Desert Sun, Palm Springs California - February, 2017
Desert Sun Resort
Palm Springs, CA
February 2017
This was our second trip to Desert Sun
Resort. Our first trip last June managed to correspond to
the hottest day on record ever in Palm Springs (125 degrees)
and the whole time was basically spent trying to stay a
modicum of “cool”. That mainly meant being in the pool in
the shade. It was sort of funny to see everyone lined up
along the side of the pool, in the shade, reading our
Kindles.
We flew into Ontario International
Airport instead of Palm Springs because it was much cheaper.
The difference in price easily paid for a rental car for the
four days. Yes, it is not as convenient, after all you have
to drive about an hour to get to Palm Springs, but it was
worth it to us.
The resort has three different areas:
Chaparral, Courtyard and Condos. The Chaparral rooms are
motel like and are right next to the “activity pool”. They
were renovated three or four years ago, but show their age
in their basic shape. The Courtyard rooms are bunched around
a small courtyard and were originally a separate small
motel. The condos are grouped in two areas and are mainly
privately owned but are available when the owners are not
there.
Last time we stayed in a Courtyard
“suite” with a small private patio that had a gate out to
the private pool. It was a nice room but was twice as much
as a Chaparral room. The bathroom was nicely done and the
shower was easily large enough for me. It was larger than a
normal Courtyard room.
This time we stayed in a Chaparral
room. It had a king size bed, flat screen tv, refrigerator,
closet and very small bathroom. The shower was very small
with a weird contraption to turn the normal shower head
(which would have been chest height for me) into a
quasi-rainfall shower. It probably worked OK if you were
5’-8. I am 6’-3 and barely fit under the shower head. And
because of the way the shower head was now done there was
very little space near my head in the shower. The commode
had serious problems flushing, even after I reported it.
Even on Super Bowl Sunday there were
not many people there, probably about 20 at the most. During
the week (Monday to Wednesday) there were less than 10
people. The “activity pool” was used once or twice but the
“quiet pool” was freezing and no one went in it that I saw.
As in June, there was no pool volleyball although the net is
very prominently there. The hot tub was used pretty heavily.
The winds were very heavy on Tuesday but it really did not
affect people by the pool.
When we go back we will probably stay
in a “normal” Courtyard room which is just a little more
than the Chaparral rooms. I would not get one of the suite
rooms again.