I realize the OP has made a different destination choice, but figured I would throw in my two cents for the benefit of others who search the topic. La Quinta Hotel is certainly not what it once was. I agree that KSL sucked the life out of it when they owned it, making a lot of money but not putting a lot of quality investment back into the property. The restaurants are nothing really memorable either as a food or fine dining experience. It is definitely not a five, or maybe even a four star property. Don't get me wrong---I love the historic feel and beauty of the grounds and original casitas. It just needs a lot of work to bring it back up to par. Thankfully, the entry re-construction is finished. Hopefully the new ownership will make the investment of which this property is worthy.

La Quinta itself has several very good restaurants and I would not really characterize it as "out of the action." Palm Desert is an easy 15 or so minutes.

This past December I spent several days at the Marriott Desert Springs outside of Palm Springs. On the plus side, it is an upscale resort with great tennis. In fact, it has grass courts which for anyone who loves tennis is a great experience. With the economy the way it is, you can probably get a decent rate. However, the resort is huge. It is far way from the main action, and the restaurants are all very expensive.

<i>It is far way from the main action.</i>

Where's the action? All the resorts in Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, La Quinta, Indian Wells, etc. are "far from the action" because they're all on huge parcels of land with multiple golf courses, swimming pools, etc. None of these are "in-town" but then they aren't meant to be. It's a 10 min. drive from the Marriott Desert Springs to El Paseo.

In my younger days, We would get a room at the Marquis or the Palm Springs Hyatt(it wasnt a Hyatt at the time) on N Palm Canyon Dr to be close to the action.

I can vouch for The Hyatt Grand Champions. Two gals went without husbands for an Easter getaway last March and it was perfect. We obviously didn't have children with us so we were at the adult pool ... aaaaaaahhhhh ... really nice. We took taxis at night for dinners to Ruth's Chris, to Pacifica at El Paseo and even to the Westfield mall one day. We were there during the big tennis tournament and lots of the players were staying at the Hyatt.

We had such a nice time (also the weather was sooooooo nice and warm compared to Vancouver's steady drizzle in March/April) that we are going again in mid-April this year.

I hope that the economy has not caused The Cork Tree restaurant to have to close down ... I've been telling my friend how good it was when my husband and I ate their last year in June (when we stayed at the Marriott Desert Springs Villas II which was very nice ... pool a little on the loud side with kids but still nice).

Just my two cents ...