92264 Travel Guide
Hotel News
HotelChatter Reader Deals :: The Parker Palm Springs' Drunk Girl's Package
September 17, 2008 at 5:56 PM | 0 Comments
Lushette at The Parker Palm Springs
$199 per person
The swanky Parker Palm Springs has received its fair share of flack from us because of that horrendous reality television slip-up of which we will no longer speak, but we're pretty sure they've redeemed themselves in our eyes with the Lushette package.
Instead of wasting our time with some Girlfriend Getaway mess, they're keeping it real by offering us $200 of on-property alcohol credit plus an estate room for just $199 per night Sunday-Thursday (on weekends, the same package is $299).
You can book the package online here. Dudes are welcome too, we suppose.
Hotel Deals
The Parker Palm Springs is Giving Stuff Away
September 15, 2008 at 9:00 AM | 0 Comments
We have to admit, we're kind of in love with the funky Parker Palm Springs, despite last year's Bravo Reality Show which showed the hotel in a very unflattering light. But now the hotel is winning our affection with some super sweet, nearly FREE deals. You heard us right, we said FREE.
The deets: You stay in a room, you get a $200 voucher. With rates starting at $199 on week nights, they are literally paying you $1. Score! The hotel has three ways for you to take advantage of them:
Spa Junkie gets you $200 worth of goods at the PSYC (Palms Springs Yacht Club) spa. In fact, their "Motley Mix" spa package rings up at $210 and includes a 30-minute Quintessential Rubdown, 30-minute Nuts and Bolts Facial, and a 30-minute Classic Manicure.
Glutton's Delight So maybe the spa isn't your thing. Parker still wants to give you free stuff, so dine anywhere on site. Yes, this even includes room service and by the pool.
Lushette's Okay, we saved the best for last. There's nothing worse than budgeting a certain amount for a vacation, throwing it out the window when you've had too much to drink, and then trying to pay the bill at checkout. Ouch. The Parker's got you covered. $200 of free booze should show you a good time and make checkout painless.
Can't make it out on a weekday? Offer is still good on weekends, with rooms starting at $299 a night.
[Photo: Jslander]
Palm Springs Hotel Guide
Palm Springs Area Hotel Guide: Holiday Inn's New Look Suits All
June 24, 2008 at 4:44 PM | 0 Comments
While it's definitely the off-season for Palm Springs right now, it's also the best time to take advantage of cheap room rates at some of the desert's best hotels. We'll be rounding up some of the Palm Springs area's (including Palm Desert) most notable hotels this month. Got any suggestions or questions? Let us know.
This is Palm Springs where roadside motels and inns have just as much appeal as the designer boutique hotels and luxurious five-stars, so we aren't surprised to hear that the Holiday Inn here gets killer reviews. But thankfully, it's not because the hotel is old and kitschy. It's actually a nice new hotel.
Palm Springs Hotel Guide
The Palm Springs Area Hotel Guide :: The Horizon Hotel
June 17, 2008 at 3:59 PM | 0 Comments
While it's definitely the off-season for Palm Springs right now, it's also the best time to take advantage of cheap room rates at some of the desert's best hotels. We'll be rounding up some of the Palm Springs area's (including Palm Desert) most notable hotels this month. Got any suggestions or questions? Let us know.
Like its neighbor the Parker Palm Springs, The Horizon Hotel was once the scene of a reality TV dating show, I Love New York.
Ok, so that might scare some of you off (not us, we love us some New York baby!) but the Horizon is a very chill spot consisting entirely of 22 little bungalow-type rooms. These rooms were originally built in the 1950s but have been restored with a modern post-modern look.
A TripAdvisor reviewer said the photos on the website don't do the place justice and we have to agree. The hotel grounds look much more appealing in person than online. We also like how it's close, but not too close to the main drag of Palm Springs, and that its rectangular layout isolates the hotel from the rest of the block.
Two nights minimum is required on the weekends and room rates start at $139 this summer. Thank god for unbearable Palm Springs heat or we may never have a chance to visit such cool hotels.
VIP Hotel Reviewer Series
Flight 001's Co-Captain's Secret Kidney-Shaped Hideway in Palm Springs
January 9, 2008 at 3:01 PM | 2 Comments
We now present you with our VIP Hotel Reviewer Series in which we hand-pick experts in the travel and media worlds and beyond to tell us what are their favorite hotels and why. Once a week, we'll feature a hotel review from said VIPs about their favorite leisure or business hotels. Pay attention: These VIPs are experts at what they do and they don't mess around when it comes to their hotels.
Bravely kicking of the series is Brad John, the co-captain (i.e. founder) of Flight 001, the nifty boutique travel store found in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Dubai. Enjoy.
I've spent the last 30 years traveling for both work and pleasure. I love hotels. I love staying in hotels. I want to live in a hotel someday. It's just the perfect thing for me. I've stayed in everything from mud huts to the five-stars and I like both.
My favorite place to stay is in Palm Springs, California at a local motel called the Caliente Tropics. I go at least 4 times a year, usually 6 or 7, and I tie it in with visiting our West Coast stores; that is my vacation.
Welcome to the Parker
Welcome to the Parker :: It's So Hard to Say Goodbye
August 31, 2007 at 11:52 AM | 0 Comments
It's all over! Our short trip into the world of the Parker Palm Springs ended with last night's sixth and final installment of Welcome to the Parker. We never thought we'd be saying this, but we're sort of bummed.
Welcome to the Parker
A Not So High-End Travel Agent?
August 20, 2007 at 12:51 PM | 3 Comments
We did a little digging today because we had noticed some of the recent comments on the Welcome to the Parker episode reviews about the guest appearance of Jill Johnson a "high-end travel agent" who could send literally millions of dollars of business to the Parker Palm Springs with a favorable review. Or so says the hotel's manager.
Either way, the show made it seem like Jill Johnson worked for a posh travel agency with extremely wealthy clients--both corporate and leisure. The good news is that unlike the food critic in the premiere episode, Jill Johnson actually exists and works for a travel agency called TravelTrust, a corporate travel management company, where she is the senior VP. You can read her bio here.
But the bad news is when we plugged in Palm Springs into the TravelTrust's hotel database for a Labor Day weekend getaway, the first few choices that popped up weren't exactly high-end selections. They were The Ramada Palm Springs, the Vagabond Inn Palm Springs, and a Best Western.
To be fair, the Hotel Zoso and the Viceroy Palms Springs also popped up. Also, this was just a quick search on TravelTrust's website. Maybe if you contact them directly and set up a corporate account, they will have more posh offerings.
As for the Parker, well it pops up but it was sold out for the weekend we wanted. Interestingly enough, TravelTrust still has it listed under an older name Le Parker Meridien Palm Springs. There's not much else there on the description except it calls the hotel a place "where luxury is fun." Also someone posted a bad review of the place last November. Not surprising of course. But this hotel needs a jolt of good press immediately. When is this show over?
Related Stories:
· Welcome to the Parker :: Smart Hiring Practices Exemplified [HotelChatter]
Welcome to the Parker
How the Parker Palm Springs Celebrated the First 'Welcome to the Parker' Episode
August 6, 2007 at 5:51 PM | 0 Comments
An LA Times reporter recently timed her stay to coincide with the premiere episode of Welcome to the Parker, the new Bravo TV reality show taking place at the Parker Palm Springs.
Valli Herman writes of the hotel's very own screening party:
The hotel cooked up a concession stand menu, tossed fat pillows on the ballroom floor and invited local media, dignitaries, eccentrics and hotel guests for a Parker-style family movie night. Watching two episodes with the city's mayor cheering ("Publicity!") and the hotel's general manager wincing ("Foul-ups!"), it's clear why Bravo sought this location.
Actually it's still not clear but we get that the Parker is a quirky kind of hotel and Herman seemed to like that. She also thought the staff was trying very hard to please it guests, even though some mistakes were made. All this confirms that the place is probably better in real life than it's portrayed on TV. However, it looks like the No Dogs Allowed rule made it into the hotel policy as Herman saw none on the premises.
All in all, Herman gave the place three stars or "very good." But we think that's being nice considering the $41 bouillabaise she ordered at the Mr. Parker restaurant left her stinking like garlic for two days. Ewww....
Related Stories:
· The Parker Palm Springs, designed by Jonathan Adler [LAT]
· Welcome to the Parker:: The Five-Star Fun Continues [HotelChatter]
Welcome to the Parker
'Welcome to the Parker' Premieres Tonight; First Review Calls it a Snoozefest
July 26, 2007 at 2:21 PM | 1 Comment
We are very excited to watch the first episode of the Welcome to the Parker reality show despite the fact that the NY Daily News called it "boring on every level" and gave it only a one-star.
As we wrote the other week, the show follows the staff at the Parker Palm Springs Hotel, from the perfection-obsessed manager (that's Samir, above)to the tempermental cook to a punk-rock styled room-service waiter. In the first episode the hotel welcomes guests in town for the "Pong Springs" ping pong tournament, as well as a pushy food critic.
David Hinckley of the NY Daily News writes:
The big drama turns out to be gracefully convincing the team it can't set up its tables on the lawn of the Gene Autry House because they would ruin the grass.
The staff is unmemorable, the ping-pong team is cartoonish and the whole thing plays a little like someone decided to remake "Upstairs, Downstairs" with Adam Sandler and Will Ferrell.
The closest "The Parker" comes to delivering an actual celebrity is a brief scene in which the manager directs the staff to create a larger fruit bowl for Woody Allen.
But we never see Woody Allen, only his fruit bowl, and that's a shame.
Indeed you can watch this last bit on the preview for the show posted on the BravoTV site. It also looks like Bravo previewed an extended clip last night as the message boards are already gabbing about the truthiness of this show.
All we have to say is that it's reality TV which mean its only about 5 percent reality and 95 percent underpaid TV writers. Look what happened with Tori and Dean and Man vs. Wild.
Nevertheless, we'll have our full report on the premiere tomorrow.
Related Stories:
· Hotel show is boring on every level [NY Daily News]
· New Reality Show About Parker Palm Springs Hotel Set to Debut July 26th on Bravo [HotelChatter]
TV Set Hotels
New Reality Show About Parker Palm Springs Hotel Set to Debut July 26th on Bravo
July 13, 2007 at 12:47 PM | 1 Comment
We love Bravo. Thanks to them, we have spent countless hours watching episodes of Queer Eye, Project Runway and Top Chef. Starting July 26th, we'll have another Bravo show to add to our Tivo recording queue---Welcome to the Parker. This "docu-series" takes place at the Parker Palm Springs Hotel and follows the "exhausting lives and complicated relationships between the top-notch hotel staff and their exacting and sometimes very particular guests." We love it already! This show was made for us!
And unlike Tori and Dean: Inn Love, this is a REAL hotel with REAL guests, not fake ones.
Snapshots
Snapshot: No Wonder Angelina Jolie Likes the Parker Palm Springs
April 20, 2007 at 3:35 PM | 1 Comment
We have been having a bit of obsession with Palm Springs this week but we could not pass up this snapshot. This is a piece of art that is (maybe was?) on display in the lobby at the Parker Palm Springs which was visited once by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Er excuse us, the Pilafs.
Photo: Jim Prosser.
Related Stories:
· The Pilafs check into Le Parker Meridien [HotelChatter]
TV Set Hotels
Whiteboy and Chance Live It Up at the Horizon Hotel
March 14, 2007 at 9:00 AM | 0 Comments
Once again, we are checking in on the latest hotels who have made appearances on trashy reality TV shows. And this week's winner is the The Horizon Hotel in Palm Springs, who hosted the cast of VH1's I Love New York.
A while back, we reported that the hotel was being used for a VH1 type of dating show, but we were woefully misinformed about which show it was. So now we know.
Anways, New York aka Tiffany took two of the remaining four men who are competing for her love and affection to the hotel and put them up in the Residence, a private villa of sorts with private grounds and a pool. She also gave them lighters and robes with their nicknames on them. So ghetto fabulous!
Sadly, we didn't see much of the Residence except to know that the bar was fully stocked for Whiteboy and Chance, which is to be expected on these kind of reality shows. How else can you keep a straight face and tell New York you love her when she's piss-ass drunk?
In other news, we ran into kicked-off contestant Mr. Boston last weekend at a bar in Santa Monica and he said he's getting his own show. Let's see if the Horizon makes the cut.
Related Stories:
· 'The Hills' Skip Dinner and Get Dessert at W Westwood [HotelChatter]
· Horizon Hotel is Site for New VH1 'Celebreality' Show Possibly Starring Old People [HotelChatter]
