One of the great things about having my in laws here over Thanksgiving weekend was that Husband and I got to sneak away. OMG I had a crazy love affair over that weekend. And yes, my husband was there. It’s what made it so special.
Husband & I have decided that if his parents are here for more than a week then we should make the most of it and plan a get away. Then we looked at our finances and saw how Christmas is so quickly approaching, and decided to make it for only one night. At this point, I’ll take whatever I can get.
I did some preliminary research for hotels and in the process got dicked over by naming our own price at Priceline (so not cool!). We “won” a hotel that was under construction. No restaurant and pool access in Palm Springs! Hell yeah that constitutes a refund! Now what about all the time I wasted on your site? And they didn’t even take the hotel off the list so we could have “won” it again. No I’m not using Priceline again, thankyouverymuch. Eventually I got a great deal on Travelocity (I’m a sucker for gnomes) for $159 at The Riviera. I was excited. I wanted a little glamour and pizzazz, and boy, did I get it in spades!
So we left Friday after Turkey Day later than I had hoped (yes, I did a great job on my 2nd ever turkey, I know you were curious), however we got an awesome deal on some Christmas gifts (Thank you Husband & MIL for getting up at 4 am and braving the SoCal cold). We took the scenic route along 371, which was nice, and arrived around 3:00. The way we came in made Palm Springs look like a shit hole and Palm Desert like the jewel. However, when we rounded the corner and saw the hot pink neon of The Riviera, my heart sang.
We checked into our glamorous, but small room over looking some garbage bins. I closed the drapes, but Husband wouldn’t have that for our special get away. He grabbed my hand and we approached the lobby. On our way there, I wanted to stare at all the tinkling lights and touch all the decadent upholstery. The Riviera certainly reminded me of Las Vegas, but with more old Hollywood glamor, flair, and character. Glen, at the front desk, understood the necessity of parents getting away from their kids and gladly upgraded us to a king suite overlooking a beautiful court yard.
The room was fantastic – a king bed, sitting area, patio, gorgeous tank tub and separate shower and toilet. The one ding I’ll give the room is that the windows REALLY needed to be washed. It looked like a season of grime and calciumed desert water sprinklers had been on it and needed some attention. You could still see, don’t get me wrong. I mean really, when was the last time we washed our windows inside and out (that would be once in the last 3 years). I had packed us a beautiful snack tray and a bottle of chilled champagne. I won’t go further into the details; let’s just leave it as bow-chica-wow-wow.
Much later we went to dinner at Circa 59 in the hotel. GORGEOUS. We sat on the covered patio with ceiling heaters over looking the twinkling lights and dazzling pool. Service was attentive and not overbearing. The food was fantastically delicious and great proportions for the tall price tag. We were greeted by the restaurant manager and as he moved along to the next table, I couldn’t help but to over hear (like I often do) their conversation. We ended up chatting the couple afterwards and sharing tips on Palm Springs. Turns out they own Swirl, a wine bar near our old neighborhood in San Francisco.
The next day we started off at Pinocchio’s for a great breakfast. If you need a hair of the dog that bit you the night before, their $3.95 bottomless champagne would be just what the doctor ordered. We toodled around Palm Canyon Drive mostly popping in vintage and modern furniture stores which reminded me so much of my beloved Valencia street in SF. There is a fantastic couch-ottoman set at Asylum that we’re still considering. Love the space-age vintage art and modern clothing in Wil Stiles. RetroSpect, you have some key finds too. Lunch was divine at Jake’s and that beet salad was to die for. Then we headed over to an art show and I was so very moved by Richard Curtner’s mind-blowing work that I’m posting it here and encouraging you to check it out. What a romantic and creative genius!
We ended our superb 24 hour love affair with Palm Springs by getting our first egg nog latte of the season and heading home along the 10. I will be back Palm Springs. You are my kind of girl…gorgeous, campy, vintage, hot, and love the gay boys. I wonder if I can convince my GBF to join me at the Palm Springs Modernism Week in February. I’m thinking poolside mojitos at The Riviera by day and modern architecture tours and parties at night. Won’t you join me? It’s the perfect place for us! Cheers!
