WarrenWST

Hi. Hoping for some advice. First a little background: My wife and I, mid to late 60's, are heading to Red Rock Canyon, Nevada, beginning of November for a short family vacation, i.e., we walk the dog while they climb rocks. We will be coming from Boston. My wife and I are very active in terms of long walks and hiking (easy to moderate hikes). We love local restaurants with atmosphere, fresh food including fresh vegetables, and craft beer, Nothing fancy. We are not going fine dining. We enjoy casual. The hotels we stay at preferably have the same including a nice outdoor pool with scenery and in best case the ability to walk to local restaurants. We are not shoppers; prefer locations with beautiful views and places to walk.

We have decided to precede the stay in Red Rock Canyon by first going to Palm Springs. Have never been there and thought this may be the right opportunity. We love National Parks so figured we would also visit Joshua Tree. Planing on 3 or 4 nights in the Palm Springs area and then driving to Red Rock for 4-5 nights. We have never been to Palm Spings but it was always on the list for some relaxation and again some nice walks.

When I look online I see several resorts like the Hyatt that look very nice but they are located in Indian Wells, CA even though I searched for best resorts in Palm Springs. We do not want to stay anywhere that charges $400+ per night.

Could you help us with the following:

Should we stay in Palm Springs or Indian Wells?
Any recommendations where?

Will 3 nights be enough? Our flight would arrive in Palm Springs around Noon.

Is there a scenic drive to Las Vegas from either Palm Springs or Indian Wells that doesn't add several hours to the drive? We will be renting a SUV at the airport and returning it at the Las Vegas airport when we return home. We know the rates are much higher when you don't return it from where you picked it up but we have no choice.

Would greatly appreciate your advice.

Thanks, W

Moderator1

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MichelleY

I know nothing about Indian Wells, but if we return to PS, we would look at staying in the historic Tennis Club area. Just a few blocks off the main drag, with restaurants etc. This area has older, historic places to stay with different price points. If I win the lottery, we would stay at The Willows, also in this area. The Coyote Inn and Old Ranch Inn are next to each other, simple, motel like.

https://thewillowspalmsprings.com/

Be sure to check out a palm canyon oasis for a hike. We did the easy San Andres canyon. Also head east to check out a date garden and have a date shake! We visited the Oasis Date Garden.

MichelleY

https://www.palmspringspreferredsmal...hotels/page/3/

WarrenWST

Thank you so much, I will check out all your links and reply.

Great responses! Thank you.

We actually just changed things up a bit. We decided to fly into Las Vegas first, meet up with family in Red Rock Canyon for 4 nights and then drive to the Palm Springs area for 3 nights. Flight is booked.

We decided that our main reason for this part of the trip will be Joshua Tree National Park. So, the first day will be the drive from Red Rock to wherever we decide to stay in Palm Springs area. Maybe this would be our opportunity to visit and walk about downtown Palm Springs,

Over the next two days we plan to spend one full day at Joshua Tree and the other day is up in the air. Maybe just relax or checkout and stay at a local hotel at the airport since we have such an early flight. Or maybe this is when we visit downtown Palm Springs. Based on the pics I see online the downtown area looks really nice with plenty of restaurants.

We are still unclear on where best to stay. maybe closer to Joshua Tree. Recommendations would be greatly appreciated. We have a little more flexibility in finding availability and a decent price since it will be Mon - Wed nights leaving on Thursday, Again, our preference would be to stay somewhere where you could walk to restaurants and have a beautiful view.


Thanks again. W

WarrenWST

Hi. Agree. The Willows is beautiful! However, I like you, need to hit the lottery first. Even the lease expensive room at $424 midweek is above our price range for this short trip.
Thanks, W

WarrenWST

Thank you so much for providing the link on Palm Spring small hotels. The Ingleside was one of the places I was looking at before but I couldn't book it since they didn't allow checkout on Saturday. That is no longer the case so we will absolutely consider this if we decide to stay closer to downtown Palm Springs than near Joshua Tree.

I'll also review all the others in detail as well but the Ingleside did catch my attention.

Thanks again, W

MichelleY

You may also want to look into taking the tram up to Mt. Jacinto! Pretty thrilling!

tomfuller

There are cheap hotel rooms at Buffalo Bills Casino in Primm NV (exit 1). I have seen RV campers that stay for free in their big parking lot and come in to eat at the restaurants off the casino floor.
If the objective is to see Joshua trees, there are plenty in the Mojave National Preserve. There is also a cave and some sand dunes in the Preserve.

mlgb

My friends always liked to stay here in Palm Springs
https://www.desert-hills.com/

I always preferred to stay "down valley" in Indian Wells but rates have gotten out of the affordable range. I do like the Hyatt especially if you can upgrade to at least a golf course view. Another affordable "down-valley" option is Homewood Suites in La Quinta.

Maybe also look for an Airbnb in La Quinta, there are some lockoffs near the venerable La Quinta Resort.

If staying in east Coachella Valley note there is a "back entrance" to Joshua Tree via Cottonwood Springs, so you can do a loop, go in one side and out via Yucca Valley/ Desert Hot Springs.

If you want to stay in a hotel nearer to Joshua Tree, check 29 Palms.

WarrenWST

Great information. You are all wonderful!

We have booked flights to LV and from PS. We will be in Red Rock for 4 nights and then PS for 3 nights.

We will be arriving just after the Pride festival which is a good thing based on crowds.

We will make downtown PS as our base considering we are only there for a short time. As mentioned we will spend 1 full day at Joshua Tree NP.

Currently not 100% settled on where we will stay. Will review the links and recommendations provided. I have booked the Hyatt Palm Springs and the Ingleside. Both caught my attention based on their websites.

The Hyatt is less expensive and more in line with what we want to spend, approx. $200 night. However, the do charge an outrageous parking fee of $45/night. I read that you could park behind the hotel or on Palm Canyon Drive.

The Ingleside is more expensive but does have a special right now of the third night is free. However, even with that their nightly rate is $300 with their outrageous $40 resort fee, I realize they all charge resort fees and most charge parking fees but I'm not happy with the amount they charge, I was told parking is across the street of the Inn!

So again, I will continue to review hotels but would appreciate and feedback from those that may be familiar with the Hyatt or the Ingelside including the parking.

Thanks! W

rouelan

I guess you are after something more upscale, but just to let you know that there are several hotels along Indian Canyon Dr in PS that would meet some of your requirements (walking distance from action, outdoor pool and jacuzzi, views of Mt san Jacinto).
we stayed in Las Brisas, Movie colony, 7 springs.... All were, in my view, good value for money

WarrenWST

Hi. Has anybody recently drove through the Mojave Preserve from Las Vegas? Any idea how long it may take?
Thanks.

janisj

Since Cima Road is closed you'd have to go to Baker and then via Kelso and I think there are road construction projects around Kelso so could be delays. Be sure to check road conditions . . . IF there is no construction then Vegas to Palm Springs via Kelso is about a 5.5 hour drive including a few photo op stops. or much longer if you really want to explore.

mlgb

Not recently but anything to avoid Barstow. We enjoy those back roads. Here is the link to the road conditions page within the preserve.
https://www.nps.gov/moja/road-conditions.htm

There is no mention of other construction around Kelso, I wonder if janisj can provide a link. Only that you can get hung up by the train.

The Morning Star Mine Road is open to Cima if you don't want to go all the way to Baker. Be sure to print out the map and written directions in case any downloads fail. No signal out there.

janisj

I don't see any current construction at Kelso - there was a big project there over the summer but it seems to be completed. However one hour delays due to the trains are pretty common https://www.nps.gov/moja/road-conditions.htm

mlgb

Yes that's the exact link that I posted which as I also posted says nothing about construction there, only train related delays.

mlgb

Yes that's the exact link that I posted which as I also posted says nothing about construction there, only train related delays. I thought maybe you knew something else. Guess not.

Madam397

We were in Palm Springs over New Year's to celebrate my husband's special birthday with our family and so we rented a house. The Hyatt Regency in downtown Palm Springs is ideally located for walking to lots of restaurants as well as the Art Museum which is outstanding, outdoor art, including the Giant Marilyn. Definitely take the tram up to Mt San Jacinto. It had snowed the night before we went and there was six inches of snow on the ground. It looked like Winter Wonderland. We bought a map at the Art Museum which has a route so you can drive through and see celebrity homes as well as the important mid-century modernist houses. We also did a day trip to Joshua Tree and it was pretty spectacular. Both of our daughters had been there previously along with one daughter's boyfriend and so they knew the stopping places in the park to get out and hike around the rocks and the cactus meadow. The one thing we couldn't do was get to Sunnylands as both the house and the gardens were closed the day we had available to visit.