One of the many quirks about the Palm Springs area is the variety of ways people describe the collection of cities, and what that can tell you about the person doing the describing. Locals will generally say either “the desert” or “the valley.” Those using the “valley” designation are usually year-round residents. People who call the entire area “Palm Springs” are almost always vacationers—if you live here, you quickly learn the political distinctions among cities and the jealous regard each has for its own particular name. To a local, Palm Springs always means the city, not the area. When you hear people saying “The Springs,” you can bet that they’re from the Los Angeles area and attached to the movie industry in some way, if only in their imaginations. That is except for those who reside in “The Springs,” which is one of the many gated golf communities in Rancho Mirage.
People who say “Coachella Valley” fall into two groups. Those who pronounce it correctly (co-chell-a) know their way around the area and those who mispronounce it (co-a-chell-a) have done enough reading to be aware of the proper geographic designation but might not have much time in the saddle here, so to say. One particular term, “down-valley,” is used almost exclusively by Palm Springs residents and dates from the days when there wasn’t much of anything to the east of that city.
This sense of place is what defines the politics, culture, and social climate of the valley and each of its cities. When Californians passed Proposition 13 in 1978, property taxes were frozen on each piece of private property until that property was sold (or fundamentally altered), thus choking a huge revenue stream down to a trickle and precipitating then-unforeseen budgetary tomfoolery that befuddles the state and its public agencies to this day. All manner of public projects and services, from roads and schools to prisons and health care, took a big hit. Cities that had counted on a healthy share of property tax revenue found themselves in the red. As a result, sales tax became ever more important to local jurisdictions. But that addiction also had consequences as sales-related revenue fluctuated, the state “raided” the funding source at times, and of perhaps greatest impact, it led to land-use competition between neighboring cities. Think of the latter as City A cutting a deal with Big Box Retail Z not to locate in City B, though City B very well could pick up the infrastructure impacts of the project without gaining any of the tax benefit. In the valley, each city gets a share of the sales tax generated within its own boundaries, although that amount varies widely from year to year. The one tax that stays within each city and is never shared with the state is the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT), or hotel tax. Because the valley is primarily a tourist destination, the cities with the most visitors are able not only to stay out of the red but also to flourish. If a city has both a good visitor base and a strong retail trade, the present and the future are rosy indeed; Palm Desert comes to mind. With the valley’s largest concentration of retail business and a number of strong convention hotels, the city has a budget that is strong year-in and year-out and a city hall that can provide the parks, recreation, and infrastructure upkeep that make the quality of life there notable in a valley of notable communities.
Palm Springs and Indio, the valley’s two oldest cities, have struggled more, historically, than most of the valley’s newer cities. Being first in time—as a resort and residential community if not an incorporated city—Palm Springs faces the problems that come with age. It’s land-use patterns are fixed, with fewer opportunities for massed, high-ticket development. The city does have a large inventory of hotels, but because they are generally older and smaller than the megaresorts down-valley, they tend to have a lower room rate and lower occupancy overall, so TOT is affected, in a relative sense. For retailers, the city’s location at the western edge of the valley makes it less attractive than Rancho Mirage or Palm Desert, and empty storefronts of both national retailers and local shopkeepers bear testament to that fact. Again, this is in a historic sense, and downtown Palm Springs has been undergoing a spirited renaissance. Indio, which began life as a bustling agricultural city, is the desert’s Cousin Eddie, Clark Griswold’s affable but down-and-out relative (from the National Lampoon Vacation films). Lacking the resort appeal of its sibling cities and a dicey-by-comparison retail base, Indio is challenged to rise above a beer budget and tastes in a Champagne Valley. Located in between Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage, Cathedral City is the valley’s “working-class town,” with challenges similar to those in Indio—practically no tourism and a light retail base—though it has scored in recent years by luring major auto dealers into town. A strong redevelopment effort has created a downtown core of entertainment and public space out of a previously rundown area, and the city is becoming known for its livable family neighborhoods.
Rancho Mirage—with its high concentration of country clubs, the Eisenhower Medical Center campus, a couple of very upscale hotels, and the new River “retailtainment complex”—is set financially. Indian Wells, between Palm Desert and Indio, is the valley’s Bel-Air, a city of residential luxury and some comely golf, to boot.
In the area of master planning, Palm Desert can give the entire valley a good example and lesson on how it’s done right. The city’s General Plan, a state-mandated document that guides overall development for the next few decades, is noted for its balanced mix of residential, resort, business, and educational land-uses. The city is home to the College of the Desert and branches of California State University and the University of California. Palm Springs has always been the cool Hollywood hangout, even when the façade crumbled and visitors rebelled in the 1970s and 1980s. Now the hipsters and weekenders are back, buying up homes, pouring money into new restaurants and boutiques, filling up hotel rooms, and bringing a sharp air of vitality to the town.
Cathedral City has focused its priorities and is working hard to provide the type of town that will attract and keep young families. Rancho Mirage is hitting a new stride with The River and trendy new restaurants attracting locals and visitors alike. Palm Desert’s upward path seems unstoppable, with the new higher-education complex, retail that grows stronger each year, and a commitment to quality-of-life services for its residents.
La Quinta, home from the 1920s on to the area’s first true getaway resort, the same-named La Quinta Resort, and Indio are the new hot places to buy a home, as once-empty desert land is fast filling up with year-round residents who want a suburban lifestyle and good bang for their home-buying buck. And Indio has positioned itself as “The Place to Be,” adding immensely popular art, music, and equestrian events to its long-time position as the host town for the Riverside County Fair & National Date Festival.
Lots of locals and newcomers lament the changes in the once-sleepy summer resort, arguing that nothing good can come of this explosive growth. Of course, the cities will grow and evolve, but owing to some truly visionary old-timers, the breathtaking combination of pristine desert and mountains around the valley will be preserved for many decades to come.
Back in 1970, several prominent citizens anticipating urban development and wanting to protect the natural desert convinced the Palm Springs Art Museum to establish an interpretive trail and preserve on 360 acres in Palm Desert. That area became today’s 1,200-acre Living Desert Wildlife and Botanical Park, the number one open space recreation attraction in the Coachella Valley. The Living Desert was the inspiration for a wide-ranging open-space plan that regulates development from the San Jacinto Mountains in the west to the Coachella Valley Preserve in the east, extending north to encompass Joshua Tree National Park and south to the Imperial Valley.
Setting up these protected areas has been a complicated endeavor and a stellar example of how different organizations and individuals can work together for a greater good. The Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy, Friends of the Desert Mountains, Center for Natural Lands Management, the Nature Conservancy, the Wildlands Conservancy, and the Living Desert have worked to purchase and save as wilderness areas several hundred thousand acres of unspoiled desert and mountain land. This land is off-limits to development, ensuring that the valley cities will remain surrounded with natural vistas free of homes, hotels, and businesses. So welcome to the desert … the Coachella Valley … the resort communities … Palm Springs. If it sounds like the valley suffers through an identity crisis, fear not, for in diversity there is richness. And there is no reason all these “separate” communities, snowbirds and lifelong residents, thorny cacti and perfectly manicured golf clubs, Joan and John Q and the richly famous can’t just get along nicely, and they nicely do. So come on along. We hope this book will inspire you to explore the many sides of this magical slice of desert. And if you want to call it Palm Springs, why please do so.
Taken from the name of a celebrated watering hole in Belgium, “spa” technically refers to a mineral spring or any place with a mineral spring. The European spas that became enormously popular in the early 20th century were elaborate resorts where people came to “take the waters,” sipping and bathing in natural hot mineral springs for a variety of health objectives. A hundred years later, the word has evolved dramatically—today it’s not unusual to find hotels with no more than a hot tub and a sauna advertising their “spa.”
To help you find exactly what you’re looking for—from a simple soak in a natural hot mineral spring, to pampering massages and facials, to the most comprehensive health and fitness evaluations in an atmosphere of extreme pampering—we’ve compiled a representative listing of the desert’s many excellent spas, along with some tips on getting value for your vacation dollar. To qualify as a spa for our listings, the establishment must either offer a variety of body and skin treatments that go well beyond what one would find in a typical beauty salon or day spa, or feature a genuine hot mineral springs pool for soaking. In the desert the most luxurious spas generally are located within large resort hotels, and they offer everything from medical screening to fitness classes and exotic body treatments.
To help you choose a favorite from the Coachella Valley’s many options, we’ve grouped spas in two categories: Resort Spas and Hot Mineral Spring Spas.
Resort Spas are located within full-service hotels or resorts and offer a complete range of body and face treatments, as well as use of swimming pools, saunas and/or steam rooms, and fitness centers.
Hot Mineral Springs Spas, as the name states, have a natural mineral spring to supply water for the soaking/swimming pools. Hot mineral springs abound in the nearby city of Desert Hot Springs, and many small to midsize hotels are built around one or two pools that are filled with hot mineral water from the hotel’s own underground wells. In this group there are midsize hotels with moderate prices and amenities, as well as those hotels whose only claim to spa fame is the water itself. These hotels can offer excellent value for long-stay visitors who enjoy simplicity and the reputed healing properties of the water.
Just like rates for hotel rooms, prices for spa services vary with the seasons, and visitors can get the best values in the hot summer months. Spa-accommodation packages are also a good way to save money in season. If you’re staying at a resort with a spa, use of the spa, but not spa services, may be included in your room rate—always ask when you make reservations.
Prices for standard services such as a basic massage and facial do not vary much among the larger resorts, which are all in competition for the same customer—it’s not unusual for a resort spa to have at least 30 percent of its clients come from the local population or from other hotels without spas. You can count on paying top dollar for the spas with the most elaborate facilities, such as large fitness centers, extensive “wet” facilities, on-site medical services, and top beauty salons. That said, these places may offer the best value if you are going to bundle up services during one visit, so always ask about package pricing. Prices for standard facials will run around $80 to $95, a half-hour massage will cost from $50 to $65, and a one-hour massage will cost from $95 to $150.
If you want just a basic massage, facial, or nail service, you will probably get the best deal by booking your appointment at a stand-alone day spa or beauty salon that doesn’t offer the extra luxury of soaking tubs, saunas, pools, and a fitness center. A good source of recommendations is your hotel’s concierge or front-desk staff. If the hotel has a spa, they’ll certainly tell you about it and will also give you tips on where else to go.
Unless otherwise noted, the resort spas and mineral springs spas offer their services to non-hotel guests and include use of the adjacent fitness facilities, wet facilities, and other amenities when a service is purchased. Depending on whether the hotel has a “full house,” some also offer day rates for use of the pool and fitness facilities without purchasing a service. Make sure to call ahead, because these policies are subject to change.
A note on “day spas”: These facilities, often part of a beauty salon, do not offer lodging or such amenities as a fitness center, sauna/steam room, or swimming pool. They vary widely in scope and quality of service, and because most offer only basic massage and facial treatments, we have not included these in the listings below.
Readers should assume that all of the establishments listed accept major credit cards, unless otherwise noted.
Like any other resort destination, the Coachella Valley has its fair share of attractions and diversions, campy or profound, for visitors looking for a change from the endless round of sun and play. But don’t expect a string of amusement parks or cookie-cutter playgrounds. With a few exceptions, the attractions here are representative of the forces that have defined the desert and shaped its character: its Native American and western heritage, its natural resources, its weather, and its free-spirited pioneers.
If you’re on a limited schedule or visiting for the first time, there are four “must-see” attractions that are suitable for all ages and will give you a deep appreciation of and respect for this area’s personality.
If you’ve ever thought to yourself, “Oh, Palm Springs is just swimming pools and golf courses,” you’ll think very differently after a visit to the Indian Canyons, Joshua Tree National Park, the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, and the Living Desert. Each of these spots offers a highly individual look at the interaction between man and nature here in this desert. Each place is nearly unique, and, above all, each one is great fun. You can use your visit as an opportunity for education and wonder or just have a good time petting Nubian goats, hiking to waterfalls, and enjoying a view that stretches from snow-tipped peaks to below-sea-level desert bottoms, and all the way to Mexico. Put these four on the top of your list and make room for a few more each time you visit.
Opening and closing hours can vary, so be sure to call ahead or check the Web sites for last-minute information.
Although most of these attractions can be seen and visited perfectly well on your own, several tour companies provide guides and programs that are outstanding. Depending on how you like to travel, taking at least one trip with one of these outfits could be more than worth the price many times over in the knowledge and appreciation of the desert that you’ll gain. Because the prices and hours of the tours can change dramatically depending on the operator and time of year, we suggest you always call ahead to make sure you won’t be disappointed.
Unless otherwise noted, all establishments accept major credit cards.
Not so long ago, families visiting the Palm Springs area with small children would be hard-pressed to find entertainment beyond the pool and the movies. The destination was not only adult-oriented but also a place where people came to “just do nothing,” and even the grown-ups found themselves pretty much limited to golf, sunning, and the odd game of tennis.
Today the desert’s year-round residents as well as its visitors are younger than they were just 10 years ago, and that has not escaped the attention of the area’s tourism businesses, which are increasingly careful to tailor at least some of their offerings to families traveling with children.
When you’re in the desert with children, make sure to spend at least some of your time outdoors. In addition to its international reputation as a spa retreat and golf capital, the Coachella Valley has become rightfully known for its wealth of natural resources. The mountains all around the valley are largely protected wilderness areas, with miles of hiking trails that go from the dusty desert into the cool pines, and lower there are lush palm oases. The beauty of it all is that the wilds are just a few minutes from wherever you are in the desert. Very few tourist destinations offer such varied opportunities to really experience nature, from watching the lizards scamper over the rocks in the Indian Canyons to tickling toes in a stream weaving through a mountain meadow.
After decades of being a day trip and weekend getaway destination itself, the desert is also becoming the home base for vacationers who want a reliably warm and sunny spot and a relaxed lifestyle to be the center of their “hub and spoke” ventures in Southern California. Those who live in the desert year-round usually have their favorite day trips and getaways, and the choices are plentiful, encompassing city life, the beaches, mountains, and major tourist attractions.
The Coachella Valley is an ideal location to use as a hub for exploring Southern California, with everything from coastal Los Angeles to the San Gabriel Mountains and then on to San Diego and the Mexican border a two- to three-hour drive away, depending on Southern California traffic, of course. This means that every destination can be a day trip as well as a weekend getaway—the choice is up to you.
The chapter is organized into broad geographic areas, such as Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and Long Beach; Orange County, Laguna Beach, and Newport Beach; San Diego; and nearby mountains and deserts. Within each area, we’ll take a look at major attractions, activities, and any special annual events of note.
Freeways were born in Southern California and many from outside the state think all of us were born in our cars given our close attachments to them. Driving is the major mode of travel throughout the state, and the public transportation system—buses, trains, and rapid transit—is very good in spots yet sketchy at best as a way to move throughout the region. A car here means freedom, even if that freedom involves the right to sit on the 91 freeway for hours. If you do not want to drive or cannot do so, there are still ways to get where you want to go, primarily with tour companies and a combination of commuter airline and taxi. If this is your choice, you will have to do a lot of homework on your own, plan ahead, and be patient.