AMIN CASA PALM SPRINGS ★★★★★

The House Gloria Swanson Kept, Now Eight Keys on Arenas Road

Walker and Eisen put this villa up in 1928, and for a stretch of the following decade it belonged to Gloria Swanson. That lineage is the whole character of the place. Arenas Road is residential, shaded and quiet, and the property announces itself with almost nothing: a wall, a gate, and then a courtyard of hand laid tile, citrus trees and bougainvillea that has been allowed to get out of hand in the right way. There are eight keys. The house takes sixteen adults at a time, which means the pool is never a competition for a lounger and the garden is never somebody else’s party.

Why It Works

A great many Palm Springs hotels sell the mid century idea. Very few can sell the house itself, with a name attached and an architecture practice behind it, and fewer still hold the line on scale the way this one does. Eight keys and an adults only policy is a deliberate choice rather than a limitation, and it is what separates a stay here from a boutique hotel of forty rooms doing the same aesthetic. The practical side matters too: no resort fee, off street parking, and a pool and jacuzzi heated through the year.

Why This Location

Arenas Road sits a few blocks off the main run of downtown Palm Springs, and downtown is a five minute stroll, which is the useful distance. You walk to dinner and you walk back, no car, no parking, no ride share. The street itself stays quiet in a way the addresses on the main drag are not, so evenings on the terrace are spent listening to the garden rather than to traffic. The desert is the other half of the equation: Joshua Tree National Park and the canyons are within a morning drive, and the aerial tramway is the standard half day when the valley heat sets in.

Fast Facts

• Price: Luxury

• Vibe: Hidden, adult, old Hollywood without the costume

• Rooms: Eight keys across bungalows and residences, sixteen adult guests maximum

• Best For: Couples, small groups taking the whole house, travellers who want no children anywhere near the pool

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: The courtyard garden of citrus and bougainvillea, laid over hand cut tile that has been there since the twenties

• Dining: No restaurant on site; gourmet meal delivery can be arranged, and downtown restaurants are a five minute walk

• Amenities: Heated outdoor pool and jacuzzi open all year, adults only, private check in, concierge, in room massage and personal training on request, free off street parking, no resort fee

• Attractions: Downtown Palm Springs, the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, Indian Canyons, Joshua Tree National Park

Eight Keys, Sixteen Guests, and What That Changes

Scale is the argument here, so it is worth being concrete about what it buys. Check in is private rather than at a desk. Housekeeping is daily but discreet. The pool and the jacuzzi are shared by sixteen people at most, which in practice often means four. Groups do take the whole property, and it is one of the few addresses in town where a buyout is a realistic idea rather than a quotation exercise. Extras run through the concierge: massage in the room, a trainer, meals delivered in.

The Garden, the Pool and the Desert Year

The gardens are the reason to book a longer stay than you planned. Citrus, bougainvillea, tiled paths and sun terraces, with a barbecue for guests who would rather eat in. The pool is heated year round and so is the jacuzzi, which matters more than visitors expect: desert nights drop hard, and a heated pool in the cool months is the difference between a courtyard you use and one you look at. Shade and a sun terrace cover the other half of the Palm Springs year.

What to Know Before You Book

This is an adults only house, so children are not accommodated, and neither are animals. Check in runs from three to six in the evening and is handled privately, so an arrival time is worth sending ahead. Check out is by ten. With eight keys the calendar moves quickly, and dates rather than room categories are the real decision. Parking is free and off street, which downtown is worth more than it sounds.