Next up in our series of articles on the most Instagram-worthy small hotels in Palm Springs is Villa Royale. This beautiful property reopened in 2018 after an extensive renovation by its new owners, turning the property into a very popular destination that is full of photo ops.
Villa Royale was originally built in 1947 and was one of the first small hotels in south Palm Springs. It was frequented by Hollywood celebrities as a getaway that met the “two-hour rule” implemented by Hollywood studios at that time, which required that actors under studio contracts could not be farther than two hours from set.
The redesigned Villa Royale retains the charm of its past roots, while adding unique contemporary design details, such as custom murals and artwork throughout the property. A large mural welcomes guests to the property, entitled “Welcome to Your Paradise,” by Sagent Staygold.
A series of geometric murals by Los Angeles-based artist Sara Radovanovitch are located around the property, as well as her travel-inspired “El Viaje” painting in the poolside lanai, and portraits of Hollywood stars in some of the guest rooms. Additional paintings by Juan Casas and Lou Kregal were painted on site at the hotel, featuring desert landscapes, classic cars and movie and music icons.
Villa Royale is a pet-friendly property, so you can enjoy this beautiful hotel with your four-legged friends!
There are three pools on the property, all with gorgeous mountain views that make them the perfect spot for enjoying the scenery with a cocktail in hand. And speaking of cocktails: the team at Del Rey, the hotel’s onsite restaurant and bar, are known for their excellent drinks, as well as a delicious Mediterranean-inspired tapas menu.
Other Instagram-able details we love include the intricately patterned tiles around the property, the bikes available for guest use during your stay, and the vintage 1960 Oldsmobile 88 parked out front by the hotel’s entrance.
Stay tuned as we continue to explore other great Instagram-friendly small hotels in Palm Springs in this series of blog posts coming out each month!
Images via Instagram and courtesy of Villa Royale.
March is one of the best times to visit Palm Springs. The weather is balmy, lots of flowers are in bloom, and activities abound. Whatever your interest may be — hiking, biking, culture, art, shopping, history, entertainment, eating or drinking — there is so much going on. Here are some ideas about what to do in Palm Springs in March.
Month of March: Photographs from celebrated photographer, Michael Childers, will be featured in an exhibit titled “Rockin’ Hollywood,” which opens February 29 at the Palm Springs Cultural Center. The exhibit features portraits of such Hollywood greats as Elton John, Cher, John Travolta, Rod Stewart, and Ringo Starr and includes the fascinating history behind the celebrities portrayed.
March 4: First Wednesday Art Walk at the Backstreet Art District, 2600 Cherokee Way, from 7 to 10 p.m. Art galleries and artists’ studios are open for art lovers to enjoy original art by local, national, and international artists. This is an amazing opportunity to interact with artists and to view their paintings, sculpture, photography, ceramics and jewelry, while savoring refreshments and vibrant camaraderie.
March 5, 12, 19, 26: Palm Springs Villagefest is a street fair held every Thursday along Palm Canyon Drive (between Baristo and Amado roads) in downtown Palm Springs, 6 to 10 p.m. More than 180 vendors feature food, art, crafts, and entertainment. This is always a wonderful time for sampling some great food, mingling, and shopping.
March 6: Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Bob Woodward will be speaking about his career and current issues. Woodward is best known for uncovering the Watergate scandal with Carl Bernstein in 1973. Celebrated for his investigative skills and fair, objective approach, Woodward should be a fascinating speaker. He will offer a knowledgeable perspective on what’s happening in politics today. Richards Center for the Arts, 2248 Ramon Road, 7:30 to 9:30. Tickets $30 to $150 can be purchased online at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/palm-springs-speaks-presents-bob-woodward-tickets-67044334409
March 7 & 8; March 21 & 22: Desert Art Festival will be held at Frances Stevens Park, 555 N. Palm Canyon Drive, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Artists present their works in all media for visitors to view and purchase. This beautiful setting in Uptown Palm Springs is an idyllic spot for a leisurely weekend stroll. Admission is free.
March 7: Wildflower 5K Fun Run/Walk at the Civic Center, 43900 San Pablo, Palm Desert. This is a family friendly event with strollers and dogs welcomed. Registration opens at 7 a.m. and RSVPs are required. Registration fee is $30 and includes a t-shirt. RSVP at https://www.desertmountains.org/calendar/2020wf-5k-ccpark
March 9-11: Max Von Essen is performing at the Annenberg Theatre at the Palm Springs Art Museum, 101 Museum Drive, 6 p.m. Max has won many awards, including a Grammy. He has starred in the Lincoln Center’s revival of Falsettos and has appeared in Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita and Les Miserables. This should be a truly inspiring and entertaining performance. To purchase tickets, go to the Annenberg website (link above).
March 11: Let’s Talk: Walk a Mile in My Shoes. Anthony Purnel, a member of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, discusses the many challenges he faced during his inspiring 132-day hike from Mexico to Canada along the Pacific Crest Trail. Palm Springs Cultural Center, 2300 East Baristo Road, 6 p.m. $10 for members of the Cultural Center and $20 for non-members.
March 13-15; March 20-22: How to Survive an Apocalypse is a surprisingly delightful romantic comedy (despite the title) about a young, stylish couple who are convinced that their chic, partying lifestyle is coming to an end. They become hoarders and hunters and learn a lot about their relationship. At the Palm Springs Woman’s Club, 314 S. Cahuilla Rd. Tickets available via website (link above).
March 7, 14, 21 & 28: The Certified Farmers Market is held every Saturday morning at the Palm Springs Cultural Center, 2300 Baristo Road, from 8 to 12:30. This bustling outdoor market features a seasonal variety of fresh food products, craft items, and chef demonstrations.
March 27: Palm Springs Community Drum Circle. This unique, inspiring experience is led by sound healer, Scott Meredith, and held at the Gallery at Crystal Fantasy, 268 N. Palm Canyon Drive, downtown Palm Springs. Free event.
March 29: Slim Man Rat Pack Big Band Show. Award-winning jazz vocalist, Slim Man, leads a 17-piece big band with favorite songs from the 60s, recreating the era of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bobby Darin and Nat King Cole. At the Annenberg Theatre at the Palm Springs Art Museum, 101 Museum Drive, 5-8 p.m. Tickets available at www.slimman.com
Also keep in mind that the Palm Springs Historical Society offers a wide variety of walking and biking tours throughout March, such as tours focusing on such topics as Architecture & Glamour, Rat Pack Playground, Frank Sinatra’s Neighborhood, Modernist Treasures, Uptown Design District and many more. To see what is available and sign up, go to the society’s website (link above).
Lizzie Sherman, Creative Director at The Spa Insider, recently interviewed Alyssa McDonald, Director of Spa Operations, to gain an insider’s perspective about what makes a visit to L’Horizon Resort & Spa the perfect choice for a relaxing Palm Springs getaway. Hint: Prepare to relax just reading about it.
By Elizabeth Borsting
The eight-room Willows Historic Palm Springs Inn, a luxury destination built in 1925 as a private residence and operating as the city’s only Four-Diamond hideaway since 1996, has more than doubled in size with the opening of The Bishop House last week. The historic compound now has a combined total of 17 rooms and suites divided among a pair of historic estates with each room boasting its own floorplan and design.
Just open to guests, the Bishop House has been completely renovated from top to bottom returning the property to its 1920s splendor. There are seven rooms in the main building and two rooms in a separate casita including one that is fully accessible.
Both Estates, Built in 1925 and Sharing an Almost Identical Floorplan, Have Been Reunited for the First Time in Decades
The two properties are joined together via footpaths with only registered guests permitted behind the compound’s gates. Guests are free to roam between the two houses to enjoy the public spaces, such as the great rooms and sweeping verandahs, as well as the terraced grounds. All guests enjoy a daily deluxe, chef-driven breakfast enjoyed in The Willows dining room with views of the inn’s 50-foot waterfall. In the evening, wine and hors d’oeuvres are served at either estate where guests can sip or sup on the sweeping terraces or in one of the public rooms. Other complimentary amenities include en suite snacks, poolside beverages, complimentary parking and charging stations, 24-hour swimming pool privileges and more.
History of the Properties
Both The Mead and The Bishop Houses have fascinating histories that are intertwined with that of the City of Palm Springs itself. Their story begins in 1924 when William J. Dodd, a Los Angeles architect who created iconic dwellings for the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Cecil B. De Mille, was commissioned to design Spanish Revival-style mansions for best friends and prominent Angelenos, William and Nella Mead and Roland and Dorothy Bishop. The couples selected a choice spot where the willows grew at the foot of the mountain. William Mead was a prominent banker and philanthropist who played an instrumental role in the Owens Valley Aqueduct project helping to transform Los Angeles from a dusty outpost to a major metropolis. Roland Bishop was a founder and head of Bishop & Co., the region’s premier confectioner and baked goods manufacturer. He sold the company in 1930 to the National Biscuit Company –better known as Nabisco.
Dodd arranged the two villas to complement the surrounding terrain and sloping hillside anchoring both structures to the desert floor and mountainous backdrop. Dodd deliberately designed both houses so that they shared similarities of style—a pair of grand vaulted entrance terraces and a great room for gathering–but he also ensured that they had their own architectural identities. Once the homes were complete in 1925, the two couples made the pilgrimage from Los Angeles to Palm Springs as often as possible.
As the years passed new occupants came and went, including Marion Davies—silent screen star, tycoon mistress and astute businesswoman—who took up residency at the Mead house in the early 1960s and is rumored to have transformed the kitchen into something more useful – a bar. Her sister Rose Douras occupied he Bishop house during this period and often entertained her “daughter” Patricia Van Cleve and her husband, actor Arthur Lake better known as Dagwood of “Blondie” fame. Patricia, who was living in nearby Indian Wells when she died in 1993, was actually the love child of Marion and her longtime paramour William Randolph Hearst, a fact she confirmed on her deathbed.
The original Gladding McBean-tiled fountain of the Bishop house has been restored to working order and graces an outdoor patio. While Gladding McBean may not be a household name today, the company was once the go-to place for ornate and decorative tile during the 1920s. It company also created The Franciscan Pottery line of dinnerware named for the friars who founded the California Missions. Its Franciscan Ware patterns—Desert Rose, Franciscan Apple and Franciscan Ivy—are sought after today by modern-day collectors.
Hotel Amenities
The collection of rooms and suites at The Bishop House feature king-size beds, plush linens and hand-selected furniture reminiscent of the era coupled with modern amenities such as high-speed Internet, individual climate control, smart TVs, USB charging stations and plush robes for lounging.
Nightly rates start at The Willows Historic Palm Springs Inn and The Bishop House start at $375 and include a chef-driven, deluxe breakfast; evening wine and hors d’oeuvres; in-room welcome snacks; poolside beverages; parking and electric charging stations; and guest-only access – no resort fees. For reservations and information, call 800.966.9597 or visit online
Media Contact for the Willows Historic Palm Springs:
Elizabeth Borsting
T. 562.856.9292
E. elizabeth@BorstingPR.com
As promised in my previous blog, I’m back with more fun Palm Springs film facts. I would like to start by saying, just for giggles, I decided to get ChatGPT involved, to see if it had any more information than just the norm. So I asked, “What movies were shot in Palm Springs?” and it gave me a list including Springtime in the Rockies. When I asked where in Palm Springs, well, it turns out, ChatGPT lies. First it told me that Springtime in the Rockies was filmed entirely in Pennsylvania, and when I called it out for giving me two different returns, it apologized. At least it didn’t say, “I’m only human.”
The ChatGPT disputed truth is that there were a couple of scenes shot in Palm Springs, but no one seems to know where (certainly not ChatGPT). The film is available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime, Apple TV channels, FuboTV, FlixFling, The Roku Channel, and the Epix suite, but being that it was shot in 1937, it will be hard to recognize anything local unless you’re a ghost.
And you know what film wasn’t shot in Palm Springs? At all? The Andy Samberg feature Palm Springs. I know! I’m just as shocked as you are. It was actually shot in L.A. and Santa Clarita, because nothing says Palm Springs like not Palm Springs. Now, onto the 1990s and beyond.
The Player (1992)
This film is Palm Springs adjacent, in Desert Hot Springs, at Two Bunch Palms, a gorgeous retreat that has been favored by Hollywood players for many years. There are apocryphal stories about it once being owned by Al Capone, but Capone didn’t do business this far west. That was fellow mobster Al Wertheimer, capo of Detroit’s Purple Gang — but he didn’t own it either. The reason for the gangster stories is that there is a gun turret, and (they say) some underground “tunnels.” The last bit of info we got was that it was actually the estate of a Ford executive who was worried about the unions coming after him.
I mentioned Wertheimer, who built Colony Palms (there’s an underground room where there was gaming, a.k.a. gambling). It’s said Capone did visit Two Bunch on the occasion, and the property has a Capone room with, I’ve heard, a bullet hole in the wall. But the entire Palm Springs area was still the wild wild west at the time, and everybody had guns. And booze. So, who knows who shot the wall. Available on MAX and the usual suspects for rental.
Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
Elliot Gould’s Vegas home is in a neighborhood called Las Palmas. The 1959 A. Quincy Jones designed property is located at 999 North Patencio Road in Palm Springs. Watch on cable (TBS and TNT) or rent on Prime or Apple.
Mission Impossible III (2006)
Mission Impossible III has Tom Cruise dodging our giant turbines in a high speed helicopter chase. The Windmills, by the way, are a great tour, you should give it a go. (To clarify, the tour is on the ground, in a vehicle, not in the sky in a helicopter – but you can ride in a warbird at the Air Museum, if that’s your speed). Check it out on AMC or Paramount+ subs. Rentals on Apple, Vudu, Redbox.
Into the Wild (2007)
This wonderfully shot film has a grim ending, but the cinematography lovingly captures the beauty and grit of the west’s wilderness. The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway is in one scene, but it also takes you to the Salton Sea, Salvation Mountain, Slab City, and East Jesus. This was Kristen Stewart’s first film as an “adult” (her debut was the daughter in Panic Room) and she sings. The following year, Twilight came out (about eight years before she did). Free on PlutoTV, pay at all the other streamers.
A Star is Born (2018)
There were casting calls going out all over the valley for this one. They needed a big crowd, and they got it. That was partially because they “crashed” Stagecoach, the country version of Coachella — same place, different weekends, way different crowd. They also shot at the Palm Springs Convention Center. Local stories about the cast and crew were all lovely.
Oh man. I’m all out of space, and there’s still a bit more to share, including cameos from a couple of our Palm Springs Preferred Small Hotels. We might even get into some television shows that were shot here. Who knows? I’m a mystery!
Stay tuned…
NOTE: Now through October 30, Rex, the Cabazon dinosaur, is wearing a new outfit in honor of his pal, Pee Wee Herman, a.k.a. Paul Reubens. Rex was prominently featured in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. Reubens shuffled off this mortal coil on July 30, and has hopefully landed safely in his celestial playhouse having some suds with Cap’n Carl, a.k.a. Phil Hartman.
Amin Casa dates back to the 1930s, when actress Gloria Swanson purchased the spectacular property and used it as a desert retreat, a place to go where she could escape the bright lights of Hollywood.
Once the getaway for a major Hollywood star, Amin Casa (https://www.palmspringspreferredsmallhotels.com/stay/amin-casa) is still as glamorous as it was when Gloria Swanson called the place home.
Long before Ramon Bautista and Nelson Cooley purchased the Historic Tennis Club neighborhood property in 2015, it was owned by actress Gloria Swanson, who used it as a vacation house. She bought it from Pearl McCallum McManus, one of the earliest settlers of Palm Springs, who ultimately became one of its most prominent developers.
While renovated, the residence and bungalow both retain the 1930s charm that drew Gloria Swanson in so many years ago.
Swanson had a prolific career — she was among the nominees for the first-ever Best Actress Academy Award, was a box office draw during the silent and sound film eras, and her turn as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard cemented her status as a Hollywood icon.
Her name lives on at Amin Casa, where guests can rent the Grand Residence of Gloria Swanson with two bedrooms or the Signature Bungalow of Gloria Swanson with one bedroom. The Grand Residence has its own separate entrance with patio seating, a stone fireplace in the living room, a dining area, two bathrooms, and the largest kitchen on the property, with a range, refrigerator, and ice maker. While renovated, the residence and bungalow both retain the 1930s charm that drew Swanson in so many years ago.
Amin Casa embodies the quiet sophistication of Palm Springs, with a twist of old Hollywood glamour.
Once the residence of actress Gloria Swanson, Amin Casa made its debut in the Historic Tennis Club neighborhood in November 2016, following several months of major renovations both inside and out. “Amin” means “ours” in Tagalog, while “casa” is Spanish for “home,” and owners Ramon Bautista and Nelson Cooley want it to feel like “your home away from home.”
“On property, guests will find the relaxing, club-like ambiance and genuine, heartfelt hospitality they have come to treasure,” Ramon said.
The compound dates back to the 1920s, and when fully occupied, the property only accommodates 14 guests, adults only. The bungalows come with living rooms, kitchens complete with microwaves, coffeemakers, blenders, and dishes, eco-friendly toiletries, and bathrobes and slippers, plus the Swanson residence with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a fireplace, and the property’s largest kitchen. There are stunning gardens, fountains, a swimming pool, cabanas, and an outdoor dining area with a grilling station.
Above all else, Ramon and Nelson, who have experience at some of the finest hotels in the world, strive to give the patrons of Amin Casa one thing: “Intuitive, gracious service provided by a staff passionate about pleasing our guests.”
Pack your bags! We are off for a Girls’ Getaway to Palm Springs, a city of luxurious, boutique hotels designed to pamper and emanate old world charm from those days of past Hollywood glamour and relaxation.
