I stayed here back in January of this year—long, long ago at this point. I had been so busy that I kept putting off writing this review...
After New Year’s, we wanted to squeeze in one last getaway before the baby arrived, so we picked the famous Palm Springs, which we had never visited before.
Hotel Overview
The hotel is in a great location in Palm Springs. Walking to shops, restaurants, and around town only takes a few minutes.
The hotel has 153 rooms in total, including three types of suites. Standard rooms are 364-437 sq ft, and suites are 636-1500 sq ft.
On the rooftop, the hotel has the 4 Saints restaurant and the poolside High Bar.
On the ground floor, there is Window Bar and Juniper Table for lighter meals.
Points Redemption
Within IHG, this hotel used to be a Category 11 property and required 60,000 points per night. I had one last unrestricted anniversary free night certificate from the Chase IHG credit card with the $49 annual fee that was about to expire, so I picked a hotel that normally costs more than 40,000 points.
The average nightly rate is usually around $300, and around $400 on weekends, so it was a very solid redemption.
The good news is that after IHG moved to dynamic pricing, I checked and found that it now only costs 30,000 or 50,000 points, and cash rates are also only around $200.
The bad news is that I feel like I redeemed too early and got poor value!
The hotel charges a resort fee, which came to $46.72 after tax. Even award stays still have to pay it. It includes valet parking and wifi.
Check-In
If you stay at a Kimpton, remember to say the seasonal password at check-in. You may get a little gift—possibly points, possibly a credit, possibly a physical item.
The password during my stay was “Stay Human.” The front desk agent then pulled out a cardboard display with various movie heroes on it. I picked Wonder Woman, which meant one free movie on the in-room TV, with no restrictions on type or price.
She was very friendly, and when she could tell we were not that interested in watching a movie, she also gave us an extra $20 mini bar credit.
More importantly, we got an upgrade to a King Spa room. As a freeloading Platinum member, I had basically never received any meaningful upgrades from IHG before, so this was pretty nice—thank you!
The hotel only offers valet parking, and it is included in the resort fee.
There is also a row of bicycles at the front entrance that guests can borrow, also included in the resort fee.
After entering, the front desk is on the left, the stairs to the second floor are straight ahead, the elevator is behind the stairs, and Window Bar is on the right.
The lobby has a modern minimalist look with lots of natural wood tones. In hot Palm Springs, that style works really well. Walking in and feeling the cool air conditioning was very refreshing.
(The person in the lower right corner is the concierge.)
Room
The hallway was very clean, and the color scheme was nicely done.
Our room was at the end of the hallway.
Immediately to the right after entering were the closet and a bathroom that took up about 1/3 of the room’s footprint.
Of all the hotels I have stayed at, a plain wall-mounted TV is always a negative for me. Not a fan. And at this distance from the bed, it really was not big enough...
In the photo below, next to the nightstand on the left side of the bed, there is a pull-up shade that lets you see the bathtub in the bathroom. An interesting design choice.
Here is the daytime view outside as well. During the day, the balcony is basically just a place to soak up heat; at night, though, it would be nice for a drink.
That said, the room’s soundproofing was not great. The glass and sliding door were clearly not the more sound-insulating kind.
It felt like the hotel knew this too, because there was a white noise machine on the desk. But I am not exactly sophisticated with gadgets and could not figure out how to use it. After fiddling with it for a while, it just seemed like I was creating noise both inside and outside the room... so I turned it off...
Now let’s look at the bathroom. The bathroom was quite good in both size and color palette. A frosted glass door in a few places would have made it even better.
The toiletries were from Atelier Bloem. I do not remember them especially well, which probably means they were fine. The full-size bottles were not exactly convenient for me to pack up and take home, though.
The Mini Bar is opened with a metal key, and you only get the key after the front desk confirms your age. There were some snacks, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, plus local desert dates, with prices listed on a menu. I could not find my Mini Bar photos, so all I found was a photo of the key. Amazing.
In Room Dining is definitely more expensive than eating outside, but compared with many other hotels, the pricing was not outrageous.
See the full menu below ↓
Gym
The gym was a decent size and had nice natural light. But I do not work out.
Rooftop
The rooftop has the 4 Saints restaurant, the pool, and High Bar.
The Rooftop Pool is one of the hotel’s main selling points, and it is done pretty well. The only issue is that the overall area feels a bit small, and more than half of it seems to be taken up by lounge chairs.
The Americans there all looked pretty happy sunbathing and playing in the water... so I assume the experience is quite good.
Cons
At the old cash rates and old award pricing, I do not think this hotel was worth it.
At today’s depressed pricing—around 30k points or about $200—it is okay.
Charging such a high Resort Fee at a hotel like this is really excessive!!
Soundproofing is poor.
Bottom Line
If the newer IHG 40k free night certificate can be used here, then it could be worth considering.
If you like strolling around a California-style small-town shopping district, this is a convenient place to stay since you can do everything on foot, and the location is quite good.
If I had to spend cash or points again, I would most likely pass on staying at this hotel another time.