Why are you into it?
Makes you stand up straighter.
About
Palm Springs operates on desert time, which means your spa weekend starts the moment you stop checking your phone. The drive from LA takes two hours if you resist the outlets in Cabazon. Two Bunch Palms Resort & Spa sits where Al Capone once hid out, and the mineral springs still bubble up at 104 degrees. The gangster suite costs extra, but the original stone grotto is included with any treatment. Book the 90-minute desert stone massage and ask for the therapist who worked on Marilyn Monroe's old room. She'll know what you mean.
The Parker Palm Springs went full maximalist under designer Jonathan Adler, and somehow it works. The spa uses products from Sodashi, an Australian line that costs more per ounce than the champagne at breakfast. The facial includes a scalp massage that will ruin every other scalp massage. Pool service brings frozen grapes and cucumber water without being asked. The Sunday crowd includes agents, writers, and people who say they're in real estate but own three restaurants in West Hollywood.
Drinking in Palm Springs means day drinking, which means rosé by the pool at 11 AM feels medicinal. Workshop Kitchen + Bar serves natural wines that pair with the desert heat better than logic suggests. The bartender at Bootlegger Tiki makes a mai tai with three rums and garnishes it with an orchid that wilts by the time you finish. Shame on the Moon looks like a strip mall dive but pours Japanese whisky like a Tokyo speakeasy. Order the old fashioned made with mezcal. Trust the process.
The weekend ends Sunday afternoon, when the desert light turns everything gold and you realize you haven't thought about work since Friday. Check out is at noon but pool access continues until sunset. The drive back to LA always takes longer than expected.
Fun fact
Two Bunch Palms' mineral springs were discovered by the Cahuilla tribe over 1,000 years ago, and the water temperature has never fluctuated more than two degrees.
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