Indian Wells: Tennis, Golf and Big Resorts

Indian Wells is wedged between Palm Desert and La Quinta along Highway 111, and unlike its neighbors it has almost no retail or restaurant scene of its own. What it has instead is space: enormous resort properties with multiple pools, two championship golf courses open to the public, and the second-largest tennis stadium in the world.

Where to stay

The Hyatt Regency Indian Wells is the family resort — a lazy river, waterslides, five pools and a lawn big enough to lose children on. Renaissance Esmeralda is similar in scale with a slightly quieter feel and a large lagoon pool. Miramonte is the Tuscan-styled adults-leaning property with the Well Spa, the right pick for a couples weekend. The Sands Hotel and Spa is the outlier: a small, boldly decorated boutique with a great pool bar and rates a fraction of the big resorts.

Tennis and golf

The BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden runs two weeks each March and is the biggest combined ATP-WTA event outside the Grand Slams. Grounds passes during the first week are cheap and let you watch top players on outer courts a few feet away. Indian Wells Golf Resort has two public championship courses, the Celebrity and the Players, both immaculate and both discounted heavily in summer.

Where to eat and unwind

Vue Grille and Bar at the golf resort has the best mountain view of any restaurant in the mid-valley and a genuinely good happy hour. The Nest is a 1960s survivor with a piano bar, dance floor and an older crowd that will still be there at midnight. For spas, Agua Serena at the Hyatt and The Spa at Indian Wells are both open to non-guests on a day-pass basis.

Practical notes

Book March a year ahead — tournament rates run three to four times normal and every hotel from Palm Springs to La Quinta fills. Summer is the opposite: five-star resorts drop under $150 a night, and the pools stay open.