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Palm Springs Idyll

By M+E Staff

I hope your New Year has started out on as inspiring a note as mine! I spent the first weekend of 2013 within kissing (okay, handshake) distance of Ben Affleck, Bradley Cooper, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston and Les Miz star Eddie Redmayne at the Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala I got a view- equally thrilling– of the gorgeous cliffs of the Chino Canyon from an elevation of 8500 feet after an awe-inspiring ride in the world’s largest rotating aerial tramway.

Between lavish, and frequent, meals, I was treated to a supremely relaxing massage at the PSYC, or Palm Springs Yacht Club, the spa at the fabulous wink-chic Parker Palm Springs hotel –Sally Field, who received a Career Achievement Award later that night at the Gala, was checking in as we left–and a very posh facial at SpaTerre at the Riviera Palm Springs. This was two days after being crooned to, and playfully smooched by, a very convincing Frank Sinatra impersonator in the hotel’s Rat Pack retro Starlite Lounge. (There’s a vibe of authenticity to the joint: Ole Blue Eyes, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr., all stayed here back in the ‘60s.)

Along with a couple dozen meeting planners and other industry pros, I was in Palm Springs this weekend to get an overview of all that the desert city offers for meetings. More than $200 million dollars in hotel renovations and meeting space has recently been spent, and the city sparkles. The Palm Springs Convention Center captures both the grandeur and playfulness of this resort town, and the connecting Renaissance Palm Springs Hotel, where we stayed, has more than 400 guest rooms and suites and over 25,000 square-feet of meeting space, yet a staff that has the attentiveness and friendliness of a boutique hotel.

A weekend where you get to combine walking a red carpet, playing on a snow-capped mountain and de-compressing in multiple saunas, steam rooms and Jacuzzis, is a lovely cocktail of experiences. Speaking of cocktails, you won’t want to miss the Champagne Cocktail-it’s mixed with St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur-at the Viceroy Palm Springs Hotels. And be sure to stop by and see the “Forever Marilyn” sculpture downtown. She’s larger-than-life-26-feet tall-and right at home here.

Shelley Levitt
Editor
California Meetings + Events

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