Palm Springs Hideaway
 

Hi all! Those of you who know me and have read and commented on my trip reports in recent years will know that we prefer private home rentals over hotels when possible. This current trip is no exception. We have never visited Palm Springs but were drawn by the mid-century modern architecture and the warm desert weather. We were fortunate to have a lead on a very affordable vacation home with a pool and hot tub. It looked wonderful from the website and was even better in person (not something that always happens).

We love the luxury of a completely private yard, heated pool and hot tub at the end of a long sightseeing day. It's great not to have to worry about eating all meals out or running into people in the mornings, when all you want to do is sip coffee poolside in your pajamas. I will provide links to the house, the restaurants and sightseeing we did and will do in the days to come.

So far, we have eaten at Le Mirasol, a wonderful Mexican hangout for locals and Spencers for Sunday brunch. We took the aerial tram up 8500 feet to the top of Mr. Jacinto, visited the Living Desert, took a Palm Springs Mid-Century modern tour and visited Indian Canyons. I will be elaborating more on these and other sights as the week wears on by commenting on this posting. If you have any questions, feel free to ask! .
http://www.oasisrentals.com/rental-h...rto-house.aspx
http://www.palmsprings.com/points/canyon/

Ooops, I meant top of MT Jacinto!

Ooops, I meant top of MT Jacinto!

Thanks for reporting back!!

Thanks for posting. I'm looking forward to the rest of your report.

Quick question - what are the approx daytime and evening temperatures?

It has been unusually wet and cool here these last few days, much to the delight of the locals, and not so much for us, lol. At the moment it's almost 70, warm enough in the sun to go in the heated pool. In the evenings it can go down to 60, so we have not yet needed our a/c. We keep the doors and windows open all the time. In Michigan we could never get away with that - we'd get eaten alive!

I can highly recommend all the activities we have done so far. The only one that was just OK was the Living Desert, but that might appeal more to families with kids. The aerial tram is a Swiss engineering marvel that must be experienced. Even though the top was cloudy and there was no view, the view from the cable car itself was just as good, almost all the way to the top. There are two places to eat at the top (we didn't) and leave time to do some hiking up there as well. Another place I LOVED hiking was the Indian Canyons. I did the Palm Canyon and Andreas Canyon, different from one another but equally beautiful. At the Trading Post I got some great hummingbird photos at their feeders. This place is a don't miss, in my opinion.

If you are interested in the architecture and history of Palm Springs you simply must do the PS Modern Tour with Robert Imber. He is a local historian and conservationist with an inexhaustible knowledge of the area. He took five of us around in his van for three hours and it was too short for me. You only see the outside of the homes, but it gives you a real feeling belonging and understanding that I did not have beforehand. You see everything from Elvis and Pricilla Presley's Honeymoon Hideaway to where Bob Hope's 15,000 sq ft house is on the top of the mountain. Sonny Bono lived in The Mesa area, as does Suzanne Somers. Frank Sinatra and Kirk Douglas, the Gabor sisters, everyone who was anyone had a home here. I love the modernist style of the houses with their carports, breezeways and expansive windows.

Today we are going to the Villagefest in town, held each Thursday from 6 to 10pm. Stores are open til 10 and craft vendors and food stalls line the streets. Before that, we will go to the Art Museum (they are doing a Richard Avedon exhibit currently), which is free on Thursdays from 4:00-6:00.

We might try Copley's for dinner, haven't decided yet. I've heard Tyler's is great for burgers and is cheaper and not as fancy as Copley's. Also heard great things about Zin. What to choose??? Hmmm. We'd like to end the evening at the Colony Palms Hotel for drinks poolside in their courtyard.

I don't know if he has a website, but if you want to contact Robert, here is his email address: [email protected]

I take tons of pics, but if you are game to wade through them, here is a link to my album on Picasa, which I will be adding to daily:
http://picasaweb.google.com/maggiwun...eat=directlink

About a year ago, we were in PS and did a tour of the historical O'Donnell House. I don't know if it is still offered, but you may be able to get info from The Willows, Palm Springs.

Thanks for the tip Michelle, I'll look into it for our last day here tomorrow. We will be spending the next four nights in Vegas.

The weather was so nice today we spent most of it outside at the pool. But we headed out to the Art Museum for the 4:00-6:00 free admission on Thursdays. It is a beautiful space! I especially liked the peacefulness of the sculpture gardens. One has some minor Dale Chihuly works. He is my favorite glass artist. Really enjoyed the Richard Avedon exhibition. One piece really caught my eye. It was a super close-up of Rudolf Nureyev's bare foot, on pointe. You could see every vein, every sinew. I'd love to have that as a poster. We tried to go to Tylers for burgers, but as I found out, they are not open for dinner. As we were already parked in one of the last spots in this area we walked toward Palm Canyon road and found Zini, a restaurant which had been recommended to me the day before by our tour guide. There was a sign hanging in the restaurant stating they were voted "Best in Palm Springs". After perusing our menus I settled on the macadamia encrusted chicken scalloppini and my husband the lasagna. What I really wanted was the paella, but my instinct told me not to order that, since really authentic paella usually has to be ordered in advance, not warmed up. I also ordered the tuna carpaccio as a starter. After a discussion with the waiter about the well drink specials and $2 beer specials, we ordered two Stellas. At no time did he say those were not included in the $2 special but at checkout we were charged $4 apiece. We asked him about it and he said those were not included in the $2 priced beers. He should have told us that at the outset.

The tuna arrived, pale, almost grey. smothered in onion and capers and NOT COLD. I don't know how it was prepared, but it didn't look fresh to me, it looked almost cooked. There was so little on the plate it was barely enough for two tiny croistini. Next, the macadamia crusted chicken. It was served on a bed of sauce, which tasted very nice to me, with a hint of spice. I cut into the chicken and it was tough, over cooked and dry. After tasting it, I could have sworn that the chicken had been precooked and warmed up in the microwave. I could have gone in the kitchen and whipped up that dish in ten minutes and it would have been juicy and tender. When the waiter came around to ask if everything was OK, I politely answered that I was not happy with my food and explained why. He took my plate and offered me the menu to choose something else. I settled on the penne pasta with vodka sauce and chicken. When that arrived, the sauce tasted good and the pasta was cooked properly, but, again, the chicken was overcooked and dry. Again I suspected it had been pre-cooked. I wasn't about to complain again, but the waiter seemed to avoid eye contact and never even came to see if I was satisfied this time, which he should have done.

My husband's lasagna was also not what he expected either. He imagined it was going to be a large square of layers of noodles, filling and cheese. Instead it was about an inch high, served in a soupy mess in an elongated bowl. The taste wasn't bad, but the cheese was gloppy and hard to chew, probably because it had been overwarmed in the micro.

For these three unsatisfactory dishes and two $4 beers we were charged almost $50, not counting our tip. To add insult to injury, it was a Thursday night and there was a street fair right out in front with food vendors. One of the booths was devoted to authentic, made on site paella with shrimp and clams for $8.50. I wish I had seen that first, we would have a much better meal for a third of the price.

The street fair was typical of art and craft shows with food tents, but it was a nice atmosphere nonetheless. I only purchased some fresh dates from a farm in the area. Now I'm wondering if it's legal to take produce across State lines into Nevada by car. I guess I'll find out!

We are in Vegas now and I will continue this post on a separate Vegas thread. In summary, my impressions of Palm Springs were very favorable and I am looking forward to returning. Our last lunch was on the patio at Cheeky's. I highly recommend their food - breakfast is the best too!

We had dinner at home but afterward we had drinks poolside at the Colony Palms Hotel. It has been beautifully restored - very Old Hollywood and the lighting is exquisite. In general, I was sorry the weather wasn't conducive to a lot of pool time, so perhaps June or July will be better for that. My favorite part was this fabulous house, which I hope to return to, and the Indian Canyon and aerial tram excursions. I hope to do more hiking on the next trip and visit the restaurants we missed this time around: Copleys, Melvyn's at the Ingleside Inn and Koffee.

As mentioned above, I'll continue the Vegas leg of our trip on a separate thread. Cheers!
Maggi

<<<In general, I was sorry the weather wasn't conducive to a lot of pool time, so perhaps June or July will be better for that. >>>

OMG, Nooooooooo.....June and July are brutal in Palm Springs. October is usually great, but it started raining in CA earlier than usual this year, so maybe that's why it wasn't so good in PS. We often go in October and usually have temps in the mid-80s and nothing but sun.

Haha, well I guess we just didn't luck out this time. No biggie, though, we still had a great time.

Ooops, JCB, if you are still there and were still wondering...I missed your question about the temperatures. At the time we were there, the temperatures were unusually low, especially in light of a few weeks before when they were still in the high 90's. We had temps of about 80 during the day, but it was rather windy, so it seemed cooler, and 60 or 50 at night. We had a hot tub but ran inside pretty quickly in the evenings when getting out.

Returning to the same vacation rental soon. Can't wait! If anyone has any new ideas for day trips from Palm Springs, I'd love to hear them.

The Palms to Pines Highway #74 climbs up from Palm Desert where you can go as far as you like enjoying views down to the valley or even go all the way to the wine area of Temecula.

Joshua Tree National Park is lovely.

You can visit Idyllwild up in the mountains off of Hwy 243

I just returned from some days in Palm Desert, it's getting hot and as always I loved it. I am considering a second home in the Palm Springs area.

Have fun!

<<<I am considering a second home in the Palm Springs area.>>>

Have you looked? Are prices still way down?

<<<You can visit Idyllwild up in the mountains off of Hwy 243>>>

This is a fun trip. It's a nice drive through the mountains. Idyllwild is a cute little artsy mountain town. And it's much cooler up there!

sf, I was so tempted! Prices are pretty good, I don't want any HOA fees so I would have to buy a small privately owned place which wouldn't be on Indian land. This is going to take some research.
I still love Palm Springs itself with the low rise bungalows.

SU, we have been so tempted by Palm Springs in the past, but have never been able to bite the bullet. Keep me posted on your progress, please.