Our daughters’ spring breaks were on different weeks this year, so my husband I decided to “divide and conquer.” He took the 4 year old to San Diego for a couple days, with the highlight of the trip being a visit to the San Diego Zoo and I took the 6 year old (Charlotte), one week later, to Palm Desert for 2 nights.
Since the desert is only a couple hour drive from our house, we go there several times a year as a family. Some of our favorite hotels for kids are the Omni Rancho Las Palmas in Rancho Mirage because they have slides and a lazy river as well as kids’ movie-night-in-the-pool, Westin Mission Hills in Palm Springs because they have a slide and the Westin Desert Willow Villas in Palm Desert because of the slide and kid-friendly activities. We also VRBO or AirBnB quite a bit as well, but I’ll admit, while the adults love that, the girls are hooked on slides and lazy rivers!
Due to the fact that it was Spring Break season and we booked last minute, Westin Desert Willow Villas (www.marriott.com) was the only hotel of these 3 with an opening for 2 nights mid-week (Tuesday-Thursday). The location isn’t walkable to anything significant, so plan on driving everywhere unless you are OK with the limited Covid menu of mainly sandwiches, burgers and hot dogs at the resorts only open restaurant. Other Covid-casualties include the slide, hot tubs, kids’ club and fitness center: closed indefinitely. It’s a huge campus with 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom villas located in 9 buildings surrounded by the Desert Willow 18-hole golf course. Each room has a washer/dryer and kitchen, which I always appreciate when traveling. This is a vacation ownership hotel, so we aware that the concierge will try to book your “informational session.”
Check in was supposed to be at 4PM and when we arrived at about 4:30PM, our room wasn’t ready. Apparently, the hotel was fully booked and due to Covid, the cleaning process was more extensive. We drove about 10 minutes to El Paseo for an early dinner at Armando’s Dakota Bar and Grill. Armando’s doesn’t have a website and they don’t take reservations. They have killer margaritas; as in, you’re only allowed to order two per person. Since I was the only driver, I stuck to water this time. Charlotte said her kids’ quesadilla was the best quesadilla she has ever had…and Charlotte is quite the quesadilla connoisseur! I had chicken enchiladas with mole and the sauce was perfect.
As we headed back to our car at about 6PM, the Westin concierge called me to let me know our room was finally ready! She also tried to get me to book an “update” meeting with the vacation ownership team…we own 2-bedroom time-share at the Westin Nanea in Maui. Since we were there for 2 ½ days, I bowed out of the time-share pitch!
In the morning, we realized our villa was located in building 9, next to the Quiet Pool (adults) and we are not quiet people. We drove to Starbucks, 5 minutes away for breakfast, and headed to the main pool…which is actually 3 pools including a shallow one for smaller kids. The main pool opens at 8AM and we arrived at about 8:05AM. I had an eager 6 year old ready to swim! We didn’t need to hurry, even fully booked, the resort wasn’t crowded. Seats can’t actually be saved anymore, unless you reserve a cabana.
We had lunch at the pool and spent the entire day there. Except for missing the slide, we had a great time swimming and playing with the pool toys we bought at Target about a 20 minute drive away from the hotel. Went to dinner at La Donne Cucina Italiana (www.ledonnecucina.com) for the first time. It’s also located near El Paseo about 10 minutes away from the hotel. Kids’ capellini was a hit as was the fresh-shaved parmesan cheese at the table! Pass on the bread and the caprese salad…the mozzarella tasted old and rubbery. BUT, the shrimp pasta with truffle oil was excellent.
There are so many good restaurants in the desert, but many are not kid friendly. Here are a few great food and family-friendly restaurants we’ve been to on past trips:
Babe’s BBQ and Brewery www.babesbbqandbrewery.com
Norma’s at The Parker www.parkerpalmsprings.com
Lulu California Bistro www.lulupalmsprings.com
Wilma & Frieda’s Café www.wilmafrieda.com
Las Casuela’s (multiple locations) www.lascasuelas.com
We spent this vacation, basically, at the pool, but other kid-friendly activities we’ve done in the past:
The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens www.livingdesert.org
Tram www.pstramway.com
Charlotte and I headed back after one last hour ½ at the pool Thursday morning as check out was at 10AM. We stopped at Hadley’s (www.hadleyfruitorchards.com) on the way home for a date shake, because that has been our family tradition since I was little. Cabazon outlet mall is nearby for discounts and sales…we just headed home though.
We Don’t Sit Still 