the Weekend Palm Springs

A Motor Inn Gets a Multi-Million-Dollar Second Act

Old Las Palmas has always been one of Palm Springs’ quietest, most moneyed pockets — the neighborhood where Sinatra and Hollywood’s old guard kept their winter houses. This ten-room hotel started life as a modest 1960s motor inn on the same streets, and owner Mark Hermann rebuilt it from the studs up rather than simply repainting it. The result keeps the midcentury shell — clean lines, flat rooflines, a central pool courtyard — while swapping motel-era rooms for one- and two-bedroom villas with full kitchens and private patios. The name is the whole pitch: a place built for the forty-eight hours Angelenos spend fleeing the city, then handed back refreshed on Monday.

Why It Works

We picked it because the renovation actually committed to a point of view instead of defaulting to generic desert-chic. Walls between kitchens and living rooms came down, vintage furniture and record players went in, and the owner curates the soundtrack room to room — Sinatra-era standards in the morning, chill electronica once the sun drops. It reads as a single, considered design statement rather than a hotel assembled from a supplier catalog, and at ten rooms it stays small enough that the staff actually know who’s staying and what they drink in the evening.

Why This Location

The hotel sits on Vía Las Palmas, set back from the tourist traffic of Palm Canyon Drive but within easy walking distance of the Uptown Design District’s galleries, vintage furniture shops, and restaurants. Old Las Palmas itself is low-slung and residential, lined with midcentury houses rather than storefronts, which keeps the property feeling like a private enclave even though downtown Palm Springs and its restaurant row are a short walk or a five-minute drive away.

• Price: €€€

• Vibe: midcentury motor-inn turned design-forward villa hotel

• Chambres: 10 rooms total, configured as one- and two-bedroom villas

• Best For: couples and small groups wanting a design-led weekend base

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: the curated morning-to-evening soundtrack, piped through each villa

• Dining: no on-site restaurant; every villa has a full kitchen, with the Uptown Design District’s restaurants a short walk away

• Amenities: saline pool, private patios, pet-friendly rooms, free parking, air conditioning

Villas Built for Staying In

The one- and two-bedroom villas are the real departure from the property’s motel-era floor plan: open kitchen-living layouts, vintage-inflected furniture, and a private patio attached to every unit. Several configurations run around 700 square feet, generous by Palm Springs boutique standards, with a living room that works as well for a lazy afternoon as it does for cooking a full dinner after a day by the pool. It is a layout built for travelers who want to spread out with a second couple or a family, not just sleep between two days at the pool.

A Pool With a Strict No-Floatie Policy

The saline pool anchors the property’s small central courtyard, and the house rule against rafts and inflatable toys is less a restriction than a statement of intent: this is a hotel for people who want to actually swim and socialize poolside, not a hotel for pool-noodle chaos. It is adults-leaning in feel, even with families and pets welcomed, and the courtyard stays quiet enough in the evenings to hear the music change over.

Before You Book

With only ten rooms, the Weekend books up fast on actual weekends, which is the whole premise. It suits travelers who want a design-forward base with a kitchen and a quiet pool over resort amenities and a restaurant on-site, and who are happy walking or driving the short distance to Uptown for dinner. Anyone wanting a full-service resort with multiple dining rooms, a spa, and a daily activities desk should look elsewhere in Palm Springs; anyone chasing a specific, well-edited version of a desert weekend should book here first.