SerpApi.Org
Palm Springs, California, has always rewarded travelers who like their luxury with a wink and a smile. The city’s mid-century style runs through everything from its architecture to its buzzing restaurant and bar scene.
Since it’s just two hours east of Los Angeles or a quick flight from SFO, it’s become the destination where the Silicon Valley-to-Aspen crowd goes when they want sun instead of snow. Think tanned skin, oversized designer sunglasses, a cabana with your name on it, and a lineup of restaurants worth flying in for. It’s giving retro glamour with a spray tan and a stocked minibar.
The city’s mid-century modern bones (all clean lines, jewel-toned tile, and glass walls that blur the line between indoors and out) give every visit a built-in aesthetic, the kind that photographs itself. Add in the Palm Springs International Film Festival every January, when the industry’s biggest names swap red carpets for pool decks, and Coachella every April, when the whole valley turns into one long, sun-drenched party, and it’s easy to see why Palm Springs stopped being your grandparents’ golf trip and has since become the destination people actually plan their year around.
What makes it work is the mix. You get five-star polish without the stuffiness, playful design that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and a downtown scene that’s leveling up fast, with hot new restaurant openings giving the city fresh reasons to book a trip well beyond festival season. I spent time exploring the city’s latest hotspots last Fall on the SHEDrives A Lambo experience in Coachella Valley, and they’ve stayed on my radar since.
Where to Stay in Palm Springs
If your idea of a perfect Palm Springs getaway includes fresh cocktails, surprises that delight your senses, over-the-top decor that makes for a perfect selfie opp, and a reputation for being a celeb hideout, then the Parker Palm Springs is worth considering.
Parker Palm Springs is a 5-star resort and member of Leading Hotels of the World, set on a private, 13-acre estate with interiors designed by Jonathan Adler. The 144 rooms span Villas, Garden Suites, and the Gene Autry House, a nod to the property’s history as the singing cowboy’s former retreat. Condé Nast readers consistently rank it among the best resorts in the desert, and the hotel has drawn continued coverage from Forbes, Vogue, and Harper’s Bazaar over the years, along with a steady stream of socialites, A-list stars, and design-world tastemakers who treat it as a seasonal home base.
My own introduction to Parker came before I ever visited. Gray Malin’s iconic photography book, with its whimsical images of zoo animals parading through the property’s Adler-designed interiors, lay on my coffee table for years, inspiring me to visit this haute hideaway. By the time I finally visited, I could see why everyone (including Malin) had been raving about this enchanting resort (and I can now understand how the property inspired his imagination to run wild).
A History Seventy Years in the Making
The property’s story starts long before Adler ever got involved. Built in 1959, it was California’s first Holiday Inn, a modest cinderblock building on what was then the edge of town. In 1961, singing cowboy and film star Gene Autry bought it, renamed it Melody Ranch, and used it to house his newly acquired baseball team, the Los Angeles Angels, during spring training.
For the next three decades, locals simply called it the Gene Autry Hotel. Autry built a private residence on the grounds for himself and his wife, complete with its own gated entrance, and that home still stands today, available to guests as the Gene Autry House, now outfitted with a movie theater tucked behind a hidden door, a dry sauna, and a private saline pool.
The property changed names and owners several times after that: a stint as the Givenchy Hotel and Spa under designer Hubert de Givenchy, then Merv Griffin’s Resort Hotel, then Le Parker Meridien. In 2003, developer Jack Parker took over and brought in a then-emerging Jonathan Adler for a $27 million overhaul. The resort reopened in 2004 as Parker Palm Springs, and it became the city’s first five-star property. Adler had full creative range, and the results still define the property today.
The Decor: Shagadelic, Maximalist, and Fully Committed
Walking Parker’s grounds feels like stepping onto a film set built for people with a sense of humor about luxury. I can only imagine that even Austin Powers himself would find the whole place ‘shagadelic, baby‘.
The lobby sets the tone immediately: a vintage “DRUGS” marquee sign, salvaged from an old pharmacy, hangs above the fireplace like a wink to guests, its bulb-lit letters glowing next to a wall of colorful woven lanterns. Below it, a tufted red velvet loveseat and a pair of ivory sheepskin chairs sit close enough for a late-night cocktail conversation, framed by floor-to-ceiling windows dressed in gold fringe curtains that catch the afternoon light like a curtain of tinsel.
The lounge areas throughout the property lean into the same instinct. Macrame owls and woven wall hangings cluster above a suspended, cone-shaped fireplace, its flame ringed by leather Moroccan poufs and olive velvet cushions built for lingering past midnight. Suzani-patterned daybeds, sequined throw pillows, and a rotating cast of pop-art accents (Adler has never met a hot pink lip or a graphic butterfly he didn’t like) keep every seating area from ever looking like it belongs to a chain hotel. Everywhere you look, you either want to take a selfie or capture a photo. It’s like it was built for the social media era.
Guest rooms carry the same cheeky personality in smaller doses. Needlepoint pillows stitched with a mid-century “Palm Springs” postcard motif sit on crisp white bedding, and the bathrooms are a design moment in their own right: lacquered red doors, Calacatta marble counters, gold rooster-shaped faucets, and oversized lucite-and-brass mirrors that make even a routine skincare routine feel worth photographing.
And every evening, the housekeepers leave a quirky bookmark on your bed – each one with its own distinctive quote or inspiring message.
Outside, the grounds do the rest of the work. Bougainvillea spills over garden walls in hot pink bursts, and stone pathways wind beneath towering palms, pampas grass, and citrus trees, the kind of landscaping that turns a walk back to your room into a small detour. Striped umbrellas in citrus and jewel tones shade the loungers at all three pools, including the adults-only Gene Autry pool, where a red Chinese pagoda peeks out from the greenery at the far end. Hammocks strung between palm trunks on the lawn make the case for doing absolutely nothing for an hour, and the fire pits, ringed in Butterfly chairs, take over once the desert sun drops.
A Celebrity History That Still Draws a Crowd
Parker’s celebrity pull predates Adler’s renovation, but it’s grown considerably since. The hotel has hosted the Palm Springs International Film Festival’s Awards Gala after-party for close to two decades, an event that regularly draws the season’s top Oscar contenders straight from the gala stage to the property’s pool deck for caviar and passed bites. Hotel staff have described Tom Hanks stopping by the caviar station one year, only to ask if the kitchen could make him French fries instead, a request they happily fulfilled. The appeal, according to longtime staff, comes down to privacy and pace: lush grounds, no traffic, mountain views, and a relaxed vibe that lets famous guests actually exhale.
As the hotel puts it: “Parker Palm Springs is all about the moments that matter. Here, time slows down. Relax, imbibe, play, or pamper; your day is your own.”
Where to Eat in Palm Springs
Norma’s
At the hotel, Norma’s is the all-day breakfast destination, a bright, open-air terrace with cheery colored decor that exudes a festive, celebration-inspired atmosphere. The restaurant serves dishes all day from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Breakfast leans indulgent, with French toast, waffle, and pancake builds that can go full extravagance or stay spare with poached eggs and grapefruit, alongside gluten-free, vegan, and vegetarian options. The room shifts personality by the hour: open and sunlit by day, then votive-lit and quieter once the menu turns to a short list of California-clean dinner entrées after dark.
Mister Parker’s
Also on property, Mister Parker’s takes the opposite tone entirely. It’s dark, moody, and intentionally mischievous, like a clandestine speakeasy-meets-supper club, built for over-the-top décor and under-the-table flirting in equal measure. During the Lamborghini press trip, the brand hosted an exclusive sit-down dinner inside the sultry restaurant, which made for an intimate and memorable experience. Open Wednesday through Sunday evenings, it draws a mixed crowd of aesthetes, wanderers, and regulars who treat it like their private club.
Mr. Lyons Steakhouse
A few minutes from the hotel, Mr. Lyons Steakhouse occupies a building with real history: originally opened as Lyons English Grille in 1945, it was purchased and fully renovated in 2015 as an homage to founder David Lyons. The steakhouse now spans seven distinct spaces, from the lush, indoor-outdoor Conservatory and Terrace to the jazz-age Grand Salon and Seymour’s, a back-room cocktail bar filled with old-world travel relics and its own bocce ball court. It’s a sexy, stylish destination built for lingering, whether over a martini in the lounge or a full dinner in the dining room.
So-Cal Sunset
For a more approachable, all-day menu, So-Cal Sunset in downtown Palm Springs covers brunch, lunch, and dinner with a broad, crowd-pleasing range. Weekend brunch brings Sunset Benedicts, chicken and waffles, and a shrimp omelet, while dinner shifts to steaks, house-made pasta, and fresh seafood, including pan-seared sand dabs and a build-your-own ceviche and crab cake spread. It’s a reliable stop for trendy travelers who want variety without sacrificing quality.
Bar Issi
Roughly 13 minutes from Parker in downtown Palm Springs, at the Thompson Palm Springs, Marissa Hermer of Los Angeles’ Boujis Group (who you might recognize from starring on Bravo’s Ladies of London, Seasons 1-3) has opened Bar Issi, marking the restaurant group’s first expansion beyond Los Angeles and one of the desert’s most talked-about openings this year.
The 180-seat restaurant and bar is built around house-made pastas, wood-fired pizzas, and a raw bar stocked with dishes like salmon crudo and Hawaiian bigeye tuna tartare. An Osetra caviar service, paired with blinis and crème fraîche, sits at the top of the menu, while weekend brunch offers a variety of dishes including ciabatta benedict, buttermilk pancakes, oysters, and even caviar service. Plus, they just added Martini Mondays, which includes $9 martinis at the bar and in the dining room.
The design, led by the UK firm Fettle, borrows its palette from 1970s Mediterranean glamour: a backlit bar built from repurposed yogurt pots, hand-blown glass chandeliers, and wallpaper printed with dancing crocodiles in green and pink. It’s maximalist by design, and it works.
Hermer, who serves as proprietor, says the restaurant is meant to function as a kind of escape hatch. “Bar Issi is really about escapism,” she says. “We wanted to create somewhere that transports you the moment you walk in. Growing up in Southern California, I was always drawn to places that weren’t afraid to be a little outrageous. That same spirit is woven into every corner of Bar Issi, alongside the cinematic glamour of the Italian coastline, the irreverence of Iris Apfel, and the warmth of an endless summer holiday. And Palm Springs just made complete sense for all of that. There’s an energy here that’s unlike anywhere else. It’s joyful, a little silly, and wonderfully over the top. People come here to shed whatever they’re carrying and just have fun. That’s exactly what we’re here for.”
What to Do in Palm Springs
On property at Parker, the resort’s activity list reads like a fantasy country club roster. Guests have access to two red clay tennis courts lit for night matches, a padel court, still rare among U.S. hotels, English croquet on manicured lawns, and pétanque paired with a glass of Pastis.
Three pools anchor the day: Silicon Valley, Gene Autry, and the indoor Palm Springs Yacht Club pool, each with private, plush cabanas built for an entire afternoon of lounging. As evening sets in, the fire pits draw guests into Butterfly chairs, and the Living Room lounge, a mix of love seats and hanging chairs beside the Mini Bar, becomes the spot for a nightly negroni or split of champagne.
Beyond the estate, downtown Palm Springs rewards a full day of exploring. Palm Canyon Drive is the city’s main shopping artery, lined with vintage boutiques, design galleries, and concept stores; the Uptown Design District alone is worth a slow afternoon for anyone who appreciates mid-century furniture and fashion.
A drive through the surrounding neighborhoods is one of the best ways to take in the city’s architecture. Palm Springs remains one of the country’s great mid-century modern archives, and its flat, walkable streets make it easy to spot the work of architects like Albert Frey and Richard Neutra from the saddle.
For a change of elevation, quite literally, the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway climbs Mount San Jacinto in a rotating gondola, delivering visitors from desert floor to alpine forest in under fifteen minutes. And for a quieter, more grounded desert experience, Indian Canyons offers hiking trails through palm oases fed by natural springs, tucked into the base of the mountains just south of downtown.
Between the hotel and the city surrounding it, Palm Springs is one of the most vibrant, sun-drenched places to vacation in California’s dreamy desert oasis. To discover other inspiring destinations and top-rated luxury resorts and restaurants, visit the Travel section on Inspirations & Celebrations.
[Travel and accommodations courtesy of Lamborghini. All opinions are my own. Affiliate links included.]
