HotelChatter

Checking In: We confess. We made a slight detour into downtown Palm Springs and hit up the bars before we checked into the hotel. So we weren't quite in the soberest frame of mind when we checked in.

However, we did call to tell the hotel we would be arriving late and when we finally did arrive the hotel still had our room waiting. As this was very late in the evening/early in the morning, there was no line and it was a quick check-in process.

A nice but tired-looking young man helped load our bags into a golf cart and sped us off to our room. (Our purse fell off halfway during the ride so hold onto your belongings!)

Room Reaction: We were placed into one of the spa villas far away from the main buildings of the resort. This at first concerned us but once we stepped into our room, we could hardly care. We had a full-on apartment with a complete kitchen, two baths, two outdoor patios and pull-out couch. We think it may have been bigger than our real apartment back in LA.

Needless to say we were pretty stoked on our deal of $94 a night for the place.

Amenity Madness: Aside from the kitchen, with its full-sized refrigerator stocked with mini-bar goodies like sodas and tiny bottle of alcohol, the amenities were pretty standard.

The bed was comfy and the place had the all-important bathrobes. The TVs however, were those big boxy black TVs. On the bright side there is a plan in place to replace them.

The AC for some reason didn't work in the bedroom. But we never called to complain because we were too lazy to do so. But that's probably why our room was so cheap.

Internet Connect: We tried to find a WiFi hotspot but there was none. We also looked around for an ethernet cable but couldn't find one. So we just headed off to the pool.

Pool Scene: Speaking of the pool, our little spa villa shared a small pool with several other buildings. There are countless pools like this all over the property. When we hit it up on Saturday in 100+ degree heat, the pool was entirely ours. The only downside, there are no waiters to bring you margaritas. You have to go to the main pool for that. But then you risk an interaction with children. God forbid!

Bottom Line: We kept our trip pretty low-key and we didn't hit up the spa, which the resort is pretty famous for. We also didn't take advantage of too much else at the resort, except for our semi-private pool.

One downside was that the food was kind of bad, both at the 26 restaurant and room service. It was just mass-produced food from a huge resort. Totally bland.

The other annoying thing was that because the place is sprawling and the heat so strong, you really need to take a golf cart everywhere. The resort is crawling with them and their drivers, but if you have your own car try to park as close to your room as you can.

Yet in the end, we couldn't beat the price and didn't even mind the resort fee of $20 a day which included parking.

Tags: Palm Springs Hotel Guide / Waldorf-Astoria Collection / Palm Desert Hotels / Hotel Video Tours

by juliana