Renaissance Palm Springs Hotel blends comfort with unexpected surprises
For sun-deprived East Coasters, Palm Springs, California, can sound like a mythical oasis, springing up from the desert fully loaded with vacationing celebrities, sparkling swimming pools, top-notch restaurants, iconic architecture, and luxury hotels. In recent decades, buoyed in part by a resurgence in interest in midcentury modernist design, the city of around 45,000 has undergone a renaissance, with massive redevelopment of its downtown and an influx of investment from hotel companies.
Booking the Renaissance Palm Springs Hotel
I've been a fan of American Express' Fine Hotels + Resorts and The Hotel Collection, so I wanted specifically to try out a hotel in Chase's newish hotel collection, The Edit. After going on Chase Travel and perusing The Edit's lodgings in Palm Springs for Modernism Week, I homed in on the Renaissance Palm Springs Hotel because it was a Points Boost hotel.
For 4 nights for 2 adults and a child, a room with 2 queen beds came to $1,582.38, or about $396 a night before taxes and fees (which totaled $226.38). The Points Boost feature let me redeem my Chase Ultimate Rewards points for 1.65 cents per point rather than the usual 1-point-per-cent value Chase Travel offers, so I could book with points instead for 95,901 points.
1. It's in a Convenient Location
The Renaissance Palm Springs Hotel stands about 4 blocks and a few minutes' walk from Palm Springs' main commercial street, South Palm Canyon Drive. It's on East Tahquitz Canyon Way, next to the Agua Caliente Tribal Court and kind of corner to the Festival Theaters cinema.
2. It's Not Midcentury Modern
The main reason I came to Palm Springs was Modernism Week. (The main reason my wife and son came was the pool.) But the house tours, neighborhood tours, and museums were where the midcentury modernist immersion ended.
3. It Was a Comfortable but Unexciting Room, but Held Up Well to Kids
The hotel was clean, practical, reasonably spacious, and comfortable. We slept well, and the rooms were quiet at night despite facing the street and parking lots. The beds were comfortable, the water pressure and temperature were good, and the rooms were cleaned regularly and well.
4. We Wished We Could've Used the Pool and Outdoor Spaces More
An unusual storm that hung out over Palm Springs for almost our entire stay meant chilly temperatures (in the 50s Fahrenheit during the day), high winds (gusts of up to 65 miles per hour), and long bouts of rain.
5. The Hotel Restaurant Was Well-Served and Efficient
Breakfast was simple and good enough to fill up and move on with our day.
6. The Laundry Room Was a Mystery
Though free self-service laundry was listed as an amenity in our welcome note and on an information sheet at the front desk, the laundry situation turned out to be a minor mystery.
7. It Has a Fitness Center and Market
The Renaissance Palm Springs Hotel has a large, reasonably well-equipped fitness center, though no one was using it when I visited.
8. Conference Space
The Renaissance Palm Springs Hotel looked like a popular place for corporate retreats and conventions, and there was apparently a White Claw corporate meeting here during our stay.
9. Bar Cecil Made the Best Martini I've Ever Had
Yes, it was worth it, even at up to $50 a pop.
Final Thoughts
It would be a lie to say that my family and I will remember much about the Renaissance Palm Springs Hotel in a few years. That doesn't make it a bad hotel - in fact, quite the opposite. We will remember the glitzy, chintzy fun of downtown Palm Springs, the beautiful homes, the views from the tramway, the surreal landscape of Joshua Tree, and the fun times we shared with our family and friends in California.
