Palm Springs poolside delights

Words and pic­tures by Julie Wood

Mac, Jennifer and Julie headed west to Newport Beach, California, last week for a cor­po­rate shoot and a very spe­cial birth­day bash. While Mac worked Jennifer and Julie power toured the area. A whirl­wind day was spent cool­ing off pool­side at the Viceroy Hotel in Palm Springs. With temps around 100 degrees we sipped Marks frozen mint and cucum­ber moji­tos and snacked on frozen grapes. The south beach décor was luxe and tran­quil, with yel­low, white and black the pre­dom­i­nant color theme. Guests were mainly young cou­ples enjoy­ing a few days of pam­per­ing and relax­ing in the revived oasis.

Later in the after­noon we drove over to the Parker Palm Hotel, recently refur­bished by Jonathan Adler, eclec­tic pot­ter and designer. The shabby chic sev­en­ties décor was amus­ing, the expan­sive gar­dens too die for. Jennifer and I strolled amid tow­er­ing banks of per­fumed shrubs, the air lit­er­ally liq­uid with deli­cious scents. An pool­side mojito bar com­plete with cool mist­ing spray was well patro­n­ised as were the pools scat­tered through­out. Giant chess sets, boule and other games were set in secret gar­dens. Fire pits and roman­tic cor­ners all came into their own after dark when the light­ing turns the estate into a mag­i­cal fan­tasy. The spa was highly rec­om­mended but time was fleet­ing so we took tea in the lobby instead. 

Images that stick in my mind are the vast val­ley of wind­mills on the drive into town, the snow capped moun­tains, the bril­liance of the desert sky, the laid back glam of the mod­ernist archi­tec­ture. It’s easy to imag­ine the Rat Pack cruis­ing the palm lined streets back in the day! We took a ride on the gon­dola with its revolv­ing floor to the pine scented cool­ness of the moun­tain tops above the town. Another world of green awaits, as does a fab view of the valley. We drove back to the coast as the sun­set to res­cue Mac, then whisked him out for a great Mexican dinner.