Palm Springs Road Trip

The Ace Hotel & Swim Club, in Palm Springs, represents an exponential leap forward for Ace. In addition to its 180 rooms, the hotel is an expansive, self-contained, five-acre resort, the kind of carefree, slightly enchanted place where you could easily while away several indolent days without ever leaving the property. In lieu of curtains or solar shades for the oversize plate-glass windows in the lobby, for example, property design firm Commune tapped artist Michael Schmidt to create a massive macramé installation. Nearby, adjacent to the front desk, there is an ATM and a period-perfect photo booth where, for $3, you can get four quickie self-portraits. To help support the “urban camping” conceit, two of the rooms’ four walls are hung, floor to ceiling, with loose canvas, which gives the spaces a soft, rippling, tent-like quality. The other two walls are covered with white slatted-wood panels that come complete with S-hooks and clips for hanging clothes and art. For the windows and for the French doors that lead out to the walled-in patios on many of the ground-floor rooms, there is a layer of mosquito netting to blunt the light and, over that, a second layer of canvas to completely block it out. The bedcovers are also canvas, punched up a bit with silk-screened abstract graphics by Free City. The bedside tables are the work of sculptor and furniture maker Alma Allen, who created a stumplike wooden cylinder for the telephone on one side and a low rectangular four-legged table on the other for a Revlon-red Music Hall turntable and a black amplifier-receiver, complete with five vintage vinyl records handpicked by Ace. Rather than buy conventional reading lamps, Commune commissioned Los Angeles artist Robert Lewis to design what he calls “love lights,” stubby, baton-like cylindrical white metal fixtures with a high-watt white reading light on one end and a low-watt red bulb on the other end for…mood. In the spirit of the red-bulb end of the mood-enhancing lamps, each room comes complete with a round tin—marked xxx—containing two condoms.

Address:
701 E. Palm Canyon Dr.
Palm Springs, California
United States

Phone:
(760) 325-9900

This overlooked gem of a museum showcases clay as an art form, from ancient vessels to contemporary works.

Address:
340 S. Garey Ave.
Pomona, California
United States

Phone:
(909) 865-3147

Mod is god at this quirky establishment.

Address:
844 N. Palm Canyon Dr.
Palm Springs, California
United States

Phone:
(760) 864-1171

The rustic-chic restaurant has a hunting-lodge ambience and hearty dishes like Hungarian goulash and meat loaf.

Address:
27984 Hwy. 189, Lake Arrowhead Resort & Spa
Lake Arrowhead, California
United States

Phone:
(909) 336-1511

The menu changes weekly at this mostly organic spot with vegetarian-friendly yam or persimmon sandwiches, five varieties of bacon, and killer blood-orange mimosas.

Address:
622 N. Palm Canyon Dr.
Palm Springs, California
United States

Phone:
(760) 327-7595

Once a hideaway for owner and purported Purple Gang mobster Al Wertheimer, who equipped the property with a basement casino, speakeasy, and a brothel, this recently renovated 1936 three-acre Spanish property is a welcome departure from the Midcentury Modern and Hollywood Regency styles so prevalent in Palm Springs, California. The reception area is small, but the lush courtyard serves as an outdoor lobby where cool guests such as rock singer Perry Farrell might be spotted dining at the Purple Palms restaurant or sunbathing on supersize lounge chairs by the mammoth open-all-night pool trimmed with Spanish tiles. Fashion and design folks unpack in the 58 Moroccan-inspired guest rooms and suites, all featuring custom Suzani headboards, Matteo linens, and iPod docking stations. For boldfaced names in search of privacy, the casita rooms built in the 1950s also offer Bullard-designed private patios with two-person tubs and daybeds.

Address:
572 N. Indian Canyon Dr.
Palm Springs, California
United States

Phone:
(800) 557-2187

This downtown lunch counter ain’t fancy, but it is authentic. Rancher turned restaurateur Daniel Placencia dishes up tri-tip, brisket, pulled pork, and chicken with crunchy Kansas City coleslaw.

Address:
2000 N. Palm Canyon Dr.
Palm Springs, California
United States

Phone:
(760) 322-0265

If your idea of shopping is bagging designer goods for less, then Cabazon, just off I-10, is sheer heaven. The highway-hugging outlets feature 130 stores—from the usual mass-market brands to exclusive labels like Gucci, Etro, Prada, and Tod’s.

Address:
48400 Seminole Dr.
Cabazon, California
United States

Phone:
(951) 849-6641

Drinking alfresco will have you seeing stars in the cabanas. The ambitious cocktail menu includes nine fruit-infused mojitos and a martini with muddled jalapeños (ouch!).

Address:
2080 N. Palm Canyon Dr.
Palm Springs, California
United States

Phone:
(760) 327-7676

Desert Modernist William Cody designed the low-slung 1952 hotel with glass walls to maximize the impressive mountain views.

Address:
1050 E. Palm Canyon Dr.
Palm Springs, California
United States

Phone:
(800) 377-7855

Hide-covered ottomans, religious and Asian sculpture, even framed insect art: it’s a destination for designers of every stripe—particularly zebra stripe.

Address:
849 N. Palm Canyon Dr.
Palm Springs, California
United States

Phone:
(760) 325-7854

Come in for comfort food with a Continental touch (like filet-mignon chili and Florentine stuffed chicken).

Address:
664 N. Palm Canyon Dr.
Palm Springs, California
United States

Phone:
(760) 327-4400

Remodeling ideas for the Midcentury enthusiast.

Address:
2500 N. Palm Canyon Dr., Ste. B5
Palm Springs, California
United States

Phone:
(760) 320-8422

Palm Springs classics like glass and Lucite coffee tables and chrome-base sofas.

Address:
745 N. Palm Canyon Dr.
Palm Springs, California
United States

Phone:
(760) 320-5455

Arcade with 10 furniture and decorative-arts galleries, including Bon Vivant, a good place to score collectible Blenko glass and Raymor pottery.

Address:
457 N. Palm Canyon Dr.
Palm Springs, California
United States

Phone:
(760) 323-4576

Bring a jacket—even in summer—to ride aboard the world’s largest rotating gondolas. The 2 1/2-mile, 10-minute trip up the sheer cliffs of Chino Canyon affords views of the Coachella Valley and the briny desert lake known as the Salton Sea.

Address:
1 Tramway Rd.
Palm Springs, California
United States

Phone:
(888) 515-8726

Pick up free maps or a $5 guide to Midcentury buildings (by Albert Frey, Richard Neutra, and other masters).

Address:
221 S. Palm Canyon Dr.
Palm Springs, California
United States

Phone:
(760) 323-8297

Behind the Parker Palm Springs hotel’s decorative façade, the Palm Springs Yacht Club offers full-on pampering. Arrive early to savor designer Jonathan Adler’s naughty nautical twist on Hollywood style.

Address:
4200 E. Palm Canyon Dr.
Palm Springs, California
United States

Phone:
(760) 770-5000

After a $70 million renovation, this hotel reopened with eye-popping Hollywood Regency-on-helium décor, including a bedazzled billiard table in the lobby. For quieter accommodations, book in Buildings 4 or 5.

Address:
1600 N. Indian Canyon Dr.
Palm Springs, California
United States

Phone:
(866) 588-8311

Antiques and oddities—seashell-encrusted coquillage next to People’s Republic of China figurines—plus 20th-century paintings, from plein-air landscapes to Cubist canvases.

Address:
191-A S. Indian Canyon Dr.
Palm Springs, California
United States

Phone:
(760) 325-0878

Head downtown to browse the Midcentury Modern furniture shops along North Palm Canyon Drive. One of the best is the new Trina Turk Residential, stocked with vintage pieces and pillows upholstered in Turk’s signature graphic prints.

Address:
895 N. Palm Canyon Dr.
Palm Springs, California
United States

Phone:
(760) 416-2856