The Parker Palm Springs Archives - Northern California Style

The weekend before last I got away for a birthday and anniversary weekend with my husband to The Parker Palm Springs. I’ve always wanted to stay there and it did not disappoint! It’s a gorgeous place with amazing gardens and the whole resort was decorated by Jonathan Adler, whom I love. Here’s a little glimpse into this fabulous and fun spot some call the adult version of Disneyland!

The rooms have a 1970s vibe with hanging chairs and some terrific mid-century modern furniture, like our room above.

The public spaces…Love this green marble bar in the lobby.

This sofa was making me wish I could find something like this. Cool colors and fun pillows..

More lobby..

Love this retro fireplace! At night this is a busy gathering spot with the fire on.

We were upgraded to a villa since the resort wasn’t full. It was a beautiful space with a bedroom, living room and a small kitchen and big patio.

We loved these furry rugs for your feet on each side of the bed and the travertine side tables.

The beds were uber comfy and I want a leopard bench with light celery paint like this..Isn’t the Jonathan Adler pillow cute? You can find it here.

More patio. This would also be a good room if you had kids along. We didn’t this time. There is also the 2 bed, 2 bath Gene Autry residence on the property if you you need a whole house..Here’s a photo below, from the website. Looks pretty fun. Yes he really did live there!

Palm Springs is just an hour flight from San Francisco. It was a fast trip leaving Friday night at 8, we arrived before 9, and the resort was just a ten minute drive away. We explored the place that night..

There are three pools, a spa, croquet, fire pits, and two restaurants. You needn’t ever leave!

I think my husband was ready to relax!

One of the fire pits by day…

It’s a bit of a maze wandering the resort with it’s crushed gravel paths and almost tunnel like hedges. To be honest it’s a little disorienting if you arrive after dark as we did. It’s lovely though and impressive what they can grow here in the desert.

Citrus was everywhere!

There is many relaxing spots to chill out.

The family pool..

Norma’s, the casual restaurant here, has the most yummy comfort food ever. They do breakfast, lunch and dinner. This really does have a bit of an old Disney feel doesn’t it?

The placemats were giving me flashbacks to my 70’s childhood..or The Partridge Family!

These lemon pancakes were fab, but warning the portions are HUGE! We shared.

Pentanque (kind of like French bocce) courts are in the center of the resort and reminded me of Luxembourg Garden in Paris.

If it gets too warm the darling Lemonade Stand is adjacent and has all kind of fun twists on lemon drinks especially the alcoholic versions.

I don’t remember what the pink drink was Max had, but mine was a custom made cucumber mint ice thingy with vodka…I think. I wish I had time to try more, but the heat + alcohol was almost too much.

They know it so they have misters all around and shady spots. I’m crazy for the retro scalloped edged umbrellas they had everywhere.

When the heat got too much, we spent some hours at the indoor pool..

PSYC stands for the Palm Springs Yacht Club that was a genius fun idea. The minute you walk through the doors of this spa and cool space you instantly feel chill. There’s a huge pool room that feels like ship with steamer chairs and cool air pumped out continually. We relaxed and cooled enough to go into one of the jacuzzis here.

We sat outside on the patio and you can feel the cold air out there too. This is really a sanctuary when you are here in the warmer months. We just hit the beginning of what will be the busier season so it was warm 90-100 degrees, but not crowded. A super weekend if you want to get away, relax and not spend too much time traveling!

Of course there is other things to do in Palm Springs. It’s a big magnet for those who are into midcentury modern design as there are many homes built here in that style. The Design District is a short drive away from The Parker in downtown Palm Springs and has cool shops and restaurants. Of course I had to visit Trina Turk’s flagship store. There was also a Trina boutique in The Parker which was cute with books and swim suits, coverups and a few Adler pieces. This big flagship though had the full Trina clothing collection, but also included a home store and Mr Turk for men.

She has a terrifically curated home store which carried Trina’s line, but also things like books, totes, gorgeous glass bowls and even Missoni towels as well.

Like all Trina Turk stores, it was wonderfully designed. I loved the floor which I was told was pool tiles! What a cool idea.

No one does good crochet coverups like Trina Turk. In the end I bought the chambray dress with pockets I’ll wear a ton. Trina Turk is a must see when you are here in Palm Springs!

We also ate lunch at a fun spot called Trio. Disco music played non-stop. I love a little Donna Summer or Bee Gees with my meals don’t you? My husband kept saying he thinks they imported my playlist as everywhere we went some cool retro music was floating through a speaker somewhere. Another reason to love Palm Springs!!

Koffi is a good stop for blended or iced coffees (really it’s too hot for anything else) and the wonderful Just Fabulous with cool souvenirs and the best collection of design books I’ve ever seen is right next door.

These funky windows belong to Wil Stiles which is next to Trina’s shop..

It’s a riot of color, prints and amusing clothes. If you need to find your inner Rat Pack vibe this is the place! Check out the hats and retro wooden racquets.

This whole Design District on North Palm Canyon Drive has unique shops and restaurants.

There are more great spots nearby like Palm Desert, La Quinta resort, hiking spots and even an aerial tram (sadly closed for annual repair when we were there.) Palm Springs is quite mountainous and beautiful and I hope to see more of that part of it next time I visit. I’d love to go back this winter as it’s so quick to get to and totally relaxing and different from the Bay Area!

Kim