Is a one-night stay in Palm Springs possible, worth it and enjoyable? As parents to a four-year-old, we considered all these factors before booking our trip to Palm Springs.
Destination Planning
With a promising 2 hours road trip from Orange County it checked off all the boxes. We made it our goal to schedule our visit before mid-June when the heat really begins to peak. Most important to us, was to find a family friendly hotel that would entertain our family. After some research, Margaritaville Resort met our needs.
Road Tripping & hotel arrival
We began our journey by departing Orange County on a Saturday morning. Our road-trip clocked in around less than 2 hours. We arrived at the hotel a couple of hours before the hotel scheduled check-in. The temps were warm around 90 degrees. If you are travelling with a four-year-old, early check-in is always appreciated! After completing check-in, the front desk agent asked us to hang around reception as they’d have our room ready before the 4pm check in time. Long story short, they didn’t.
24 hours in Palm Springs
Fast forward to check in. The room was exactly what the description read, just look at the bathroom – a true delight.
Coffee Stop
Next up, we immediately wanted to hit the town, so we ventured out for an afternoon coffee pick me at Cafe La Jefa. The outdoor space was too adorable, and the coffee was good too! My husband picked up their specialty coffee and I opted for a refreshing caffeine beverage.
Dinner Plans
We headed back to the hotel to get dressed for dinner. Our plans were to head to downtown and explore the area. Dinner at Las Casuelas did not disappoint. The restaurant ambience here exudes Mexican authenticity, I’m convinced any meal here is a hit. This was definitely a restaurant that the locals were visiting, and I would highly recommend for a family with young kids.
downtown Stroll
After some exploring downtown, we knew we’d want to head back to the hotel and check out the pool area and lounge. After all, that’s what every kid looks forward to!
Hotel Pools
The hotel has two different pool areas and we decided to hang out by the one closer to our hotel room as it had fire pits and a good lounge area. I have to say it was definitely more adult-oriented. While we lounged at the pool, we enjoyed the music playing. Since it was later in the evening, most adults were out and about town leaving the pool for families and adults wanting some rest and relaxation time.
The pool itself did not appear the cleanest. Again, after hosting a day of pool loungers I’m not sure you can blame the hotel for that. Likewise, I would have appreciated hotel staff availability to pick up towels and trash left behind by earlier visitors. While we hung out at the pool, we didn’t order any drinks or food as we had dinner earlier. Meanwhile, the weather in the evening was really perfect for the pool and we were right next to a fire pit that had a burning fire, so the ambience was truly relaxing.
As the sun set, we were back in our hotel room to wrap up the evening with nice shower and a movie to watch to call it a night.
Wrapping up our Stay
I appreciate room service as an amenity. I was disappointed to see that there was no room-service offered in this hotel. This wasn’t a huge problem as they have great restaurants in the surrounding area.
Before leaving the hotel on Sunday, we toured the grounds to see if we wanted to take a quick dip in the other more family friendly pool but opted not to. Soon after, we checked out of the hotel and headed back home with a great opportunity to do some shopping at the Cabazon Outlets. We only stopped at a few of our preferred stores, but it was definitely worth our stop.
Is this a good hotel for parents & young kids?
As mentioned earlier, one of the things that I expected was an earlier hotel check in. The hotel could have followed up to let us know so that we would have not waited (or wasted time waiting) by reception. Next to that note, there was no welcome drink offered at check-in as you would expect from the hotel brand.
I will say the cleanliness of the room was great; but the pool area needed some TLC. Also worth noting, our room didn’t have a great view (parking lot view). In all fairness, we didn’t pay extra for that and I’m not too sure that would have made a tremendous difference in my impression.
We booked our hotel stay using Captial One Travel Portal and my Venture X card which allowed for A $300 hotel credit, which essentially paid for our hotel stay. (While this card has an annual fee, the benefits I receive outweigh the fee). Here’s my Venture X referral link: https://i.capitalone.com/GhUGJFxhu.
Overall, we had a nice first time visit in Palm Springs and were able to do some really good exploring. I defineitly want to return for a longer stay. I would recommend staying at this hotel at off-peak days and ensuring you bring pool toys to make the experience even more enjoyable.
xoxo,
The Sun Queen