Hello-we are a family of three, with a twelve year old going on nineteen. We live in Connecticut and have traveled extensively in the Caribbean in the winter season. Would love feedback on vacationing in Palm Springs or that general area in March. In terms of our interests: love tennis, food, etc and the twelve year old needs action. We are used to Caribbean prices so this would not need to be a budget vacation. Not yet, anyway. Is Palm Springs a senior hot spot? Also, does it feel like a suburb in the desert or do you feel like you've really escaped? Are the resorts somewhat dated? How are the amenities? Is the sightseeing worth doing? Is it considered a "fun" destination for families? Looking forward to hearing from you!

I view Palm Springs as more of an adult and senior destination than a family destination.

The weather will be warm and sunny in March and there is good tennis and golf.

The desert and mountains are beautiful. Some resorts are modern and some dated.

For family "fun" the tram to the top of the mountain is fun. There's also good hiking in the canyons (Tahquitz Canyon has a waterfall at the end). Joshua Tree has some of the best rock climing in the USA.

Downtown Palm Springs is a very gay destination.

RBCal has clearly not been near a resort pool in the desert during the summer cheap season. Swarming with children.

Luckylass, there is such a wide range of accommodation that you should find something to fit your tastes. I'll warn you that March is the height of high season so getting on to a tennis court may take some advance scheduling. La Quinta Resort has a beautiful setting, the Spa Villa Suites would work for a family and are relative new and updated in feel. There is tennis on-site. Another option might be one of the condo complexes which have tennis, Palm Valley has a big fitness center and caters to families. Not sure how easily you can reserve time in March on the courts though, so it would be worth making sure about that.

The activities that are worth doing include a visit to the Living Desert (zoo), hiking, Jeep Rides, horseback riding, shopping on El Paseo, side trips to Joshua Tree.

Yes Palm Springs has a gay presence and I think staying "down Valley" between Rancho Mirage-La Quinta is the family part of the desert.

We went on a weekend trip with DH's work. There are plenty of excursion type activities in Palm Springs that all of you would enjoy - bicycling, including on the desert, jeep riding to the San Andreas fault, visiting Joshua Tree National Monument, the tram. There's even a tour of a reconstructed Native American village. Look up Palm Desert, too. I hear there is even a wave pool. We went as adults, but I can't imagine it wouldn't be fun for kids. We stayed at La Quinta. It has lots of pools.

Like RBCal, my observation is that Palm Springs/Desert is more an adult destination than a family one. But, I've never been during the summer season either.

One attraction that's not been mentioned is Soak City, the water park at the west end of Palm Springs. We took our kids there a couple times when they were teens. Great fun for the whole family, really. Not sure it's open in March though.

We are planning to take our kids to Palm Desert for Sprink Break next year, also. As listed above, there are plenty of things for them to do. We actually drove to Scottsdale last year for break, and stopped at the Thursday night Palm Spring Street fair on the drive back. Our kids asked us then, "Why can't we come here for Spring Break?".

The condo resorts are geared toward families and have kids' activities every day. Try the Marriott Shadow Ridge, the Desert Springs Marriott Villas, the Westin Mission Hills Villas, just to name a few. All have tennis courts, golf courses and very nice pool areas.

Thank you so much to everyone who have responded! Can anyone tell me how the upscale resorts compare to a Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton? I'm trying to please a finicky tennis playing husband and a video game fanatic who also plays tennis. I'm probably the most adventurous of all. Are the Jeep Tours guided? Do we take our own jeep into the desert? My favorite HBO shows gave me the impression that Palm Springs and Joshua Tree were sort of hip spots for young Hollywood. Is that true? If so, that's always fun.

My children love the the Palm Springs area. Our two favorite hotels are the La Quinta resorts, they have 40 pools, great tennis and golf as well as kids activites. There is a small village nearby for shopping. Another favorite is the Rancho Las Palmas hotel in Rancho Mirage. The hotel was remodel last year and they have a water slide and lazy river for kids as well as planned kids activites. Both places have a spa. The complex known as the "River" is within walking distance with movies, restaurants and shops.

I highly recommend the "earthquake tour", our kids found it very interesting.

We went to Palm Springs a couple of years ago - kids were 11 and 16 at the time. We found a lot to do. The tram was fun - we did some hiking up there. We went to the Living Desert Zoo which we all liked a lot more than we thought we would! We spent part of a day at Soak City. We did like a jeep tour of Palm Springs which included the wind turbines. It also included celebrity houses - this was funny because our kids didn't know most of the people they were talking about. We also went four-wheeling one day. That was a lot of fun. We did another tour that involved hiking but I can't remember much about it. There was plenty to keep us busy. The suggestions you've gotten for lodging sound great. We also did Downtown Palm Springs on Thursday night which is like a big street fair.

Re the movie stars, Bravo TV series filmed at the Parker Meridien in Palm Springs. They do have tennis coursts. Maybe that resort would work for you, but the impression from the TV series is that it isn't really a family resort.

I would check recent reports about La Quinta, there are some reports on Trip Advisor that it's in a state of renovations. I would stick with the Spa Villas (not sure if the Starlight Villas are in the same section), they're newer and in the back near the tennis and spa.

If you like to watch tennis, there is a great tennis tournament with all the big name players in Indian Wells from March 9th through the 22nd. It's an ATP master's and WTP tour event... my mom who lives in Orange County, CA goes every year and raves about it.

http://www.indianwells.com/tennis/plo.php
or
http://www.tennisindianwells.com/1/home/

She gets general admission tickets I think and usually gets to see some of the top players at the outer courts. Looks like tickets go on sale on November 5th.

We also really like the Rancho Las Palmas, but haven't been there since they added the lazy river. They have a spa on-site & the sunday brunch is terrific.

I do not think the waterpark is open yet in March.

If you are interested in more activities, San Diego is only a 2 hour drive: SeaWorld, Zoo, Wild Animal Park, LegoLand, beach (although it will be chilly).

I will be in Indian Wells next weekend! Happy planning!

Thanks to everyone who has responded! Your tips and suggestions have been very helpful. I'm narrowing my resort choices to either Rancho las Palmas, La Quinta Resort and Spa or Westin Mission Hills. Each resort has received mixed reviews on Trip Advisor. It seems that the biggest universal issue is cleanliness and service. Lots of stories about AC not working, debris in the pools, etc. Has anyone actually stayed in any of these places? Would you recommend them? Remember, I men tioned that my husband likes "nice" hotels. How do any of them compare to a Ritz-Carlton or Four Seasons resort? It gives me a basis for comparison. Thanks again everyone!

I would cross the Westin off the list. It is nice enough, but no where near the high-end experience you are looking for.

You might instead check out the Renaissance Esmaralda: www.renaissanceesmeralda.com/resort.php

We spent a few days in the Palm Springs area last spring break. Our favorite attraction was the Living Desert Museum. We spent a full day there. We also went to Joshua Tree. I loved it, but my 14 year old son was bored. The desert flowers will probably be blooming in March. Do a search on Desert Flowers USA. There is a web site with photos of the flowers at Joshua Tree in bloom. It is really beautiful there.

The Villas at the Hyatt Grand are also nice. I think the problem with the Esmeralda and Hyatt Grand Champions are that they have only a few tennis courts. I still think of all the resorts they'd do best at La Quinta as long as they get one of the newer villas in the back near the tennis and spa.

A lot of the reviews on Tripadvisor are from people (like myself) who use Hotwire and Priceline in the summer. We usually get the mediocre Casitas and there's a much different vibe in the summer locals season. I don't think the service attitudes are very good at La Quinta Resort but maybe if you throw a lot of cash at them it's better.