The Best Hotels in Palm Springs
Twelve selected stays, sorted by the way people actually choose
PalmSpots Editors · Published Aug 28, 2026 · Updated Oct 11, 2026
Twelve selected stays in this guide, kept in sync with our hotel database.
Palm Springs hotels split into three groups: converted 1950s motels, big resorts, and small adults-only compounds. Pick the group first, then the property.
| Hotel | Area | From | Best for | Rates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Parker Palm Springs5-star hotel class | South Palm Springs | From $400/night | Design lovers, romantic getaways, guests who want a resort they never need to leave | Check Rates |
 Kimpton Rowan Palm Springs4-star hotel class | Downtown Palm Springs | Check rates for your dates | City breaks, business travel, first-timers | Check Rates |
 Ace Hotel & Swim Club4-star hotel class | South Palm Springs | Check rates for your dates | Groups, festival weekends, first-timers | Check Rates |
 Korakia Pensione3.5-star hotel class | Historic Tennis Club | From $290/night | Adults, anniversaries, digital detox | Check Rates |
 Azure Sky Hotel3-star hotel class | Warm Sands | From $195/night | Adults, quiet weekends | Check Rates |
 The Colony Palms Hotel5-star hotel class | Downtown Palm Springs | Check rates for your dates | Couples, design weekends | Check Rates |
 Villa Royale3.5-star hotel class | Warm Sands | From $230/night | Couples comparing private patios with a special private-pool residence | Check Rates |
 The Saguaro Palm Springs3.5-star hotel class | South Palm Springs | From $150/night | Budget groups, bachelorette weekends | Check Rates |
 L'Horizon Resort & Spa5-star hotel class | South Palm Springs | Typical rates from $449; the valley's top-tier adults-only resort | A quiet luxury weekend for two | Check Rates |
 ARRIVE Palm Springs4-star hotel class | Uptown Design District | Typical rates from $229; festival weekends price well above | Groups who want the day to happen poolside | Check Rates |
 Sparrows Lodge4-star hotel class | South Palm Springs | Typical rates from $329; adults-only, 20 rooms | Unplugging without leaving town | Check Rates |
 Casa Cody4-star hotel class | Downtown / Historic Tennis Club | Check rates for your dates | Walkable downtown stays with history | Check Rates |
Palm Springs hotels are not interchangeable. The town runs on small properties — 15 to 90 rooms — where the pool, the era of the building and the crowd it attracts matter far more than the star rating. Picking well is mostly about matching a property type to your trip.
The five kinds of Palm Springs hotel
Mid-century boutiques are the signature: restored 1950s and 60s motor courts, small room counts, a single central pool, design-forward and often adults-only. Full-service resorts sit mostly outside the city in Rancho Mirage, Indian Wells and La Quinta, with golf, spas and multiple restaurants. Historic inns are the older, quieter, walled-garden properties near downtown. Design hotels are the larger modern ones with scenes attached — DJ pool days, busy bars. And the classic motels are honest, inexpensive, and often surprisingly charming.
Neighborhoods
Downtown and Uptown put you within walking distance of restaurants, the museum and VillageFest, at the cost of some street noise. The Movie Colony and Old Las Palmas are residential and quiet. Warm Sands is the historic LGBTQ+ resort district, largely clothing-optional and adults-only. South Palm Springs is quieter and more spread out and needs a car for everything.
What things cost
High season, November through April, runs roughly $250-450 a night for a good boutique room and $500 and up for the top properties or a plunge-pool casita. Shoulder months soften that by 20 to 30 percent. July and August routinely halve it. Add resort fees of $25-45 a night at most properties and $20-35 for valet where parking is not free — these are the two costs visitors consistently forget.
Booking timing
Four to six weeks ahead for a normal high-season weekend. Three months or more for Modernism Week, Coachella and Stagecoach weekends, the BNP Paribas Open, and New Year's. Summer can be booked a week out with no penalty.
Questions worth asking before you book
Is the pool heated in winter and shaded in summer. Is parking free, valet-only, or paid. Is the property adults-only. Are rooms accessed from an interior corridor or directly from the pool deck, which affects noise. And whether the resort fee covers anything you will actually use.
How we pick
Our selections prioritize properties with verified locations, current booking links, real pool details and recent guest experience — not press releases. Where a property has changed hands or renovated, we note it rather than reusing old descriptions.
FAQ
- Which area should I stay in?
- Downtown or the Uptown Design District if you want to walk to restaurants; South Palm Springs for pool-first weekends.
- When are hotels cheapest?
- July through September, when the heat drops rates by half. Midweek in any season is cheaper than weekends.
PalmSpots is an independent local guide. We may earn a commission when you book through some links, at no additional cost to you.
In this guide
The hotels, ranked
#1 · Best overall
Parker Palm Springs
5-star hotel classSouth Palm Springs · Palm Springs · $$$$
Best for: Design lovers, romantic getaways, guests who want a resort they never need to leave
Why we picked it: Thirteen acres of hedged gardens, two pools and the best grounds in the valley — it still feels like a private estate.
Book a garden room if you want the quiet side.
#2 · Best for walking downtown
Kimpton Rowan Palm Springs
4-star hotel classDowntown Palm Springs · Palm Springs · $$$
Best for: City breaks, business travel, first-timers
Why we picked it: The only true downtown high-rise: rooftop pool, mountain views, and Palm Canyon Drive at the door.
Rooftop fills up on weekend afternoons — go early.
#3 · Best pool scene for the money
Ace Hotel & Swim Club
4-star hotel classSouth Palm Springs · Palm Springs · $$
Best for: Groups, festival weekends, first-timers
Why we picked it: The liveliest pool in South Palm Springs at a midrange rate, with a diner and DJ weekends.
Not the pick for a quiet trip.
#4 · Quietest luxury
Korakia Pensione
3.5-star hotel classHistoric Tennis Club · Palm Springs · $$$
Best for: Adults, anniversaries, digital detox
Why we picked it: Two Mediterranean compounds, no televisions and no children — the calmest stay in town.
Bring a book; there is deliberately nothing to do.
#5 · Best small adults-only motel
Azure Sky Hotel
3-star hotel classWarm Sands · Palm Springs · $$
Best for: Adults, quiet weekends
Why we picked it: A tiny reworked motel in Warm Sands with a heated pool and almost no noise.
Only a handful of rooms, so it sells out first.
#6 · Best for couples
The Colony Palms Hotel
5-star hotel classDowntown Palm Springs · Palm Springs · $$$
Best for: Couples, design weekends
Why we picked it: Spanish-colonial courtyard, a serious restaurant on site, and a short walk to Uptown.
Ask about pool-facing rooms.
#7 · Best hotel restaurant
Villa Royale
3.5-star hotel classWarm Sands · Palm Springs · $$$
Best for: Couples comparing private patios with a special private-pool residence
Why we picked it: Warm Sands courtyards plus Del Rey, one of the better dinners you can walk to from your room.
Great for a food-first weekend.
#8 · Best value for groups
The Saguaro Palm Springs
3.5-star hotel classSouth Palm Springs · Palm Springs · $$
Best for: Budget groups, bachelorette weekends
Why we picked it: Loud colour, a big pool and the lowest rates on this list — built for a group weekend.
Rooms are simple; you are paying for the pool.
#9 · Best splurge
L'Horizon Resort & Spa
5-star hotel classSouth Palm Springs · Palm Springs · $$$$
Best for: Couples wanting a quiet luxury bungalow stay
Why we picked it: A 1952 Herbert Burns compound of freestanding bungalows on three walled acres, adults-only, with the most private pool deck in the city and the mountain wall right behind it. Rates are the highest on this list and the trade is space and silence.
#10 · Best pool-bar social scene
ARRIVE Palm Springs
4-star hotel classUptown Design District · Palm Springs · $$
Best for: Groups and pet owners who want a lively pool
Why we picked it: Built as a hotel around a bar: check-in happens at the bar, the pool is the courtyard, and rooms open straight onto it. Good for a group that plans to spend the day within thirty feet of the water, less good if you want early quiet.
#11 · Best rustic adults-only hideaway
Sparrows Lodge
4-star hotel classSouth Palm Springs · Palm Springs · $$$
Best for: Adults seeking a rustic, low-key hideaway
Why we picked it: A 1950s ranch reworked with barn doors, concrete floors, claw-foot tubs and no televisions, on the quieter south end. Communal dinners some nights, heated saltwater pool, and a deliberately unplugged feel.
#12 · Best historic inn
Casa Cody
4-star hotel classDowntown / Historic Tennis Club · Palm Springs · $$
Best for: Travellers who want historic character and a quiet courtyard over a scene
Why we picked it: The oldest continuously operating hotel in Palm Springs, founded in the 1920s, a block off the Tennis Club end of downtown: adobe casitas, two pools, citrus trees and a garden breakfast. Character over polish.
While you're here
Coming up nearby
Oct 15 – Oct 18
Modernism Week – October 2026
Various locations, Palm Springs
Sat, Oct 17 · 8am
Palm Springs Certified Farmers Market
Palm Springs Cultural Center, Palm Springs
Sat, Oct 17 · 12pm
Bingo at Chill Bar Palm Springs
Chill Bar Palm Springs, Palm Springs
Thu, Oct 22 · 5pm
Free Thursday Evening at Palm Springs Art Museum
Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs
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