This historic playground for the Californian elite, with panoramic mountain views and year-round sunshine, is known for its mid-century modern communities.
Throw in a shapeshifting restaurant and shopping scene, soothing spas, and fun cocktail bars, and Palm Springs, one of nine cities in the Coachella Valley, is an oasis in the desert. One of the most fun times to visit is during Modernism Week, a world-renowned architecture festival which celebrates its 20th birthday this year and is on now until 23 February 2025.
Modernism Week in Palm Springs began as a small community event in 2005 – involving a few home tours, cocktail parties and events – and has grown into an acclaimed annual event across 11 days, featuring dozens of parties, talks, screenings, popular double-decker bus tours and more. Here’s how to do Palm Springs Modernism Week in style.
Where To Stay
Sands Hotel and Spa
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Morocco meets mid-century modern style at this recently renovated adults-only resort in Indian Wells, set in a former 1950s apartment build. Bright prints, exotic tiles, pink stucco walls, greenery galore, cacti and fire pits, and a perfect pool with black-and-white-striped cabanas are all hallmarks of its look, curated by British designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard. Plush rooms feature balconies or patios and have spacious bathrooms. Uniformed staff buzz around the pool to deliver towels and take food and drink orders. Don’t miss a trip to the spa with a pretty setting in the olive grove, which offers a list of dreamy North African-inspired treatments like the Moroccan Radiance Facial.
Thompson Palm Springs, by Hyatt
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A sought-after city-centre location is a big draw card of the city’s newest hotels, like Thompson Palm Springs, a sleek spot that opened in late 2024 to big fanfare. Although it’s close to downtown, with its exciting restaurant and vintage shopping scene, it still feels like a desert hideaway. Rooms and suites, modern in design but peppered with mid-century accents, occupy stark white modern buildings that are connected by pathways and surrounded by landscaped beds filled with cacti and olive trees. Welcome communal spaces with comfy sofas are found throughout. Hotel life plays out on the second level of the main building where the pool, bars and restaurant – Lola Rose Grand Mezze, a glam space and a Palm Springs hotspot – are located.
Del Marcos Hotel, A Kirkwood Collection
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This playful yet chic adults-only boutique hotel built in 1947 oozes mid-century modern charm. It’s located in the city’s historic Tennis Club neighbourhood, one block away from shops, restaurants, and the Palm Springs Art Museum. Rooms with names like the ‘Eames Poolside’, ‘Oceans 11’ and ‘Errol Flynn’ are set within a U-shaped building surrounding the saltwater pool. Décor is simple: whitewashed walls, mid-mod-style furniture, playful pops of colour in lamps and soft furnishings, and deluxe rooms come with kitchenettes. There’s a complimentary happy hour each day from 4pm to 5pm, continental breakfast, and bikes available to borrow.
Things To Do
Take A Modernist Architecture Tour
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Half the fun of Modernism Week is snooping around the dazzling mid-century modern homes and communities Palm Springs is known for. Open-top double-decker bus tours are popular, with themes including Sinatra’s Rat Pack hangouts and homes that define Palm Springs, to name a few. Alternatively, self-guided signature home tours that take place on Sundays are easy to follow and feature a different selection of residences; while individual house tours are available to book, too. Highlights include Leonardo DiCaprio’s 432Hermosa, Elvis’s honeymoon retreat The House of Tomorrow, and Canyon View Estates, one of the locations in 2022 film, Don’t Worry Darling. Don’t miss a trip to Sunnylands, the 200-acre estate designed by A. Quincy Jones for Walter and Leonore Annenberg in 1966 – it’s been visited by seven presidents, and is where Frank Sinatra married his fourth wife.
Soak Up The Desert Setting
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For perspective on the sun-soaked beauty of this modernist oasis, take a hike in the glorious surrounding desert. The Indian Canyons encompass Andreas Canyon, Murray Canyon and Palm Canyon, and have more than 60 miles of hiking and horse-riding trails through rugged mountain sides, palm-shaded valleys and desert landscapes. For an easy day hike, Tahquitz Canyon in the San Jacinto Mountains, part of the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation, remains one of the most beautiful spots, concealing ancient rock art and a 60-foot waterfall just a few minutes from downtown Palm Springs.
Where To Eat & Drink
Attend A Themed Cocktail Party
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Another joy of attending Modernism Week is the chance to party like it’s the 1950s and 60s when several noteworthy properties throw open their doors and host cocktail soirees, some more psychedelic than others. This year’s highlights include Saturday and Sunday night at Sinatra’s Twin Palms Estate, featuring free-flowing cocktails and Italian food; a twilight reception at the Lauter Compound, a desert hideaway built in 1947; a Retro Martini Party; an annual event at the Butler Residence known as the ‘Pink Door House’ in Canyon Country Club; and a groovy 60s party at the VIBE house, a riot of bold colours in the Deepwell Estates neighbourhood, complete with a curved bar serving martinis and tequila sunrises. See the full list, here.
Norma’s
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Set under a retractable tangerine-coloured canopy in the Parker Palm Springs, the most luxurious and largest hotel in Palm Springs, is Norma’s. It’s one of the city’s most popular brunch spots and open all-day, for twists on breakfast favourites like berry brioche French toast and spins on classic comfort food like cheeseburger and lobster mac. Other dining venues at the hotel are Counter Reformation, a bar with 20 seats and an antique confessional in the back, serving wines and small plates; and decadent Mister Parker’s, open in the evening for classic cocktails and seafood.
The Barn Kitchen
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A trip to this relaxed, outdoor restaurant takes you to the chic, adults-only Sparrows Lodge hotel in the southern part of central Palm Springs. Here, the mood and food is rustic American. Meals are served at long light-wooden communal tables, drenched in candlelight come evening. Simple dishes served for lunch and dinner are veggie-heavy and made with as many locally sourced Californian ingredients as possible. Think: cauliflower bisque, a quinoa-tabbouleh salad, and carrot cavatelli. Non-guests are welcome to pop in for a light continental breakfast of breads, pastries, cheese, charcuterie, granola, yogurt, fruit and the like, too.
For information visit the Modernism Week or the Visit Greater Palm Springs websites.
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