The Palm Springs Guide
Where to Stay in Palm Springs
Since 1999, our family has cared for the guests of this valley — in their hotel rooms, by their pools, and in the homes they rented for the weekend. Out of the scores of stays we serve, these are the chosen few we recommend first — something here for everyone, because all are welcome in this valley.
Welcome to our Guide. We have come to know these houses the way only the spa team that works inside them can — and we chose every name here the way we choose everything: by the love in their reviews, and by how they treat the people we send them. Planning the rest of the trip? See our Things to Do in Palm Springs and Where to Eat in Palm Springs.
Arrivals & Getting Around
Arriving in Palm Springs — Airport, Rides & Chauffeurs
However you get here, we want the journey to feel looked-after from the first mile. Fly into our own little airport, ride across town in minutes — or let a chauffeur carry you from Los Angeles while you simply watch the desert arrive.
Palm Springs International Airport
Small, sunny and minutes from downtown — the easiest arrival in California, and the happy start of so many of our guests’ favorite weeks. Uber and Lyft both pick up right at the terminal.
Uber
Rides across the whole valley, day and night — from the PSP pickup curb to your hotel, rental or dinner reservation.
Lyft
Lyft serves PSP and every valley city; its airport page walks you through the pickup before you even land.
Emelx
Los Angeles to Palm Springs without lifting a finger: a licensed private chauffeur, door to door, LAX to your desert doorstep. The highest-rated chauffeur service we found for this drive — and the arrival our Los Angeles guests ask about most.
Nick’s Limousine Service
A 24/7 black-car and chauffeur service based right here in the desert, serving PSP and the valley around the clock.
Our Guests
Where Our Guests Come From
More than anywhere, our guests come from Los Angeles and Hollywood — weekend escapes, second homes, and friends who have been making the two-hour trip for years. Our own roots run that way, too: before Palm Springs Spa Massage, Samuel worked as a single therapist from Los Angeles to Laguna Beach to Palm Springs to San Diego, building a large book of repeat clients on referrals alone. For a time, our Los Angeles roots included a Beverly Hills office on Wilshire Boulevard, operating as LA Spa Massage — shared office space where Samuel drove out to interview therapists, and where a Los Angeles team worked simultaneously with Palm Springs Spa Massage before LA Spa Massage was folded back into the Palm Springs family business entirely.
San Diego and the beach cities come next — a short drive over the mountains to the same sunshine, warmer. And truly, our clientele has always been national: snowbirds, festival families, golfers and celebrants from across the country who found a family business here in 1999 and kept coming back, year after year.
Flying in from further away? You are welcome here, too — start with the airport and chauffeur links above, and when you land, we will be glad to look after you. That is what we are here for.
Boutique Hotels
Boutique Hotels in Palm Springs
Korakia Pensione
Moroccan-Mediterranean romance behind old wooden doors; the valley’s dreamiest hideaway for couples, and a splurge worth making.
Trixie Motel
The pink icon. Seven themed rooms of pure Palm Springs joy — our pick for celebrations and anyone who believes a stay should be fun first.
Casa Cody
The oldest hotel in Palm Springs, Spanish Colonial Revival charm at the foot of the mountains — history you can sleep in.
Ingleside Estate
A landmark estate of quiet luxury and old-Hollywood bones; Palm Springs at its most graceful.
Holiday House
Adults-only, mid-century, effortlessly cool; the lively-but-grown-up weekend house.
Desert Riviera
A mid-century gem whose owners greet you like family; one of the valley’s best-value boutique stays.
Little Paradise Hotel
A quiet nine-room hideaway on a street with real Palm Springs history; our gentle, easy-on-the-wallet boutique pick.
Staying at one of these houses? We come to you. Our therapists bring massage and facials right into your room or onto your patio — book at PalmSpringsSpaMassage.com or call/text (760) 808-4205, any day 8 AM–9 PM.
Warm Sands
Men’s Resorts in Palm Springs
Warm Sands is where our story began — as Massage Mechanics we served these houses from the beginning, and we still do. Certified, licensed, insured male massage therapists, booked always through our office.
Desert Paradise Resort
Playful, friendly, themed rooms and a big heart; one of our deepest front-desk relationships in the valley.
Casa Oliver Hotel & Resort
The grand Warm Sands campus reborn — stylish, social, and clothing-optional.
The Hacienda at Warm Sands
All-suite luxury, nine rooms, service that spoils; the splurge of the men’s resorts.
INNdulge
A true institution — award-winning, retro-charming, and beloved for decades.
El Mirasol Villas
Spanish-style and peaceful; walled, gated, and calm — the quiet end of Warm Sands.
Santiago Resort
Men-only luxury at the mountain’s foot; polished, tranquil, grown-up.
Twin Palms Resort
The newest of the family — glamorous, modern, swimsuit-optional.
CCBC Resort Hotel
Cathedral City’s big, lively one — the valley’s largest men’s resort scene, day and night.
East of Palm Springs
Hotels in Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage & Indian Wells
Sands Hotel & Spa
Moroccan-inspired and impossibly photogenic; adults-only Indian Wells chic.
Sensei Porcupine Creek
Rancho Mirage wellness at the highest level — a once-in-a-while splurge for serious restoration.
The Mojave Resort
Adults-only mid-century calm in Palm Desert; 25 rooms and a quiet pool.
Indian Wells Resort Hotel
Old-Hollywood golf history, founded 1957 — Lucille and Desi’s old playground.
The Chateau at Lake La Quinta
Lakeside, European, romantic — breakfast on the water.
Mineral Waters
Desert Hot Springs Spa Hotels
Just north of Palm Springs, the mineral water rises hot and the pace slows down — the wellness shelf of the valley.
Two Bunch Palms
The legendary mineral-springs resort; adults-only, storied, restorative.
Azure Palm Hot Springs
A polished day-spa resort with desert views from the soaking tubs.
El Morocco Inn & Spa
Moroccan fantasy, 13 rooms, mineral pools under the palms.
The Good House
Seven rooms, mid-century bones, hot springs and quiet — a minimalist’s soak.
The High Desert
Joshua Tree & High Desert Stays
Joshua Tree Inn
Historic hacienda-style inn at the park’s door; music history in its walls.
Sacred Sands
Luxury desert retreat under enormous skies — made for couples and quiet.
29 Palms Inn
A 1928 oasis inn with its own garden restaurant — Twentynine Palms character at its best.
Hotel Wren
Adults-only boutique motel retreat, desert-modern and serene.
Pioneertown Motel
Sleep in an old Western movie town, behind Pappy & Harriet’s — pure high-desert fun.
Whole Houses & Pools of Your Own
Vacation Rentals in Palm Springs
A whole house, a pool of your own, room for the whole crew — for many of our guests this is the Palm Springs way, and it’s where our spa days shine brightest: we set up by your pool and the day is yours. Book direct with the valley’s best:
Dream Home Vacation Rentals
Julio Preciado and his team host luxury homes across the valley — and they refer their guests to us exclusively for in-rental spa days. If you’re staying in a Dream Home, your spa day is already halfway arranged.
Acme House Company
Palm Springs’ own since 2008, the valley’s largest local portfolio, run from an office right on Palm Canyon Drive.
Oranj Palm Vacation Homes
Managing desert homes since 1972 — the oldest name in the business, hundreds of homes from condos to estates.
Natural Retreats
Concierge-led luxury, including landmark architecture — for the stay that has to be unforgettable.
AvantStay
Design-forward homes and group retreats, top-rated by guests — and the team behind several of our favorite boutique hotels, too.
Poolside Vacation Rentals
Family-owned, Palm Springs-based, and loved by guests — thousands of five-star stays around valley pools.
Airbnb — Palm Springs Stays
Or search the platform: thousands of valley homes, from casitas to estates.
Your rental + our spa = the perfect desert day. Bachelorette weekends, golf trips, family gatherings, festival recovery mornings — we bring tables, linens and everything needed, and set up poolside or in a quiet room. Call or text (760) 808-4205 — open every day, 8 AM–9 PM. And if the trip is a gift, our gift cards travel beautifully.
For Rental Guests
Groceries, Delivered to Your Vacation Rental
Staying in an Airbnb, a Vrbo, or one of the valley’s agency rentals? Stock the kitchen without losing a single pool hour. Order through Instacart from many valley stores at once — or go direct: several of our favorite stores run their own delivery or pickup ordering, and those are marked below so you can choose.
Instacart
One order, many valley stores — groceries delivered right to your rental door, often within hours.
Jensen’s Finest Foods
The valley’s own gourmet market, and our first recommendation. Their own Doorstep Delivery brings Jensen’s right to you — order from their own site and let the good cheese come to you.
Bristol Farms — Palm Desert
A beautiful Palm Desert market. Order from Bristol Farms itself for same-day pickup, or have your order delivered right to your door.
Ralphs — Palm Springs
Palm Springs’ own Ralphs lists pickup and delivery as ways to shop on its own store page — the easy everyday stock-up, direct from the store.
Albertsons & Vons
Albertsons — and its sister banner Vons — offers grocery delivery seven days a week, same-day in as little as 30 minutes, plus DriveUp & Go pickup, from its own site.
Stater Bros.
A Southern California institution. Its own app offers online ordering with curbside pickup and grocery delivery to your door.
Whole Foods — Palm Desert
The Palm Desert store’s own page offers grocery delivery and pickup, ordered on Amazon (Prime members) — set it up before you arrive and land to a stocked kitchen.
Costco — Palm Desert & La Quinta
Hosting a houseful? Costco’s own site offers same-day grocery delivery (members, ordered on Costco.com) — and the Palm Desert and La Quinta warehouses await the big in-person run.
Cardenas Markets
For fresh tortillas, produce and everything a real Mexican kitchen needs — Cardenas’ own online store offers delivery through its partners, at the same prices as in store.
Gelson’s — Rancho Mirage
The Rancho Mirage favorite for beautiful produce and prepared foods. Gelson’s own site didn’t show us a store delivery program — so shop this one in person, or find it on Instacart.
Trader Joe’s — Cathedral City
Trader Joe’s offers no delivery, no pickup and no online ordering — their own long-standing policy, stated plainly. The Cathedral City store is a beloved stop all the same; go early and stock up happily.
Guest Services
The Little Things, Arranged — Our Top Picks
Flowers on the table when she walks in. Nails before the wedding. A cake worth singing over. These are the calls our guests ask us to make for them — so here they are, one top pick at a time, crowned the only way we trust: by the best reviews in the valley, rating weighed with how many voices stand behind it.
Palm Springs Florist
In the community since 1947, and the valley’s most-loved florist by review — the first call for flowers that deliver, with same-day delivery across the valley.
Enchanted Floral Design
A boutique floral studio on Alejo Road for weddings and events, with same-day delivery — a beautiful second call.
Rejuvenation Nails & Spa
On South Palm Canyon Drive — the name our clients repeat back to us, and the manicure-pedicure reviewers call the best in the desert. Book ahead on weekends.
Tiny Bubbles Salon
A true full-service salon: precision and clipper cuts, color and balayage, blowouts, styling and updos, extensions and treatments — the complete range, done beautifully.
Kings Gym
Open 24/7, with day and week passes visitors praise — a real lifter’s gym that still makes a traveler feel at home.
SuperSet Gym
A polished Palm Springs training gym offering day and week passes on its own site — an excellent second choice.
849 Fine Catering & Events
One of Palm Springs’ premier full-service catering companies — twenty years of beautiful parties, handled end to end.
Carousel Catering
Full-service catering from a Palm Springs family company serving celebrations since 1969.
Exquisite Desserts
From-scratch custom cakes, cupcakes and mini cupcakes in Palm Desert, baking since 2000 — the celebration cake we recommend first. For custom cakes, they ask three weeks’ notice when you can.
The Buttercake Studio
A Palm Springs custom cake studio — designed cakes with delivery and on-site setup for your celebration.
Party City at Staples
Party supplies, tableware, favors and helium balloons at 5001 Ramon Road in Palm Springs — the one-stop run for your theme.
Funtastik Balloons & Party Rentals
Balloon arches, garlands, columns and party rentals in Palm Desert — delivered and set up, so your backdrop is ready when the cameras come out.
Wherever You Stay in This Valley
A boutique room, a resort, a house with a pool of its own — wherever you land, we bring the spa to you, and we will treat you like the special guest you are. That’s why we’re here.
More of the Guide: Things to Do in Palm Springs · Where to Eat in Palm Springs