Yahoo News Palm Springs: a desert full of designer dreams
What do Palm Springs residents have in common with its temperature?” a colleague asked me 10 years ago, when I was going for the first time. “They’re both in the 90s.”
He was wrong, of course — but not by much. Having found fame as a discreet retreat for Hollywood stars in the 1930s, and been at the vanguard of modern architecture in the Fifties and Sixties, its star slid as the years went on. By the Eighties, Palm Springs was mostly popular with retirees.
But then the gay community discovered it (or, rather, rediscovered it — this originally was a place for closeted stars to be themselves, and the city has always had a thriving LGBT community). Suddenly, Palm Springs was on the up. And up, and up.
Today, in the shadow of its glitzy film festival (which finished this week) and with the annual Modernism Week getting bigger every year (February 15-25; modernismweek.com), Palm Springs is booming. Leonardo DiCaprio has a house there (and rents it, if you can afford $4,500-a-night); one of the founders of Facebook, Ezra Callahan, has opened a hotel, the Arrive; and Kanye West was one of the first in the door of the refurbished L’Horizon, a holiday retreat turned turbo-luxe hotel. Every April it’s invaded by Instagram types for the Coachella Festival and every weekend the place is packed. Palm Springs has, it’s safe to say, got its groove back.
This year’s big attraction is the new downtown development: a hulking cluster of shops and a 153-room Kimpton hotel which towers over Palm Springs’ classic low-rise architecture. But you don’t make the 5,000-mile journey from London to stay in a chain hotel and shop in a mall. What Palm Springs does best is the past — from time-capsule architecture to stuck-in-aspic (with a knowing wink) hangouts. Here’s the best of it.
Architecture tours
“Palm Springs was preserved through neglect and indifference,” says guide Kurt Cyr. “It was built as a resort community so houses were only used part of the year, and owners were reluctant to spend money on making changes.” So they let things rot rather than revamp; and today its mid-century modern architecture is what draws the tourists. Cyr’s Palm Springs Mod Squad tours (psmodsquad.com; from £50) show you the highlights and celeb homes old and new in 90 minutes; if you want to go deeper, he’ll take you inside three significant buildings, which could be anything from a Krisel to a Kaptur. Really caught the holiday spirit? Try a “martini and mid-century” tour.
If it’s open, go for a tour of Sunnylands (sunnylands.org), the Annenberg estate in Rancho Mirage. Tours are pricey (£35) but worth it, not just for the artwork and modernist architecture but also for the political history that earned it the nickname “the Camp David of the West” and has seen everyone from the Shah of Iran to Barack Obama visit.
Otherwise, soak up the architecture the lazy way — poolside. The Ace (acehotel.com), a mid-century motel turned hipster hotel, has day passes from £14.
Retro restaurants
The gold standard of retro Palm Springs restaurants used to be Melvyn’s at the Ingleside Inn, which was refurbished last year after legendary owner Mel Haber died. Reports of its new incarnation are encouraging but that gives you an excuse to try somewhere new – such as Mr Lyons (mrlyonsps.com), a slick steakhouse masquerading as an old-time speakeasy, with what looks like the door to a house opening into a curtained-off dining room with eau-de-nil booths. Try beef Wellington with foie gras melted on top or jazz up a steak with sides such as sautéed sweetcorn with jalapeño and shallots.
With its pink neon lighting, sassy booths and coral underwater theme, you’d never guess Tropicale (thetropicale.com) used to be a garage. Barbra Streisand’s former chef is in charge at this modern American restaurant, which does great tapas-style bar food and has a tree-lined garden. Go for lemongrass martinis and paprika-smothered southern-fried chicken.
One of the best happy hour deals is the Kobe burger at Copley’s (copleyspalmsprings.com), $15, served in the surroundings of Cary Grant’s hacienda-style guesthouse.
Old-world digs
Nowhere does boutique hotels like Palm Springs. The city is full of low-rise, low-room-count properties that walk the line between time capsule and swish boutique. Holiday House (holidayhouseps.com; doubles from £97, B&B) is a Summer of Love-themed mid-century motel where guests are draped in love beads at check-in and have a shuffleboard court, hot tub and firepit by the pool. Meanwhile, Arrive (arrivehotels.com; doubles from £107, room only), Ezra Callahan’s offering, is a new-build in an old style. Hipster rugs are slung over retro furniture, and the place is such an Instagram dream that even the wooden coathangers are for sale.
Details: Palm Springs
Air New Zealand (airnewzealand.co.uk) flies from Heathrow to LA from £393 return. From there, it’s a two- to three-hour drive, depending on traffic.
