Hot hotel openings in Palm Springs
With over a dozen new hotels flinging open their doors in the last two years and several big-name projects set to launch, Palm Springs has new rooms for everyone - from rock ‘n’ rollers and Hollywood history buffs to Facebook millionaires.
By 2015 two new major hotels will be built in the desert resort from the ground up for the first time in years, joining the likes of the recently-opened Hard Rock Hotel Palm Springs, the hipster haven Saguaro, and Random Haus, the nation’s first LGBT hotel to offer guests partial ownership.
Among the two properties being developed is Arrive, a 32-room boutique owned by the brainchild of Facebook millionaire, Ezra Callahan, who was the social site’s sixth employee. Located in the desirable Uptown Design District, the high-tech hotel will see smartphones function as room keys and is set to feature live poolside music throughout the year, with a modernist design created by architect Chris Pardo. According to Ezra, it will “appeal to travellers influenced by style, design and culture, and those who view travel as a social experience.” This hotel is scheduled to open by summer 2015.
Added to this, Kimpton is set to open a new four-star hotel on the former site of Palm Springs’ Desert Fashion Plaza. The luxury Hotel Palomar will feature 190 rooms, a chef-driven destination restaurant, and a lively rooftop bar and pool - the first of its kind in Palm Springs. Slated to open late 2015, the glass masterpiece will anchor the downtown district’s new revitalisation project which is transforming the Desert Fashion Plaza Mall into a pedestrian-friendly, urban village with new streets, restaurants and shopping outlets.
Testament to its growing appeal as a tourist destination, these two properties will add 222 rooms to Palm Springs’s current 6,500-plus room count.
In addition, at least a dozen more hotels are under the revitalisation of new ownership. These include The Palm Springs Hotel, which is opening in autumn 2014 and will evoke a love of mid-century tradition infused with a new-century passion, combining 21st-century appointments like Apple TV with desert-modernist architecture and Rat Pack artwork in homage of the city’s rich Hollywood history.
The new Triada Palm Springs is continuing the boutique resurgence and is set to open late October 2014 as part of Marriot’s Autograph Collection, transforming the old Spanish Inn into a luxury 56-room boutique. Located in the sought-after Movie Colony neighbourhood, this former Hollywood hangout once welcomed the likes of aviation pioneer Howard Hughes, played by Palm Springs’ newest celebrity home owner Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator and will feature two swimming pools, a spa and restaurant.
For more information, visit visitpalmsprings.com.
