and at 955 Ukiah. Both were good but I preferred the food at 955 Ukiah.
They set out wine and appies every afternoon at the inn and then when you come back in the evening there is sherry, homemade chocolate chip cookies and mints. We stood in the hallway with another couple for an hour and had a very pleasant time (made quite a dent in the sherry bottle).
We did a few wineries in the Anderson Valley. I love gwertztraminer and bought this wine from the Navarro winery and from the Lazy Creek winery. The Navarro winery was absolutely beautiful ... they had a huge arrangement of fresh old fashioned roses in the BATHROOM for heaven's sake ... they smelled heavenly. I highly recommend visiting this winery. I also bought a bottle of their gwertztraminer grape juice to serve mixed with Pellegrino and a lime juice ... I haven't done it yet but intend to soon.
We tried to make it to Portland, Oregon from Mendocino but as we didn't leave until after our delicious breakfast (served at 9:00) we only made it to Salem. Then it was all the way home to Vancouver from Salem.
I can almost stand up straight now after all that time in the car ... but as always, I forget about all the driving after a while and want to do it again.
I enjoyed Palm Desert so much I would actually consider buying a timeshare there. We stayed in someone else's timeshare that they couldn't use.
Jan 24th, 2007 | 08:57 AM
#4
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
Thanks so much for being "picky" about noise - I'm staying at the Whitegate for a special (20th!) anniversary sight unseen and I'm also picky about "neighbor noise."
The fact that someone else picky liked the Whitegate lets me relax about having made the reservation.
The fact that someone else picky liked the Whitegate lets me relax about having made the reservation.
Jan 24th, 2007 | 01:54 PM
#5
Original Poster
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 263
Likes: 0
jetteswan:
I think you will be fine at The Whitegate Inn regarding noise. The room we had was on the ground floor and I never heard anything from above (maybe there was no one up there). The only noise I think would have been from me the night we came home from dinner and nearly finished off the sherry bottle and plate of cookies standing in the hallway gabbing with another couple who also had just arrived back at the inn.
I would stay there again no problem based on my first visit.
I think you will be fine at The Whitegate Inn regarding noise. The room we had was on the ground floor and I never heard anything from above (maybe there was no one up there). The only noise I think would have been from me the night we came home from dinner and nearly finished off the sherry bottle and plate of cookies standing in the hallway gabbing with another couple who also had just arrived back at the inn.
I would stay there again no problem based on my first visit.
