Palm Springs has the densest surviving concentration of mid-century modern architecture anywhere. Between roughly 1945 and 1970, Richard Neutra, Albert Frey, William Krisel, Donald Wexler and E. Stewart Williams built houses, a gas station, a bank and a set of small hotels here in a style that suited the desert exactly: flat roofs, deep overhangs, breeze-block screens, glass walls onto private courtyards.
Most of it survived because the town went quiet for thirty years and nobody bothered knocking it down. Then the architecture became the reason to come.
What that means for booking
The hotels here divide into two kinds, and they are barely the same product.
The small mid-century properties are 15 to 40 rooms around a courtyard pool, usually adults-only, often original 1950s buildings restored rather than replicas. They have no gym, no room service to speak of and no spa. What they have is the architecture, the light and a pool you can hear from your room.
The valley resorts at Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert and Indian Wells are large golf and spa properties, twenty to forty minutes down the valley, with everything the small hotels lack and none of the design.
There is one more thing worth knowing. Summer here runs above 43 degrees and the town empties, with rates falling by two thirds. February to April is peak, and the Coachella and Stagecoach weekends in April take the whole valley to several times normal.
The thirteen below are grouped by which kind they are.
The mid-century hotels
Small, adults-focused, built around a courtyard pool. This is what Palm Springs is for.
Parker Palm Springs occupies a 1959 building reworked into the most theatrical hotel in the desert, with croquet, a hedge maze and interiors that are deliberately excessive. It has more facilities than any other small property here.
Parker Palm Springs
East Palm Canyon · 4★ · $$$$
Croquet, a hedge maze and the desert's most theatrical interior
Check availabilityL'Horizon Resort & Spa, Hermann Bungalows - Adults Only 21 and Older is a 1952 Herbert Burns building, adults-only, with 25 rooms around a pool and a level of restraint that makes it the purest example of the form.
L'Horizon Resort & Spa, Hermann Bungalows - Adults Only 21 and Older
South Palm Springs · 5★ · $$$$
A 1952 Herbert Burns building, adults only, 25 rooms
Check availabilityThe Colony House Palm Springs occupies a set of restored 1930s and 1950s buildings with two pools, a private feel and the best food of the small hotels.
The Colony House Palm Springs
Old Las Palmas · 4★ · $$$
Restored 1930s buildings with the best food of the small hotels
Check availabilityVilla Royale sits in a 1955 property with pink doors, a courtyard pool and the most photographed frontage in town.
Villa Royale
Warm Sands · 4★ · $$$
Pink doors and the most photographed frontage in town
Check availabilitySparrows Lodge is a converted farmhouse and stables with a fire pit, an adults-only policy and a shabby, deliberately undone aesthetic that is the opposite of its neighbours.
Sparrows Lodge
Warm Sands · 4★ · $$$
Converted stables, adults only, deliberately undone
Check availabilityLa Serena Villas occupies a 1947 building with villas around a pool, a spa and the quietest setting of the small group.
La Serena Villas
South Palm Springs · 4★ · $$$
1947 villas around a pool, quietest of the small group
Check availabilityAvalon Hotel & Bungalows Palm Springs, a Member of Design Hotels sits in a 1950s property with bungalows, two pools and the liveliest weekend scene in the town centre.
Avalon Hotel & Bungalows Palm Springs, a Member of Design Hotels
Palm Canyon Drive · 4★ · $$$
Bungalows, two pools and the liveliest weekend scene
Check availabilityKimpton Rowan Palm Springs Hotel by IHG occupies a restored building downtown with a rooftop pool, a good bar and the shortest walk to the shops and the Saturday market.
Kimpton Rowan Palm Springs Hotel by IHG
Downtown · 4★ · $$$
Rooftop pool and the shortest walk to the shops
Check availabilityARRIVE Palm Springs - Adults Only sits in a 1960s hotel reworked with a young, sociable tone and the best value among the design properties.
ARRIVE Palm Springs - Adults Only
Uptown Design District · 4★ · $$
Best value among the design properties
Check availabilityThe valley resorts
Twenty to forty minutes down the valley. Golf, spas, tennis and space.
The Ritz-Carlton, Rancho Mirage occupies a large site at Rancho Mirage on a plateau above the valley, with a spa, several pools and the most polished service in the desert.
The Ritz-Carlton, Rancho Mirage
Rancho Mirage · 5★ · $$$$
On a plateau above the valley with the best service here
Check availabilityJW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa sits at Palm Desert on an enormous site with a lake, boats in the lobby atrium and two golf courses. It is the family answer.
JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa
Palm Desert · 4★ · $$$
A lake, boats in the atrium and two golf courses
Check availabilityTwo Bunch Palms Resort & Spa occupies a mineral-spring property at Desert Hot Springs with its own hot pools, a spa and an adults-only policy. The water is the reason.
Hyatt Palm Springs sits at Indian Wells with tennis courts, several pools and rates below the two above.
Hyatt Palm Springs
Indian Wells · 4★ · $$
Tennis and several pools below neighbouring rates
Check availabilityWhat we have left off
The vacation rentals across the Movie Colony and Twin Palms neighbourhoods are excluded. Renting an actual Krisel or Wexler house is arguably the truest way to experience Palm Springs architecture, and they are houses rather than hotels.
What to do
Take an architecture tour. Modernism Week in February is the main event and books out, but the self-guided map and the Palm Springs Art Museum's design centre in an E. Stewart Williams bank work year round.
Ride the Aerial Tramway from the desert floor to 2,600 metres, where the temperature drops around 15 degrees and there is pine forest and, in winter, snow.
Hike Tahquitz or Andreas canyon in the Indian Canyons early. Joshua Tree National Park is forty-five minutes northeast and worth a full day, ideally at either end of it.
Eat and drink downtown, go to the Saturday farmers market, and drive the Palm Canyon Drive neighbourhoods to look at doors.
Practical notes
Palm Springs airport is five minutes from downtown and remarkably easy. Los Angeles is two hours by road, longer on a Friday.
November to May is the season, with February to April the peak. June to September regularly exceeds 43 degrees; the town empties and rates fall by two thirds. Check the festival calendar for April.
A car is essential for the valley and Joshua Tree.
Explore 4 & 5 Star Palm Springs Hotels
Questions people actually ask
Small hotel or valley resort?
Small hotel for the architecture, the pool and the town. Valley resort for golf, spas and space, at the cost of a drive to everything.
Is summer survivable?
Above 43 degrees with a chilled pool and an early-morning, late-evening rhythm, yes, at a third of the price. For hiking, no.
Are the small hotels adults-only?
Many are. Check before booking if you are travelling with children.
How many nights?
Three. Four with a Joshua Tree day.