PALM SPRINGS in August is perfect. Seriously! A new favorite hotel in the desert to add to your list....
After a relatively chilly and gray summer in Los Angeles, a trip to Palm Springs in August seemed like a brilliant idea. And it was. Last weekend, we made the two hour drive with two girlfriends and reveled in the dry sunny heat! We were expecting to have the Colony Palms Hotel, a 56-room hotel that reopened three years ago after a $17 million renovation, to ourselves as August is the low season in the desert. It was actually hopping! No doubt due to the aforementioned gray, chilly summer those of us on the coast have been experiencing. 
Although we would have preferred to have the historic hotel-- built in 1936 by Purple Gang mobster Al Wertheimer and subsequently a hotel that hosted Frank Sinatra amongst other luminaries of the bygone era, a bit more to ourselves, the people watching was fabulous. And the crowd was fun and generous-- a 50th birthday party sent over wine and pizza, basically the way directly to our hearts!
After drinks (the lavender mojitos were quite good!) and lunch by the pool from the on-site Purple Palm restaurant, we attempted to shop our favorite Palm Springs spot, Trina Turk, but were turned away as "it was Saturday night" and the shop girl on duty had to close up. After getting over being "Turked," our friend Carrie's verb for what had occurred, we decided to get cleaned up in the Moroccan inspired Martin Lawrence Bullard designed rooms. Although we stayed in the entry caliber rooms, we loved them-- the Moroccan suzani headboards, white marble topped bar areas outfitted with gleaming cocktail shakers, martini glasses and top shelf liquor, corner fireplaces and spacious bathrooms.
We decided to leave the property for dinner as there was a lot going on with a wedding reception. We headed to the Viceroy, one of our favorites, and sat outside and feasted on bruschetta, burgers and the trout. The service was impeccable and the setting lovely.
After dinner we headed to the old school piano bar, Melvyn's at the Ingleside Inn. Talk about a blast from the past. The gentleman playing the piano and singing classics like Frankie Valli and Dean Martin, has certainly been there for a few decades as have the cocktail waitresses who are unflappable. Word of caution-- the cocktails here are very, very strong! Needless to say, we had a lot of fun....
After singing along to showtunes at Melvyn's and taking a spin or two on the petite mirror lined dancefloor, we retired to the Colony Palms for an in room dance party and midnight dip in the hot tub which was deserted. All in all, a perfect day in Palm Springs- the perfect place, to relax, let your hair down and have some old fashioned fun.
