Palm Springs hotels – IAMNOTASTALKER

September 13, 2019September 27, 2019

My Guide to Palm Springs – Hotels

Today’s post is loooooong overdue. For ages now, I’ve been talking about putting together a guide to Palm Springs. Having lived in the desert for over six years, regularly playing a tourist in my own town, has given me quite an insider’s knowledge of the area. Who better to share that knowledge with than my fellow stalkers? As was the case with My Guide to L.A., this list is not geared toward filming locations (though there will be a few mentioned), but will instead catalog non-filming-related recommendations of places to stay, eat, drink, grab coffee, and see/shop/play while in town. The guide also won’t be limited to Palm Springs proper but will cover most Coachella Valley cities including Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage and La Quinta. First up are my picks for the best area hotels!

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Thankfully, there is no shortage of extraordinary properties to book while visiting the desert. And I have checked in to quite a few of them during my tenure here. For the purposes of this post, I will only be listing hotels where I have actually stayed or spent considerable time. For a pricing key, I chose a random Friday in October (at the start of Palm Springs’ high season – rates are much cheaper in the summer) to base the nightly costs at my recommended lodgings. Those rates (which include all taxes and fees) are posted next to each property name and the hotels are listed in order from lowest to highest price. And now, without further ado, I present My Guide to Palm Springs Hotels!

1. Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa ($234) 44400 Indian Wells Lane, Indian Wells – I spent a birthday here a couple of years back with my parents and the Grim Cheaper and we all absolutely loved it! We are quite a disparate group when it comes to dietary needs and pickiness and our favorite part about the hotel was the many onsite restaurants (there are five, serving such diverse fare as pizza and sushi). During our stay, we’d meet with my parents each night in The Place, the resort’s central cocktail lounge, for an aperitif, then go our separate ways to grab takeout from whatever restaurant struck our fancy, bringing our choices back to The Place to all dine together. We spent three nights at the hotel and were never bored with our food choices once! The other amenities, including an onsite coffee bar, a spa (where I bought the softest sweatshirt), a pool with a sand beach, a massive lagoon, tennis courts, and a gym, were also bar none. All in all, a great hotel experience!

2. Miramonte Indian Wells Resort & Spa ($235) 45000 Indian Wells Lane, Indian Wells – A gorgeous 215-room resort spread out over 11 manicured acres. Designed to resemble a Tuscan villa, there’s no reason to leave this place after checking in. With 3 pools (one is adults-only!), a 12,000-square-foot spa, 24-hour room service, access to 2 golf courses, a restaurant, a bar, a fitness center, a fabulous gift shop, and gardens throughout, the Four Diamond-property has everything you’ll need and then some, all while retaining the feel of a boutique hotel. While the interiors and amenities are great, it is the grounds that make this spot so special. Miramonte Indian Wells truly is an oasis in the desert. And it’s a filming location, as well, having appeared on both The Real Housewives of Orange County and Flavor of Love!

3. Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa ($254) 41000 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage – Another area property with countless amenities, Omni Rancho Las Palmas features a golf course, 4 restaurants, a spa, a whopping 240 acres of land, and 3 pools, one of which, Splashtopia, is its real claim to fame. The 2-acre onsite water park is made complete with a lazy river, 2 water slides, and a man-made beach! Not something you ordinarily find at a hotel. The property also has the best gift shop I’ve ever visited! And it is situated directly across the street from The River at Rancho Mirage, a massive outdoor shopping/dining destination. Needless to say, Omni Rancho Las Palmas is another spot you never need to leave after checking in. It’s also something of a pop culture landmark! It was there that Ray Pruit (Jamie Walters) infamously pushed Donna Martin (Tori Spelling) down the stairs on Beverly Hills, 90210!

4. Hotel Paseo ($297) 45400 Larkspur Lane, Palm Desert – While this spot is obviously gorgeous, has amenities galore and countless Instagram opportunities (like the “California” wall below), Hotel Paseo really is all about location, location, location! Situated in the heart of Palm Desert’s exclusive El Paseo shopping district, the lodging is steps from countless boutiques – everything from Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co., and Kate Spade to Anthropologie, Banana Republic and Loft. Staples like Apple and Sephora are also there. Hotel Paseo itself features unique art, a restaurant, a pool, a pool bar, a putting green, a gym, a spa and a café that serves Starbucks coffee. Could you ask for anything more?

5. Hyatt Regency Indian Wells ($318) 44600 Indian Wells Lane, Indian Wells – Three words for you – adults-only pool! This spot was a favorite escape of mine and the GC in the early days of our relationship, back when I was teaching, the Oasis Adult Pool providing a much-needed respite from youngins. In a rare turn, the Oasis, which you can see a photo of here, is actually nicer than the hotel’s main pool, featuring its own bar/café, luxury cabanas, grassy expanses, a perimeter of palm trees, and stunning views. The rest of the Hyatt isn’t too shabby either, with four restaurants (in addition to the Oasis Pool Bar), a spa, a fitness center, a total of seven pools (!), a kids’ camp, pet accommodations, mountain views, lagoons, pathways, a golf course, and 45 gorgeous landscaped acres.

6. JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa ($353) 74855 Country Club Drive, Palm Desert – One of my absolute favorite area lodgings, JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa is truly a unique property, the majority of it surrounded by huge lakes which guests can tour via manned gondolas. Heading to one of the hotel’s nine (!) onsite restaurants on a boat truly is a unique experience. Though the resort is massive, with 884 rooms and 450 acres (and a Starbucks!), it still manages to be warm and friendly. Even if you don’t book a stay there, I highly recommend popping by for a visit and taking a boat tour because the JW truly is a sight to behold! And it has a major film location connection. It was there that Jessie Spano’s (Elizabeth Berkley) dad got married in the Season 3 episodes of Saved by the Bell titled “Palm Springs Weekend: Part I” and “Palm Springs Weekend: Part II.”

7. Triada Palm Springs ($353) 640 North Indian Canyon Drive, Palm Springs – This Mediterranean-style property oozes Old Hollywood charm and, in fact, has many ties to the Tinseltown of yore. Formerly The Ambassador Hotel, the lodging counts such stars as Lana Turner, Tyrone Power, Jimmy Durante, Esther Williams, Howard Hughes, Elizabeth Taylor, and Richard Burton as one-time guests. Dating back to the 1920s, the picturesque site has had several different iterations over the years, but was finally revamped by Marriott in 2014 and today is one of Palm Springs’ most fabulous destinations. It’s pretty much my family’s go-to spot for a staycation. Though it looks small from the outside, Triada is actually quite sprawling with an onsite restaurant, two bars, three pools, a gym, and 56 rooms. The hotel bills itself on being “exactly like nothing else” and it definitely delivers on that promise.

8. La Quinta Resort & Club ($374) 49499 Eisenhower Drive, La Quinta – My family and I first booked a stay at this spot in 2010 (as I blogged about here) and have since come back more times than I can count. It is one of our favorite desert locations. Though I am not a fan of the recent remodel (like at all!), the resort is still no doubt a very special, very historic place. Initially built in 1926, the Hacienda-like retreat existed before La Quinta was incorporated. In fact, the city was named after the hotel – one of only two West Coast municipalities with that claim to fame. (The other is Beverly Hills.) Long a playground for the rich and famous (Frank Capra wrote It’s a Wonderful Life there!), the property, part of the Waldorf-Astoria Collection, boasts 796 rooms, most of which are standalone casitas situated around lush courtyards with pools. The hotel is massive – featuring 23 tennis courts, 4 restaurants, 41 pools, 53 Jacuzzis, 6 boutiques, and 5 golf courses – yet it feels insanely intimate and private. The resort is a gem and truly one of a kind.

9. Two Bunch Palms ($379) 67425 Two Bunch Palms Trail, Desert Hot Springs – Situated north of the 10 Freeway in Desert Hot Springs, this one is a bit out of the way and far removed from most desert attractions, but don’t let that dissuade you from making a reservation. It is the place to stay if you truly want to get away from it all. The tucked-away oasis, which rumor has it once served as a hide-out for Al Capone, has long been a celebrity haven thanks to its remoteness, exclusivity, stunning grounds, and fabulous spa. Everyone from Julia Roberts to Neil Diamond has checked in. Boasting 70 rooms and bungalows, a grotto, two mineral pools, a lap pool, a gym, 77 acres of land (all of them lush!), a lagoon, a 3,000-square-foot yoga dome, and a farm-to-table restaurant, the wellness hotel feels more like a tropical getaway than a desert retreat. It’s also a filming location, having appeared in everything from The Bachelor to The Player, as I chronicled here.

10. The Riviera Palm Springs ($406) 1600 North Indian Canyon Drive, Palm Springs – You want a true Palm Springs experience, you say? Head straight to The Riviera! Originally opened in 1959, the lodging, built in the shape of a spoke wheel, was the stomping ground of Old Hollywood heavies Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Desi Arnaz, Sonny Bono, Cher, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, and Elvis Presley. The property is such an area landmark, it was even featured in the 1963 comedy Palm Springs Weekend! Reimagined first in 2008 and then again in 2016, The Riviera now offers the best in modern accommodations while still retaining a retro vibe. Easily one of the prettiest spots I’ve ever visited, the hotel, all soft greens, blushes and light blues, is an Instagrammer’s dream! With 398 rooms, six restaurants (!), a central pool, a spa (with a Watsu pool), 24 acres of manicured grounds, and its close proximity to downtown Palm Springs, you won’t regret booking a stay here. (Special thanks to my friend Kim for the photo below.)

11. The Chateau at Lake La Quinta ($411) 78120 Caleo Bay Drive, La Quinta – This hidden gem (most locals don’t even know it’s there!) sits perched overlooking the 25-acre man-made Lake La Quinta. The boutique lodging is small (there are only 24 rooms), but is not short on amenities, which include an onsite restaurant, a sprawling lawn, a patio strung with lights and a fire pit, a pool, and a jacuzzi. All rooms boast a patio or balcony facing the water and guests are greeted with a glass of champagne upon checking in (yaaaaassss!). The idyllic site, voted “Best of the Best” boutique hotel in La Quinta by Palm Springs Life magazine this year, is frequently completely booked out for weddings and events (especially on weekends), so if you want to stay there, be sure to make a reservation far in advance.

12. Sands Hotel & Spa ($449) 44985 Province Way, Indian Wells – Every square inch of this hotel has been styled to within an inch of its life – but in the best way possible! Sands is, simply put, gorgeous. A relative newcomer (formerly a rather dumpy timeshare, it opened last year after a lengthy renovation and expansion), this spot has become my absolute favorite local lodging. And it definitely gets the award for the area’s most Instagrammable hotel, thanks to the efforts of designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard. Outfitted in subtle greys and greens with blush accents, Sands is #décorgoals! The quaint lodging has an onsite restaurant (The Pink Cabana – it’s gorgeous, too!), a pool, cabanas that are free for guests to utilize, daybeds, an incredible spa (it literally looks like the inside of Jeannie’s bottle!), and 46 rooms. The neighboring Nest restaurant (which is a must-visit spot – it will be included in the upcoming My Guide to Palm Springs – Restaurants post) can get a little lively at night, so if you are seeking quiet, ask to be placed far removed from the eatery.

13. Kimpton Rowan Hotel ($499) 100 West Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs) – Modern, sleek, and situated right in the heart of downtown Palm Springs there’s not much more you can ask for when it comes to area hotels. This spot was built from the ground up in 2017, with serious attention to detail. The hotel couldn’t be any more PS, with its Mid-Century modern accents, if it tried. Standing at 7 stories, it is the tallest building in the city. It offers 153 rooms, a rooftop pool and restaurant, a lobby bar, a Mediterranean café, a gym, 270-degree views of the city, free bicycle rentals, and a nightly social hour with free wine and finger foods. (Not to mention serious bookshelf goals, amirite?) If you want to channel your inner Don Draper, this is the spot to do it.

14. Avalon Hotel and Bungalows ($523/night, 2-night minimum) (415 South Belardo Road, Palm Springs) – Another boutique hotel situated steps from downtown Palm Springs, the Avalon is a designer’s dream. Initially built in 1933 as the Estrella Inn, it was given an Old Hollywood Regency-style revamp in 2001 thanks to owner/interior designer Kelly Wearstler. Favoring a yellow aesthetic, the retro vibe has been done to perfection here. Pretty and polished, the hotel is somehow also warm and inviting. One look at the plush chaises and you’ll want to plunk down and never get up. Though seemingly small, the 3.5-acre site boasts 3 pools, an on-site restaurant, a spa, gardens, thirteen bungalows, and event space. And it’s a filming location! The Avalon is where Justin Bobby famously gave longtime on-again/off-again girlfriend Audrina Patridge a ring on the Season 4 finale of The Hills.

15. Ingleside Inn ($545) 200 West Ramon Road, Palm Springs – This hotel holds a very special place in my heart. It was there that the GC and I got engaged back in 2009. Regardless of that fact, though, I would still love the Ingleside Inn. The intimate hotel is secluded, tranquil and serene. Boasting amenities like a 24-hour pool and an onsite restaurant/bar with nightly dancing, the 30-room property still manages to be a quiet little haven. As such, celebrities have flocked to it, including Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston who spent three days there following their 2000 wedding. Along with Two Bunch Palms, this is a place to truly get away from it all. Since getting engaged, the GC and I have returned to the inn on several occasions and each time counts as one of my best hotel experiences. I can’t recommend the Ingleside more.

16. Korakia Pensione ($595/night, 2-night minimum) 257 South Patencio Road, Palm Springs – This hotel is nothing short of magical! The GC and I checked into the Moroccan-themed property for a two-night visit to celebrate our anniversary a few years back and wound up staying a full week! Each morning, we woke up and decided we just didn’t want to leave. The hotel has that effect. With vistas galore, tucked-away corners, two serene pools, lantern-strewn walkways, cobbled paths and foliage aplenty, beauty is literally at every turn. Essentially a bed and breakfast, morning meals are served on the picturesque front patio and afternoon tea is offered in the charming lobby. Old movies are also shown each evening al fresco, projected onto one of the Korakia’s courtyard walls, guests lounging on nearby pillows and bean bags to watch. It was there that the GC first saw The Wizard of Oz! The pensione offers one of the most unique hotel experiences you’ll come across, not just in Palm Springs, but anywhere.

17. The Ritz-Carlton, Rancho Mirage ($610) 68900 Frank Sinatra Drive, Rancho Mirage – Newly renovated in 2014, The Ritz in Rancho Mirage is one of the desert’s premier properties. Sitting atop a 650-foot bluff, the views of the surrounding area are unparalleled – as are the service and the amenities. There are three restaurants onsite (made-to-order sushi is even served at the pool!), a spa, two swimming pools, and countless expanses overlooking the Coachella Valley. They say you get what you pay for and a stay at the Ritz is definitely a luxury experience. Though I much preferred the look of the place before the remodel, the hotel is still undeniably beautiful. And it has a ton of Tinseltown ties! Not only did Trista and Ryan from The Bachelorette tie the knot there in a televised ceremony, but everyone from Katharine McPhee to Kym Johnson to Ryan Seacrest has checked in.

18. Parker Palm Springs ($740/night, 2-night minimum) 4200 East Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs – A former Holiday Inn, this spot is now one of Palm Springs’ most exclusive lodgings. The Mid-Century site is eclectic in all the right ways thanks to designer Jonathan Adler who gave the space a $27-million overhaul in 2003. Unique décor is at every turn here (the “drugs” sign in the lobby is an Instagram favorite). While vintage in theme, this is is definitely not your mom’s hotel! Featuring four pools, a lemonade stand, a golf course, a spa with 21 treatment rooms, croquet courts, two restaurants, two tennis courts, 13 shaded acres, and 144 rooms, the Parker has all of the amenities of a major resort, but still retains its intimacy. Perhaps that’s why celebs have flocked to it over the years. It was there that Brad Pitt and Angelia Jolie famously stayed – at opposite ends of the property, per their publicist – while shooting their “Domestic Bliss” cover story for W Magazine in 2005. And the Parker is also a filming location, having popped up in a Season 1 episode of The Comeback. Though the most expensive hotel on my list, I’ve literally never heard one bad thing about this place! Everyone I know who has stayed there counts it as an absolute favorite.

For those wishing to rent a private house rather than book a hotel, look no further than Oranj Palm Vacation Homes! As a surprise for my 40th birthday, my family leased a residence through the company and it was absolutely heavenly! The Aqua House (below) was well-appointed (there literally wasn’t one thing we needed that wasn’t supplied), decorated to Mid-Century Modern perfection, and completely comfortable. It was the ideal spot for our group of eight to relax, play, cook and imbibe. The rest of Oranj’s inventory is just as spectacular. The company is highly responsive and manages their properties insanely well. I couldn’t recommend them more.

Be sure to check out the other posts in My Guide to Palm Springs series about the desert’s best restaurants, coffee houses, bars and places to see/things to do. And, as always, for more stalking fun, you can follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

September 18, 2015September 17, 2015

Triada Palm Springs

For those who are unfamiliar with the area, Palm Springs is HOT in the summer. Well, it’s hot year-round, but in the summer it’s hot hot – like 115 most days. One nice consequence of that fact is that hotels drop their prices during the inclement months. My family loves to partake of the low rates with short staycations in various area hotels. Last week, we had the pleasure of checking into Triada Palm Springs. Though not a filming location, the place does have quite a few celebrity ties, so I figured it was most definitely blog-worthy.

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I was unfamiliar with Triada until my mom booked our recent stay and was under the assumption that it was newly-built. Upon checking in, I got to talking with the front desk clerk about the hotel’s history (as I am always apt to do) and was shocked to discover that the place has a ton of it! Though the property opened as Triada less than a year ago, its origins date back to the 1920s!

The man who checked us in turned out to be Triada’s sales manager and, prior to the hotel’s opening last November, he put together an extensive article on the site’s past, including its ties to Tinseltown. He lit up when I began asking for information (turns out he is just as big of a Hollywood history buff as I am) and even offered to give me a tour of the historic parts of the property. I, of course, took him up on that offer and was thrilled with what I learned.

The property now known as Triada was originally a private residence built between 1927 and 1929. Owned by a woman named Lucy Berry, it was the first home to be constructed in the Palm Springs Estates neighborhood. The dwelling was situated on the southeast corner of East Via Altamira and North Indian Canyon Drive, in the area where Triada’s Alma Building, which houses the hotel’s lobby, business center and restaurant, now stands.

It is thought that portions of the lobby (pictured below) may be original to Lucy’s house.

In 1934, Lucy sold her home to a venture capitalist named David Margolius, who planned to use it as a winter residence. It was not long before he changed course, though, and decided to capitalize on Palm Spring’s growing tourism industry by transforming the property into a hotel. He converted Lucy’s home into a small inn and then began purchasing the land surrounding it. By 1938, he had acquired the neighboring 1.4 acres and that same year began constructing a building and a courtyard, the design of which was reminiscent of his favorite city, Barcelona. Today, that building is Triada’s Mente Building (pictured below).

As you can see in the photograph below as compared to this picture from the book Palm Springs in Vintage Postcards, Mente looks almost exactly the same today as it did when it was originally built.

The archways pictured in this 1943 photograph are also part of the Mente Building. The side of the arches that appears in the historic image has since been covered over with shrubbery, so I was not able to snap a matching photo. The picture below is taken from the opposite direction, but it still shows how little of the archways has changed in the ensuing 72 years.

Margolius named his inn The Ambassador Apartment Hotel and it was opened to the public in 1939. It quickly became a success. You can check out some pictures of the place in those early days here, here and here. In 1947, Margolius added a swimming pool to the property, which you can see a photograph of here. Sadly, that pool has since been filled in and the Triada’s Corazon Building now stands in its place. The Corazon’s central courtyard (pictured below) is situated in pretty much the exact spot where the former pool was located.

In 1948, Margolius renamed the site The Ambassador Hotel. To accommodate his growing patronage in the years that followed, he expanded Lucy’s former residence by adding two large wings with guest rooms, the first in 1951 and the second in 1956.

Celebrities flocked to The Ambassador. Such luminaries as Tyrone Power, Lana Turner, Jimmy Durante, Esther Williams, and Italian opera singer Amelita Galli-Curci are all reported to have stayed there. It is said that Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton trysted at the hotel on more than one occasion and typically did so in the Penthouse, aka Room 125, the entrance to which is pictured below.

Room 125 boasts its own private stairwell and entrance, which afforded the two the ultimate in privacy during their stays.

Howard Hughes preferred Room 312 in what is now the Mente Building. Since Triada took over, more than a few strange happenings have occurred in that particular suite. Apparently, shortly before opening, a photographer was set to snap some publicity shots of the hotel and several of the rooms, one of which was 312. The space was dressed prior to the shoot, but when the photographer stepped inside, he found that the never-been-used sheets had been removed from the bed, balled up and stashed in a corner. Perhaps Hughes enjoyed his time at The Ambassador so much that he chose to move in permanently in the afterlife – and bring his eccentric habits with him.

After Margolius’ death in 1969, his widow sold the 34-room hotel to an Italian-American family. They sold the property just a few years later, in 1972, to Sue Ladd, actor Alan Ladd’s widow. She renamed the site Alan Ladd’s Spanish Inn and during her tenure as owner, many of Ladd’s Hollywood friends and contemporaries stayed on the premises.

Sue passed away in 1982 and her estate sold the hotel five years later. The new owners renamed the place The Spanish Inn and set about remodeling it, but wound up going bankrupt less than a year after acquiring the property and Ladd’s estate subsequently foreclosed. The Spanish Inn was eventually shuttered in 1994 and, outside of a few attempts at renovating it, sat abandoned for the two decades that followed. When I found this information out, I just about fell over. A long abandoned property in Palm Springs that I never had the chance to view? How is that possible? I did just discover and stalk a different abandoned hotel in the area that I will be blogging about during my Haunted Hollywood postings, though, so I guess there’s that. I am already counting down the days until those posts! Why can’t it be October yet?

After being bought, sold and partially renovated several times, The Spanish Inn was finally purchased by Pacifica Host Hotels in 2012. The company completed the many different renovations that had been started on the site, all the while preserving as much of its history as possible. As you can see in the aerial images pictured below, the first of which was taken in 2000 by architect James A. McBride II, the site still looks very much the same today as it did prior to the remodels. Notice that in the 2011 aerial view, the second pool in the courtyard of the Mente Building had yet to be built. (Bing Maps does not currently provide a more recent aerial image, unfortunately.)

Triada, which is Spanish for “three related parts,” opened its doors on November 22nd, 2014. The Marriott Autograph Hotel boasts three wings, 56 rooms, two pools, a hot tub, a restaurant, two bars, and a gym. Its motto is “exactly like nothing else” and my family found that absolutely to be true. Triada is an incredibly special place and we loved our time there. Not only is the property gorgeous and peaceful and the rooms fabulously modern and sleek (I could happily live in one of the rooms!), but the customer service is bar none. We are already eager to return. In fact, my dad is currently making plans to do so. I, for one, can’t wait.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Triada Palm Springs is located at 640 North Indian Canyon Drive in Palm Springs. You can visit the hotel’s official website here.

May 23, 2013June 30, 2020

The Colony Palms Hotel

Upon first moving to the Desert back in January, the Grim Cheaper’s boss, who also resides in the Coachella Valley, told me about a small Palm Springs-area inn named the Colony Palms Hotel that she thought I might be interested in stalking due to its vast Hollywood history. For whatever reason, though, I completely forgot about the place until the GC and I happened to drive by it a couple of weeks ago. So, since we were right there and since it was almost 5 o’clock, I suggested we pop in for a quick cocktail. It turned out to be quite the fortuitous stop, too, because while sitting at the wood-paneled bar, I did some cyber-stalking of the property on my trusty iPhone and just about died when I came across this June 2012 Los Angeles Times article that stated that my girl Miss Marilyn Monroe used to hang out there!

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The Colony Palms Hotel was originally founded in 1936 by Al Wertheimer, a Detroit mobster who was once a member of the Motor City’s notorious Purple Gang. At the time, the property was known as the Colonial House and, while billing itself as a hotel, under Wertheimer’s tutelage the site was actually a private club that featured an underground gambling den, a bar and a brothel that were reached via a secret staircase hidden behind a pantry door. The upscale establishment quickly became popular with the Hollywood set and such stars as Clark Gable, Carole Lombard and Humphrey Bogart were known to frolic there.

In 1951, the property was sold to Robert Howard (whose father owned the legendary racehorse Seabiscuit) and his wife, Academy Award-nominated actress Andrea Leeds. The couple hired architect E. Stewart Williams and designer/artist O. E. L. Graves to remodel the site and it was re-opened a year later under the name Howard Manor. The Spanish Colonial-style hotel remained popular with the Hollywood elite and such stars as Kirk Douglas, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Diahann Carroll, Frank Sinatra, Howard Hughes, Ronald Reagan, David Janssen, Dean Martin, and my girl Marilyn were all known to check in from time to time. You can see a photograph of what the place looked like during the Howard Manor days here.

The hotel changed hands several times from the late 1950s through 1979 (it was even at one time owned in part by boxer Jack Dempsey), at which point it was purchased by fitness guru Sheila Cluff, who had previously founded The Oaks at Ojai. Sheila transformed the site into a health resort and renamed it The Palms at Palm Springs.

In 2004, The Palms was purchased by a commercial investor named Steven Ohren who immediately enlisted designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard to renovate the place, at a cost of $15 million. Of his creation, which took three years to complete, Bullard said in a December 2007 Palm Springs Life article, “I wanted to make it young and fresh with these mad designs — sort of Chateau Marmont in the desert.” Thankfully though, the Chateau’s horribly snobby attitude (that place is my least favorite hotel in L.A.) was left at the door. The same Palm Springs Life article stated, “After tolerating the standard withering gaze of ultra-hip hotel staff around the world, he [Ohren] promises an attitude-free environment.” And he delivered! I am very happy to report that the Colony Palms is most-definitely attitude-free.

Sadly, Ohren, who lived onsite at the Colony, passed away in 2008. The hotel was subsequently sold in July 2012 to developer Michael Rosenfeld, who, thankfully, has managed to maintain the place’s charming, attitude-free environment. Today, the 57-room, three-acre property boasts a pool, a gym, a hot tub, a Moroccan-themed spa, and several French-inspired gardens.

The Colony also features a poolside fine-dining establishment named the Purple Palm, a nod to Al Wertheimer’s one-time membership in the Purple Gang.

As you can see below, the Purple Palm’s patio is nothing short of heavenly! I could have spent all day there!

Despite the Colony Palms’ fairly large size, the property feels intimate and quaint with numerous tucked-away spaces. And while I would absolutely LOVE to stay there for a weekend, being that rates start in the $250-range (during the off-season summer months, no less!), I know the GC will be having none of that.

Bonus – the Colony Palms is also a filming location! Kristin Cavallari checked into the hotel with her glam squad while in town for an Uncommon James photo shoot in the Season 2 episode of Very Cavallari titled “Shake Ya Palm Palms,” which aired in 2019.

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Colony Palms Hotel is located at 572 North Indian Canyon Drive in Palm Springs. You can visit the Colony’s official website here.

August 3, 2011August 2, 2011

The Miramonte Resort & Spa in Indian Wells

One Palm-Springs-area hotel that I have long wanted to vacation at – not because it is a filming location, but because it is just simply beautiful – is the Miramonte Resort & Spa in Indian Wells. The Grim Cheaper and I ate dinner at the resort once upon a time many years back and I have been enamored of the place ever since. So for our recent Coachella Valley getaway two weekends ago, I begged the GC to book us a room there. And even though the rates weren’t exactly inexpensive despite the intense summer heat, he readily agreed! Shocking, I know! It was not until the very end of our stay, as we were checking out of the hotel, that I discovered, thanks to the super nice concierge on duty, that the resort was not only something of a celebrity hot-spot, but also a filming location! They say that the more you think about something, the more you attract that thing to you and in this particular instance that was definitely the case. It seems I always find myself stalking, even when I am not necessarily intending to. Winking smile

The Miramonte Resort & Spa, which has been awarded Four Diamond status from AAA, boasts 215 spacious guest rooms sprawled throughout an 11-acre piece of property that has been designed to resemble a Tuscan villa. The well-manicured grounds include several flower and herb gardens, outdoor fireplaces and piazzas, meandering pathways, hammocks tucked away in shaded little spaces, sparkling fountains, 24-hour room service (LOVE it!), a two-story, 12,000-square-foot spa, which was named the “#1 Resort Spa in North America & Caribbean” by Conde Nast Traveler, two 18-hole championship golf courses, two pools, including an adults-only pool, and over 30,000 square feet of event and meeting space. And while the resort is quite large and boasts countless amenities, it somehow manages to retain an intimate, secluded, and quiet ambiance. Both the GC and I absolutely loved the place!

Best of all, we somehow got upgraded to a 425-square-foot “Estate Room” during our stay, which featured a full marble bathroom, two queen-sized ‘Desert Dream Beds’, a sitting area, free wireless internet (which the GC was absolutely floored about), a 42-inch flat screen TV, and striking views of the Santa Rosa Mountains.

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The Miramonte’s SUPER-nice concierge, who spent about twenty minutes speaking with me about filming locations and my website, informed me that The Real Housewives of Orange County had once filmed at the hotel. In the Season 6 episode titled “Body Shots”, Housewife Peggy Tanous and her husband, Micah, spent the weekend with their two daughters, Capri and London, in the Miramonte’s Presidential Suite. It was while laying by the resort’s pool that baby Capri cut her finger and had to be rushed to the hospital – which was just a slight overreaction to the situation in my opinion, but I digress.

The concierge also informed me that in the Season 1 episode of Flavor of Love titled “Flav’s Trippin’”, Flavor Flav took contestants Brooke Thompson, aka “Pumkin”, and Nicole Alexander, aka “Hoopz”, to the Miramonte for a spa getaway. Just a few of the other celebrities who have been spotted at the resort include Larry King, three-time Olympic figure skating World Champion Peggy Fleming, Bernie Mac, George Lopez, Tony Bennett, Tommy Hilfiger, Chris Tucker, and Judy Sheindlin, aka “Judge Judy”.

On a side note – while at my parents’ new house this past weekend, I came across a few celebrity autographs that I had compiled over the years, including the one pictured above from Miss Liza Minnelli. And even though, because I have always been far more into photographs than autographs, there are not that many of them, I thought it might be fun to post a few on my site. So I created a new page titled “Celebrity Guest Book”. You can check it out here. Enjoy!

And a very big HAPPY ANNIVERSARY goes out to my parents today, who are celebrating a whopping 37 years of marriage! Congratulations, guys! I love you!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Miramonte Resort & Spa is located at 45000 Indian Wells Lane in Indian Wells. You can visit the hotel’s official website here.

June 17, 2011June 17, 2011

Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston’s Honeymoon Suite at the Ingleside Inn

As I mentioned in Monday’s post, I spent my recent birthday weekend in Room 148 of the Ingleside Inn in Palm Springs – the very room where Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston stayed during their mini-honeymoon shortly following their July 29th, 2000 wedding. I first found out about the Ingleside Inn back in April of 2009 thanks to this Jetsetters Magazine article and, as you can imagine, just about died upon hearing that my girl Jen had honeymooned there. Then, shortly thereafter, the Grim Cheaper ended up proposing to me at the Ingleside, so the hotel has always had a very special place in my heart. During that proposal weekend, I, of course, just had to ask Melvyn Haber, the Ingleside’s longtime owner, what room it was that Brad and Jen had stayed in. Before I could even get the question fully out of my mouth, he replied, “Room 148, the Princess Room.” And that right there is just one of the many reason that I fell in love with the hotel! Almost a full decade later, Melvyn STILL knew the exact room where Brad and Jen had stayed right off the top of his head!

Flash forward to a couple of weeks ago. My dad called me up to let me know that he had booked Brad and Jen’s honeymoon suite as a surprise for my upcoming birthday. (He had to tell me about his plans a few weeks early as the GC and I had been thinking about spending my birthday at Disneyland and were thisclose to booking a hotel room there.) I happened to be driving at the time and got so excited upon hearing his news that I literally almost crashed the car! For those who have never visited the Palm Springs area, it gets EXTREMELY hot there during the summer months – we are talking like 115 to 120 degrees hot – so hotels drastically drop their rates from early June through the end of August. Because of this, and the fact that the Ingleside inn is not overly-expensive to begin with, my dad was able to get Brad and Jen’s room for only $200 per night! My birthday just so happened to fall on my mom’s very last day of work ever (she retired this year), so he also booked a suite at the hotel for them, and talked the GC into booking a second night in Brad and Jen’s room so that we could all spend the weekend together. Now mind you, my dad was extremely sick during this time and was in and out of the hospital, so how he managed to come up with such an incredible idea AND do all of the planning without me or my mom’s help – not to mention that he also purchased some FABULOUS gifts for the two of us – is absolutely BEYOND me!! It was one of the best, most exciting weekends of my entire life and I cannot believe he pulled it all off while feeling so incredibly sick! Best. Present. Ever.

When we first arrived at the Ingleside Inn and were checking in at the front desk, I saw the above-pictured “Happy Birthday Lindsay” message displayed on the marquee in the front lobby and just about fell over. So incredibly cool!! The lobby sign is very typical of the personal touches that the Ingleside Inn employs in order to make guests feel at home. Love it!

After checking in, we were handed the above-pictured room key. As you can see, the Ingleside Inn still uses actual brass room keys, not the keycards that are typically found in hotels today. So, as you can imagine, as soon as those keys were handed over, I turned to the GC and said, “OH MY GOD! Jennifer Aniston once held this key in her hand!” Granted, the key quite possibly could have been swapped out for a new one in the decade that has passed since Jen stayed at the Ingleside, but just let me have my fantasy! Winking smile

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I covered the Ingleside Inn’s vast history in the post I wrote about the hotel back in May of 2009, so I won’t go over it again here. But needless to say, the tiny, 30-room inn, which sits on just over 2.5 acres of land, has had quite a celebrated history since it was first founded in 1939. Thanks to its extreme privacy and award-winning service, celebrities have long been drawn to the place like moths to a flame. Just a few of the luminaries who have stayed there over the years include Frank Sinatra, Kate Hudson, Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Greta Garbo, Elizabeth Taylor, Debbie Reynolds, Lance Bass, Donald Trump, Marla Maples, Ava Gardner, Clark Gable, Marlon Brando, Gary Cooper, John Wayne, Bob Hope, John Travolta, David Boreanaz, Joan Collins, Cher, Howard Hughes, and Rita Hayworth. The Ingleside is by no means fancy or extravagant, though. It is a very simple, low-key retreat where people go to truly get away from it all. The Inn is not a party hotel, it is not a place for families, and it is not modern in any way, shape, or form. It is an extremely quiet, private, and relaxing sanctuary; the type of place where an A-List star can lay out by the pool and not worry about being approached by a fan or fellow guest.

Brad and Jen’s honeymoon suite features a wood-burning fireplace, a sitting area, a king-sized bed, two picture windows, and a plasma TV, and while it is extremely nice, it is not overly-luxurious or the type of place one would expect one of the most famous couples in the world to have spent their honeymoon. And that right there is why I LOVE Jen so much! Of course she would choose a simple, laid-back, low-key space to spend her first few days of married life. And while Brad and Jen’s room is a suite, it is by no means the Ingleside’s largest. There are two others that are far bigger than the Princess Room, which led me to wonder how the couple ending up choosing it for their honeymoon.

Besides the fact that Jen has always been a fan of small spaces (the bungalow she rented in Malibu post-divorce measured a scant 1,531 square feet, the home on Blue Jay Way where she lived during the height of her Friends’ success measured only 2,903 square feet, and she is currently selling her 9,105-square-foot Beverly Hills manse as it is reportedly too large for her), as it turns out, the Princess Room is by far the hotel’s most private and secluded suite. It is located towards the very back of the property, far away from the pool and the award-winning Melvyn’s restaurant, but close to the back parking area, which means that Brad and Jen could have parked their car and been inside of their room less than ten steps later. As you can see above, there is also a gate surrounding that particular wing of the hotel, which consists of three rooms, and the actual suite itself is bordered by a large stucco wall.

The Princess Room is one of the few at the hotel that also boasts a completely private patio area, which I absolutely fell in love with while there.

As you can imagine, pretty much all weekend I was saying things like “I just took a shower where Jennifer Aniston once showered!” or “Jennifer Aniston sat on this couch!” or, my personal favorite, “Jennifer Aniston slept here!” My head was literally about to explode the entire time I was there! And poor, poor fellow stalker Owen! I must have sent him about 100 text messages, all saying things like, “I just washed my face where Jennifer Aniston once washed her face!” Smile

My parents stayed in Room 145, aka “Margaret’s Room”, which according to one of the super-nice front desk clerks that we spoke with while there, was one of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver’s favorite suites. The former Governator and his soon-to-be ex-wife stayed at the hotel on an almost monthly basis at one point in time.

My parents’ room boasted a HUMONGOUS semi-private patio (semi-private as it has an opening on the backside that is accessible to the public) that was honestly bigger than most backyards!

All in all, it was an A-MA-ZING weekend and, as you can see above, I was BEYOND sad to check out of what the GC and I had dubbed “our perfect little room”.

Ingleside Inn–Brad and Jen’s honeymoon hotel

You can watch a video about the Ingleside Inn, in which owner Melvyn Haber is interviewed, by clicking above.

Ingleside Inn Palm Springs

And you can watch another video, which shows the Inn’s beautiful grounds, by clicking above.

On a stalking side-note – This Sunday (June 19th), stalking gods Harry Medved and Karie Bible will be signing copies of their new book Location Filming in Los Angeles at Vroman’s Bookstore, which is located at 695 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. They will also be conducting a walking tour of some famous Pasadena movie sites, including locations from Knocked Up, The Prestige, Live Free and Die Hard, and Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator immediately following the signing at 4 p.m.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Ingleside Inn is located at 200 West Ramon Road in Palm Springs. Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston spent their honeymoon in the hotel’s Princess Room, aka Room 148. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver frequently stayed in Margaret’s Room, aka Room 145. You can visit the Ingleside Inn’s official website here.

June 1, 2011June 1, 2011

Caliente Tropics Resort from “Alpha Dog”

Another location that I dragged the Grim Cheaper out to stalk while visiting the Palm Springs area two weekends ago was the Caliente Tropics Resort which appeared in the ultra-disturbing 2006 movie Alpha Dog. I found this location thanks to fave stalking book Hollywood Escapes: The Moviegoer’s Guide to Exploring Southern California’s Great Outdoors, which was written by stalking god Harry Medved (who, as it just so happens, will be signing books at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena on Sunday, June 19th at 2 p.m., but I digress). For those who have yet to see Alpha Dog – and I can’t really say that I would recommend doing so as it is extremely depressing – the movie very closely follows the true life story of the kidnapping and murder of 15-year-old Nicholas Markowitz by drug dealer Jesse James Hollywood and his gang of friends. Pretty much the only differences between the actual story and its onscreen counterpart are the names of those involved and the setting. In real life, Nicholas was kidnapped from his hometown of West Hills and taken to Santa Barbara, where he was held hostage for three days, during which time he attended a pool party at the Lemon Tree Inn. In Alpha Dog, the Markowitz character, who was named Zack Mazursky, was kidnapped from Claremont and then taken to Palm Springs for the weekend, during which time he attended a pool party at the Caliente Tropics Resort. It was that resort that the GC and I set out to stalk two weekends ago.

The Caliente Tropics Resort was originally constructed in 1964 as part of motel mogul Ken Kimes’ tiki-themed motor-hotel chain and was known simply as The Tropics. (While Kimes built and owned over 60 successful motels in his lifetime, he is perhaps best known for being married to murderer/con-woman/Elizabeth-Taylor-impersonator Sante Kimes). In its early years, the Tropics was THE place to vacation in the Coachella Valley and such luminaries as Elvis Presley and most of the members of the Rat Pack were frequent guests. Nancy Sinatra even lived there for a time during her childhood. Sadly, the motel fell into disrepair sometime during the 80’s and remained that way until the year 2000, whereupon it was purchased by new owners who immediately embarked upon a $2.2 million restoration project to bring the property back to its original, Polynesian-themed grandeur.

The Caliente Tropic Resort boasts the third largest pool in the Coachella Valley. It holds a whopping 100,000 gallons of water and, amazingly enough, looks exactly the same today as it did when the place first opened in 1964. The pool also has the distinction of being the site of one of the very first Miss Hawaiian Tropic contests.

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In Alpha Dog, the Caliente Tropics Resort is stated to be in Palm Desert, but in actuality the hotel is located about eleven miles west of Palm Desert, right in the heart of Downtown Palm Springs. In the movie, Frankie Ballenbacher (aka Justin Timberlake) takes Zack Mazursky (aka Anton Yelchin) to a party at the Caliente at the behest of drug-dealer/kingpin Johnny Truelove (aka Emile Hirsch), who has kidnapped the teenager in order to hold him as a marker for a debt his brother owes. Several areas of the hotel appeared in the flick, including the exterior, which you can see above. And I really do have to apologize for the quality of my screen captures – as I mentioned earlier, Alpha Dog is a very dark movie and my screen captures definitely reflect that.

The pool area also appeared in the movie as the spot where Zack – ahem – “swam” with his new friends Julie Beckley (aka Amanda Seyfried) and Alma (aka Amber Heard).

I am fairly certain that one of the hotel’s real life rooms was also used in the filming, but I was, unfortunately, not able to verify that while I was stalking the place.

The Caliente Tropics Resort was also featured in the 1997 movie City of Industry as the hotel where Roy (aka Harvey Keitel) and Lee Egan (aka Timothy Hutton) stayed while in Palm Springs planning the heist of a local jewelry store.

While stalking the hotel, the GC spotted three cement blocks bearing sets of handprints, a la Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. One of the blocks was signed by someone named “Anna Nicole”, whom I logically assumed was reality star Anna Nicole Smith. I promptly went to the front desk to inquire about the blocks, but not only did the woman working in the office not know who the Anna Nicole in question was, but she had also been unaware up until that time that there were even signed cement blocks with handprints on the premises! Needless to say, she was not exactly a wealth of information. Winking smile Anyway, while she was speaking with me, she told me she did not believe the handprints belonged to the reality star, saying with a crinkled nose, “I seriously doubt Anna Nicole Smith would have ever stayed here.” LOL

As it turns out, though, Miss Smith did in fact once stay at the Caliente Tropics Resort during the filming of the Season 2 episode of The Anna Nicole Show titled “Anna (Palm) Springs into Action”. In the episode, Anna ventures out to the Desert in order to judge the 2003 American Guy male beauty contest. And, ironically enough, the woman at the front desk was actually not too far off in her assessment of the situation, as Anna complained about her accommodations the entire time she was there, calling the hotel “cheapy” and “embarrassing”.

The Anna Nicole Show–Caliente Tropics Resort

You can watch a clip from the “Anna (Palm) Springs into Action” episode of The Anna Nicole Show, in which the Caliente Tropics Resort is shown, by clicking above.

Unfortunately I never was able to figure out who the other sets of handprints belonged to. The block on the left looks as if it says, “Sav-A-Pet”, “Petsmart”, “Herb M.”, and “Marcel”, but after Googling countless combinations of those particular words, I came up empty-handed. And I am at a complete loss as to what is spelled out on the block on the right. I believe the first word is “Harold”, but neither the GC nor I could figure it out while we were stalking the hotel. Ideas, anyone?

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Caliente Tropics Resort, from Alpha Dog, is located at 411 East Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs. You can visit the hotel’s official website here. The cement block featuring Anna Nicole Smith’s handprints can be found in the patch of grass located just south of the resort’s pool, in the area marked with a pink “X” in the above aerial view.

December 9, 2010December 8, 2010

La Quinta Resort & Club

Brace yourselves, my fellow stalkers, ‘cause today’s post is going to be a long one! As I mentioned yesterday, the Grim Cheaper and I spent this past weekend in Palm Springs and we came to do so thanks to an extremely serendipitous course of events. Last Wednesday night, I was curled up on my couch reading the December issue of fave publication Los Angeles Magazine when I came across an advertisement for La Quinta Resort & Club which stated that Frank Capra had written the screenplay for It’s A Wonderful Life while staying at the legendary hotel. In honor of the iconic movie, the resort was featuring an It’s a Wonderful Life-themed Christmas celebration each night throughout the month of December. I, of course, just about had a heart attack upon reading those words and immediately informed the GC that we would be making a trip out to the desert in the coming weeks. Well, not five minutes later, my mom called to inform me that she and my father were heading to Palm Springs for the weekend and that she had booked a room at . . . you guessed it – La Quinta Resort! Talk about the stars aligning! She asked if the GC and I would like to join them for the weekend and I started packing my bags pretty much right then and there. Smile

The resort, which was originally named Hotel La Quinta meaning “country retreat”, was first opened in 1926 by Walter H. Morgan, heir to the Morgan Oyster Company fortune. Morgan had moved from his native San Francisco to the Palm Springs area in 1921 after purchasing 1,400 acres of land in what was then known as “Happy Hollow”. He decided to use that land to build an intimate and exclusive hotel where his rich and famous friends could be pampered while escaping the hustle and bustle of the city. He enlisted Pasadena-area architect Gordon Kaufman, who is most famous for constructing the Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia and the L.A. Times Building in Downtown Los Angeles, to design the hotel, which was to be modeled after a Spanish hacienda. The retreat, which consisted of 20 individual casitas, a restaurant, a lobby, and a nine-hole golf course (the Coachella Valley’s first golf course, in fact!) was constructed at a cost of a whopping $150,000. The resort officially opened to the public in January of 1927 – although Morgan had hosted a select group of his friends there in December of the previous year – and became enormously popular over the next decade and a half, mostly due to word of mouth among Los Angeles’ elite, and counted such stars as Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, Ginger Rogers, Bette Davis, Robert Montgomery, and Erroll Flynn as its guests. World War II sadly took its toll on the hotel, though, thanks to gas rationing which prevented people from traveling long distances. In 1942, the property closed its doors at which point the US Army took over and the Army Tank and Army Air Corps Division made use of the premises. After the war ended, the resort was sold and once again became a popular getaway for the rich and famous, as it remains to this day. A private airstrip even had to built on the property to accommodate those guests traveling by air. In 1982, the City of La Quinta was incorporated, becoming one of only two cities on the West Coast to be named in honor of a hotel. The other? Beverly Hills, which became incorporated in 1914 and was named after the Pink Palace, aka the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Today, La Quinta Resort & Club, which is a part of the Waldorf-Astoria Collection of hotels, is an absolutely BEAUTIFUL retreat consisting of 796 different rooms and suites, most of which are individual single-story dwellings or “casitas” situated around sprawling courtyards and pools. And even though the resort is staggeringly HUGE – besides having 796 rooms, it also currently boasts 23 tennis courts, 4 restaurants, a 23,000-square foot spa, 41 pools, 53 Jacuzzis, and 5 golf courses – somehow the property has managed to maintain an intimate, small hotel-feel. Because the rooms are spread across a vast 45 acres of land, the grounds are extremely quiet and private. So private, in fact, that it almost felt as if my parents, the GC, and I were the only people on the property the entire weekend. So love it!

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Upon check-in, we were given a booklet which not only detailed the hotel’s legendary history, but also listed many of the luminaries who have stayed there over the years. It was at that moment that I knew that La Quinta was my kind of place! Smile Just a few of the stars who have vacationed there at one time or another include Drew Barrymore, Danny DeVito, Jim Belushi, Annette Bening, Sean Connery, Clint Eastwood, Kevin Costner, Simon Cowell, Casey Kasem, Diane Keaton, Ben Kingsley, Ginger Rogers (who got married on the property in 1953), Harvey Keitel, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Ray Charles, Harry Connick Jr., Neil Diamond, Cyndi Lauper, Justin Timberlake, Al Pacino, Matthew Perry, Tom Hanks, Katherine Hepburn, Adam Sandler, Katie Holmes, Gregory Hines, Shirley Temple, Mark Wahlberg, and Bruce Willis. I could literally go on and on and on! Several presidents have also checked into the hotel over the years, including George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Gerald Ford, Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and Calvin Coolidge. And numerous sports stars have also stayed there, including Andre Agassi, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Roger Clemens, Roger Federer, Wayne Gretzky, Ken Griffey Jr., Magic Johnson, Joe Montana, Bruce Jenner, Michael Jordan, Jack Nicklaus, and Arnold Palmer. I was most excited to find out, though, that the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson, had once visited the hotel!

Well, let me tell you, once I heard that MJ had vacationed there, I became ABSOLUTELY OBSESSED with finding out exactly which room he had stayed in. So, I immediately sought out the resort’s concierge and ended up speaking with a woman who literally could NOT have been nicer. Truth be told, though, EVERYONE at the hotel was INCREDIBLY nice! Anyway, the concierge told me that she was fairly certain the hotel had a detailed list of what particular rooms various celebrities had stayed in over the years and that she would try to track it down for me. And track it down she did! And even though Michael Jackson was not named on the list, due to the fact that it hadn’t been updated in quite a few years, the concierge did some research and managed to find out exactly where he had stayed during his visit – Room 735, otherwise known as Hacienda Grande. YAY!

So, I, of course, immediately dragged my parents right on over to stalk it. According to the concierge, Hacienda Grande is the resort’s largest room and boasts its own living room with a fireplace, an entertainment center, a dining room, kitchen area, a separate master bedroom, a private pool, a private Jacuzzi, a carport, and a private walled patio. Oh, how I wish we could have seen the inside of it!

The concierge also told us that Britney Spears had stayed in Room 225 – El Presidente – while at the resort. El Presidente is the resort’s presidential suite and it consists of a one-bedroom casita AND a one-bedroom guest house, along with a parlor room, a dining room, a kitchen area, two bathrooms, a fireplace, and a private patio, pool, and spa. Actors Jerry Lewis and Cliff Robertson have also stayed in Room 225 in the past.

The concierge also told me that in each room where a celebrity has stayed, the hotel has put a replica of that celebrity’s star from the Hollywood Walk of Fame on display. How incredibly cool is that? (And yes, you can call up and ask to stay in the “Drew Barrymore” or “Mark Wahlberg” room, for example.) My mom happened to book Casita Number 936 for our stay and I just about died upon opening the front door and seeing the above-pictured star on the wall. As it turns out, Robert Wagner had once stayed in our room! SO INCREDIBLY COOL! Especially since my grandma had gifted me with his autobiography Pieces of my Heart: A Life last Christmas and I absolutely LOVED it.

Casita 936 was absolutely gorgeous and consisted of a king bed and a queen-sized sleeper sofa, a fireplace, a HUGE bathroom . . .

. . . and an absolutely ENOURMOUS private walled patio which boasted gorgeous pool and mountain views. I seriously did not want to leave!

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, Frank Capra wrote It’s A Wonderful Life while staying at the resort. The legendary director/screenwriter first came to La Quinta in the late 1920s while writing the screenplay for It Happened One Night. After the movie won a staggering five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay, Capra became superstitious, calling the hotel his “Shangri-La for script-writing”, and returned there to pen many of his subsequent screenplays, including Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Lost Horizon, You Can’t Take It With You, and, of course, It’s A Wonderful Life. Frank, and his wife Lucille, always stayed in the same room while vacationing at the resort – Suite 136 in the San Anselmo Casita – and their room is now marked with both a memorial placard and a memorial bench. According to one of the staff members that I spoke with, the very typewriter that Frank used to write those famous scripts is still on display inside of the room! So incredibly cool! The staff member even offered to take me on a tour of Frank’s former casita and to show me the typewriter, but when he radioed to get a set of keys brought to him, was told it was occupied. Such a bummer!

As you can see in the above picture, the theme of the resort’s month-long winter celebration is apparent as soon as one sets foot on the property!

As you turn into the resort’s long, palm tree-lined driveway, you are immediately greeted with a large saying “You are now in Bedford Falls”, which looks EXACTLY like the sign that was featured in the movie It’s A Wonderful Life. So incredibly cool!

The resort’s Plaza area is awash with Christmas decorations . . .

. . . which, thanks to thousands of Tivoli lights, only gets more spectacular at night!

The pathway leading to the Plaza is decorated with hundreds of candle-lit luminarias, as you can see in the above photograph.

And there is also a HUGE, 43-foot white fir tree flanking the front of the property.

Best of all, though, is the fact that the hotel projects It’s A Wonderful Life onto the wall of the Plaza’s Salon de Fiesta each evening!

Oh, and the front of the resort is also rigged to “snow” each night, which you can kind of see in the above photograph. SO INCREDIBLY COOL!

Legend has it that Irving Berlin also penned the song “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” while staying at the historic hotel and, as fate would have it, we happened to walk to into the lobby on Saturday night while some carolers were singing that very song. I cannot tell you how cool it was to be sitting in front of the resort’s roaring fireplace, hearing Berlin’s famous words being sung while looking out at the very landscape that inspired them!

I am fairly certain this goes without saying, but I honestly cannot recommend stalking La Quinta Resort & Club enough! It is a truly magical, truly unique place and I loved every minute of being there!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: La Quinta Resort & Club is located at 49-499 Eisenhower Drive in La Quinta. You can visit the hotel’s official website here. Frank Capra stayed in Room 136 in the San Anselmo Casita, Robert Wagner stayed in Room 936, Britney Spears stayed in Room 225 – El Presidente – and Michael Jackson stayed in Room 735 – Hacienda Grande.

May 12, 2009June 16, 2011

Brad and Jen’s Honeymoon Hotel

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, this weekend was a big one for me. The biggest perhaps! My boyfriend (of over eight and a half years!!) finally popped the question!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂 And I, of course, said yes! This changes things quite a bit for me, as from now on I will no longer be dragging my boyfriend to filming locations all across L.A. I will now be dragging my fiance!! 🙂 LOL My boyfriend realized long ago that if he was going to propose to me it had better be at some sort of filming location. And, let me tell you, he came through big time!!!!! Although, I was the one who actually discovered the location for him. 🙂 A few weeks ago, while searching for the mansion where Brad and Jen got married, I stumbled upon this article about a little boutique hotel in Palm Springs named the Ingleside Inn. And when I read the words “Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt came to the Inn after their media frenzy Malibu wedding” I literally almost hyperventilated right there at my computer! I immediately called my boyfriend and said “WE HAVE TO GO HERE!” LOL

My boyfriend actually already had plans to attend a work event in Palm Springs this past weekend, so he booked us a room at the hotel. And I was FLOORED, ABSOLUTELY FLOORED! Well, that “work event” turned out to be a surprise engagement party for me with all of our closest friends [including Mike, from MovieShotsLA :)] in attendance. My boyfriend proposed about 45 minutes before the surprise party right there in Villa 4 of the Ingleside Inn. It was a pretty magical experience. 🙂

The Ingleside Inn was first built as a private residence in 1922 by heirs to the Pierce Arrow Motor Car Company fortune. In 1939, the residence was purchased by Palm Springs’ first councilwoman, Ruth Hardy, who turned the 2.5 acre property into an exclusive inn and private club. Rumor has it that she would interview guests before their stay to make sure they were worthy of vacationing at her Inn. 🙂 In 1975, after Ruth passed away, the Inn was purchased by New York native Mel Haber, who still owns and runs the property to this day. In fact, on Friday night while eating dinner at the Inn’s onsite restaurant, Melvyn’s, I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Haber who confirmed for me that Brad and Jen did in fact spend three nights at the Inn immediately following their wedding. 🙂 🙂 🙂

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The tiny inn is like no other place I have ever visited. It boasts only thirty rooms – each one different – and, even though it is within walking distance of Downtown Palm Springs, is completely secluded. It is quiet, peaceful, and intimate. When we checked in, a bellman escorted us to our room and gave us a real key – not one of those plastic key-cards that most hotels use. The air conditioning had been turned on prior to our arrival, so that our “villa” would be nice and cool for us upon entering. Our bed had been turned down, there was a mint on each of the pillows, and a fruit basket was placed on the dresser. Each morning a newspaper was delivered to our door and the fridge was re-stocked daily with complimentary fruit juice, soda, and bottled water. All of the hotel employees knew us by name, knew our room number by heart, and would walk by repeatedly while we were lounging poolside to make sure our every need was being attended to. It was service at its finest!!

The rooms, which are very reasonably priced (almost unbelievably so!), are slightly old-fashioned, but in a good way. While staying there, I really felt as though I had stepped back in time. I must say, though, that if you are at all a fan of hotels like The Standard in West Hollywood (which I’m not), then this is definitely not the place for you. The Inn is not a spot to party or live it up. It is the kind of place you go to truly get away from it all. Which is my kind of place! Oh, and did I mention that there is a Starbucks within walking distance? What more could a girl ask for?

My favorite part of the hotel had to be the pool, though, which is open 24 hours. Even though the Inn is only a short block away from Palm Canyon Drive and Downtown Palm Springs, while laying by the pool I felt like I was worlds away from civilization. I remember thinking to myself ‘No wonder Brad and Jen came here!’ 🙂 Ingleside Inn is the kind of place where cell phones in common areas are frowned upon, so the pool is like a little secluded haven. It was heaven!

Also heaven was the poolside lunch I ordered from Melvyn’s, the Inn’s fine dining restaurant. Melvyn’s has won countless awards, including “First Place in Fine Dining”, “Most Romantic Restaurant”, and, my personal favorite, “Best Place to Spot Celebrities”. 🙂 Both the restaurant and the Inn have also been featured repeatedly as “One of the Ten Best” on television’s Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Melvyn’s also features a Rat Pack style crooner who sings the Standards nightly.

Since the beginning, both Ingleside Inn and Melvyn’s have been celebrity havens. In fact, an entire section of a past issue of People Magazine was devoted to the many celebrity weddings that have taken place at the Inn, which include that of Frank Sinatra and Barbara Marx, Angel’s David Boreanaz and Playboy Playmate Jaime Bergman, and David Ashrow and actress June Allyson who stated “Everyone should be married at Ingleside Inn at least once in their livetime!” LOL The Inn’s celeb guests include Lance Bass, Bob Hope, Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson, Greta Garbo, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver, Salvador Dali, Sylvester Stallone, opera singer Lily Pons (who lived at the Inn for over 13 years!!!), John Travolta, Liza Minelli, Cher, Clark Gable, Barry Manilow, Elizabeth Taylor, President Gerald Ford, and John Wayne, just to name a few.

I honestly cannot recommend stalking the Ingleside Inn enough! It is truly a magical place! All weekend (even before he proposed) my boyfriend kept saying “I’ve found my new favorite Palm Springs hotel!” 🙂 And, thanks to my boyfriend – ahem, my fiance – the Inn is no longer just the place where Brad and Jen spent their honeymoon, but the place where I got engaged. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Ingleside Inn is located at 200 West Ramon Drive in Palm Springs. Brad and Jen stayed in Room 148 of the hotel (pictured above). My boyfriend proposed to me in Villa 4. 🙂 You can visit the hotel’s website here. Rooms run from $120 to $600 per night.

November 3, 2008September 29, 2017

Halloween 2008

For Halloween this year, I desperately wanted my boyfriend and I to dress up like Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio. I know, total shocker. 🙂 It all ended up coming together quite perfectly, too, as earlier this summer I found a white dress a la Marilyn’s subway grate ensemble, that was super inexpensive. I also happened to have an appointment to get my hair cut on Halloween morning, so I asked my amazing hair stylist, Martina, if she could do me up Marilyn style. She happily obliged and even offered to do my make-up for me. Without even looking at a picture of the starlet for reference, she was able to whip my hair into a full-on Marilyn ‘do and apply my make-up perfectly! I was shocked! When I asked her how she did it without using a photo, she said “Honey, that’s what I do!” LOL I actually think the effect may have been too good, though, because I had FIVE people stop me and say “Has anyone ever told you that you look EXACTLY like Marilyn Monroe.” Even though it was Halloween, no one seemed to realize I was wearing a costume – they thought I just looked like Marilyn naturally. LOL That actually might be good news, though – as maybe someday I’ll get to play MM in a big screen biopic of the star. 🙂

Anyway, since we couldn’t find anything to do in L.A. for Halloween (we were literally all dressed up with no place to go!), I dragged my boyfriend to Downtown Palm Springs. We spent the evening walking around Downtown, barhopping, hanging out, and watching all the other people in costumes. We had a blast! And I even got stopped by a Japanese tourist who wanted her photo taken with me. 🙂

We ended up spending most of our evening at the Palm Springs Riviera Resort & Spa – a legendary Palm Springs hot spot from back in the 50s and 60s. The resort recently underwent a complete rennovation and has been closed down for the past year. It only just reopened two weeks ago and it is a very cool, very hip spot to hang out. The hotel has a 50s-modern style vibe to it, made complete with a large picture of Marilyn made out of Guatemalan coins hanging in the lobby, so, of course, I had to snap a photo of it. 🙂 And the Riviera is even a filming location! It was featured as the hotel where Connie Stevens stayed in the 1963 flick Palm Springs Weekend.

The poolside Bikini Bar, where we hung out all night, is fabulous with its large firepits and ultra-comfy lounge chairs. While there we ran into 90s actor Jeff Prettyman, who is currently retired and living in Palm Springs. Jeff acted in the movies Young Guns and Cheerleader Camp, so of course I had to take a pic with him. 🙂

The following morning, I was reading a Palm Springs magazine in our hotel room and I happened to spot a photograph of Marilyn Monroe posing at the Racquet Club of Palm Springs (pictured above), a place I had never heard of. So, of course, on our way out of town I had to drag my boyfriend to stalk it.

But unfortunately, when we arrived there wasn’t much to see as the area is currently a large constuction zone. The once legendary resort and Hollywood playground is currently closed and undergoing a $50 million rennovation with the surrounding land being turned into luxury condominiums and lofts. That was the plan, anyway. In 2004, architect Van Scott Jones and financial handler Michael Mueller purchased the land with big plans to restore the resort to its former grandeur. However, just a few days ago the property went into forclosure and the fate of the Racquet Club is now left up in the air. I truly hope someone comes in to rescue this piece of Hollywood and Palm Springs history. Oddly enough, for some reason the construction area was not entirely fenced in, and since there weren’t any “no trespassing” signs posted, my boyfriend and I ventured in for a little looksie.

It was very, very cool to be walking around a piece of property that holds so much history. While there, I could just imagine the screen legends of the day lounging poolside under the desert sun. You can see the now empty pool behind me in the above photograph.

The Palm Springs Racquet Club was opened up on Christmas Day of 1933 by actors Ralph Bellamy and Charlie Farrell, who wanted a place in the desert where they could play tennis. The resort became enormously popular with the celebs of the day – a playground to the stars, compete with tennis courts, a large swimming pool and a legendary bar named the Bamboo Lounge. The bloody mary cocktail was actually first concocted in that lounge. Apparently, Racquet Club guests needed a little “hair of the dog” each morning to cure their budding hangovers, so the Lounge chefs mixed together a few ingredients and, voila, the bloody mary was born. The owners of a New York bar named the 21 Club often stayed at the Racquet Club and fell in love with the new cocktail. They ended up bringing the drink back to their New York bar and the rest, as they say, is history. The Racquet Club didn’t fare quite as well as the cocktail created there, though, and due to dwindling profits, it was sold several times and quickly fell into dilapidation and disarray.

Among the stars who hung out at the Racquet Club in its heyday – Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Jane Russell, Bob Hope, Jayne Mansfield, Gregory Peck, Errol Flynn, John Kennedy, Bing Crosby, Lana Turner, Frank Sinatra, Spencer Tracy, Audrey Hepburn, Doris Day, Ronald Regan, and, of course, my girl Marilyn Monroe, who spent New Years of 1948 there with her agent Johnny Hyde (pictured above). Rumor has it that Marilyn was actually discovered by photographer Bruno Bernard while lounging poolside at the Club, but I am not sure how true that story is.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Raquet Club of Palm Springs is located at 2743 North Indian Canyon Drive in Palm Springs. The Palm Springs Riviera Resort & Spa is located at 1600 North Indian Canyon Drive, also in Palm Springs. If you need your hair styled like Marilyn – or if you just need a new ‘do in general – you can visit Martina Maina at T-Birds Salon, located at 1808 West Olive Avenue in Burbank. You can visit T-Birds website here. T-Birds is located right across the street from an oft used filming location – the Safari Inn – which was featured in True Romance and Apollo 13 .

September 4, 2008February 13, 2009

P.S. I Love You

In honor of the big 90210 v. 2.0 premiere that took place on Tuesday night, I just had to do a little 90210 v. 1.0 stalking this past weekend. Since my boyfriend and I were out in Palm Springs for a little Labor Day vacay, I dragged him to the Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Spa which was featured in the series’ Season 5 finale. In the episode, entitled “P.S. I Love You”, Brandon, Valerie and the gang head out to Palm Springs for an Alpha/KEG get together. The group stayed at the Rancho Las Palmas, which at the time was known as Marriot’s Rancho Las Palmas Resort. Two years ago the hotel changed ownership and dropped the Marriott from its name. One of the most famous scenes in 90210 history took place at this hotel – the scene when Ray Pruit pushes Donna down a flight of stairs. It is those stairs that I set out to stalk this past weekend.

Unfortunately, since the hotel has changed hands since filming took place, none of the new staff could give me any information about where filming took place. In fact, most of the hotel staff looked at me like I was crazy when I told them that 90210 had filmed there. LOL But the concierge, who used to work at the nearby Desert Springs Marriott, did tell me that the TV show Las Vegas(sigh – Josh Duhamel!) filmed over at his former workplace several times. Looks like I have some more stalking of that hotel to do! 🙂

Anyway, I had a pretty clear picture in my head of the stairs Ray Pruit – “spelled with one ‘T’ cause that’s all his momma could afford” – pushed Donna down from watching the episode way back when. I was shocked to find out that there are actually 120 sets of those exact same stairs on the hotel property – four sets for each of the hotel’s 30 buildings. So, while I did take a picture on one of the sets of stairs, I am not sure it was the exact one that was used during filming. I am planning on borrowing Mike from MovieShotsLA‘s DVD of that episode to try to pin down the exact filming location. Big THANK YOU to Mike, too, for making these screen captures for me. 🙂

Since being taken over by the KSL Resorts hotel chain, Rancho Las Palmas has been extensively remodeled, however it is still pretty recognizable from the 90210days. Unfortunately, though, the pool areas have changed dramatically since filming, so once again I wasn’t able to pinpoint which of the hotel’s three pools was used for filming. But, according to the concierge, even if I had been able to pinpoint the correct pool, it would most likely be unrecognizable. All three pools have been completely gutted and remodeled since the KSL takeover. BUMMER! In the picture above I am standing in front of the hotel’s adults only Tranquility Pool, which, judging by the surroundings, I am pretty sure was the one featured in 90210.

Even though this particular stalking adventure was kind of a bust, I would still recommend stalking the hotel as it was still very cool to be there. Rancho Las Palmas is absolutely gorgeous, and I am actually hoping to stay there on my next trip out to the desert. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Spa is located at 41-000 Bob Hope Drive in Rancho Mirage, just outside of Palm Springs. You can visit their website here. During the summer rooms will run you about $250 per night. The famous stairs that Donna was pushed down are located throughout the hotel property. The Tranquility Pool is located just off the main lobby.