Avenue 50 Corridor, Coachella

This is the practical side of Coachella: newer motels and extended-stay properties, Bagdouma Park with its pool and ballfields, grocery stores and the arterial roads that feed into Indio's Empire Polo Club. During Coachella and Stagecoach weekends the whole corridor turns into a staging area — rideshare pickups, shuttle stops, taco trucks running until 3am. Outside festival season it is quiet, affordable and the cheapest place in the valley to base yourself if you plan to spend days at the Salton Sea or Joshua Tree's southern entrance.