Parker Hotel, Palm Springs – California Dreaming

Written on Monday, September 30, 2019 by Emma Whiting Travel

My stay at the gorgeous Parker Hotel made my time in Palm Springs. Originally built in the 1950’s and owned by Gene Autry, who planned to house his newly acquired baseball team, the California Angels. Most recently designed by Jonathan Adler the whole interior is stunning, everywhere you look is photo worthy.

The lobby area opens on to a large yet cosy living room, full of inviting couches, swinging chairs facing the garden, and an open circular fireplace. You leave the main building to walk through the gardens to your room, the property is so big you could easily take a wrong turn and find yourself on the petanque court. Yes this happened to me. While the estate is big, you feel like you’re staying at a fabulous friends house. The gardens include lawn areas for picnics, places to relax around a large outdoor bonfire, outdoor yoga lawns, and of course a pool club to be seen at.

I almost didn’t want to leave the hotel to look around! Once we dragged ourselves away, we followed the architectural route around Palm Springs, viewing the mid-century homes once owned by the likes of Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, and Frank Sinatra. Looking at these houses you can imagine the booming resort town of the 1950’s, crawling with Hollywood’s elite escaping LA on the weekends. Bringing with them their desire for the latest and greatest in design, we are grateful decades later as we still get to enjoy these works of ‘desert modernism’.

Where next? LA of course.