The Best Hotels in Rancho Mirage

Rancho Mirage has no real downtown and does not want one. It is a city of walled communities, golf, a very good public library with a research telescope, and Sunnylands — the Annenberg estate, which is the single most worthwhile paid attraction in the mid-valley. The hotels follow suit: large, comfortable, expensive, and quiet.

The two positions

Hillside properties, set above the valley floor on the Santa Rosa slope, have the views and the best spas, and they charge for both. Valley-floor resorts are larger, more family-oriented, with multiple pools, waterslides and lazy rivers — genuinely the best choice in the valley if you are travelling with children.

Rates and fees

High season runs $350-700 at the hillside properties and $250-450 on the floor. Summer discounts are steep, often 50 percent, and the pool complexes stay open. Resort fees of $35-50 are the highest in the valley; check what they include, because at these properties they frequently cover shuttles, classes and range balls.

Sunnylands and the observatory

Sunnylands Center and Gardens is free to walk; the house tours are ticketed, limited, and released on a schedule — book weeks ahead. The Rancho Mirage Library and Observatory runs free public star parties with a research-grade telescope, which is one of the best free evenings in the valley and almost unknown to visitors.

Eating

Rancho Mirage has a decent spread of established restaurants along Highway 111 and at The River, an open-air centre with cinemas and patios. For a bigger night out, El Paseo is 10 minutes east and downtown Palm Springs 20 minutes west.

Who it suits

Families wanting a resort pool, couples wanting a spa weekend, golfers, and anyone who wants central geography with quiet. It suits visitors chasing Palm Springs nightlife or mid-century design less well.