Hello there, and welcome back to another edition of me sharing my love of the desert. Specifically, the Coachella Valley, which — if you didn't already know! — is an arid rift valley in the Colorado Desert of Southern California located in Riverside County. The Coachella Valley is home to places like Palm Springs, Cathedral City, La Quinta, Indian Wells, Indio (home of the Coachella Music Festival!), and Rancho Mirage — where I was lucky enough to spend a few days in April.
Rancho Mirage, CA, is located about ~120 miles from Los Angeles (where I reside), depending on your starting point, and can take anywhere between 2-3 hours of drive time, subject to Southern California traffic. Rancho Mirage is around a 25-minute drive from downtown Palm Springs, around 27 minutes from Indio (location of Coachella), and an hour from Joshua Tree National Park.
Rancho Mirage was officially incorporated as a city in 1973, but the Agua Caliente tribe of Cahuilla Native Americans have been in the area since at least 2,000 years ago. Since the 1950s and beyond, Rancho Mirage has been home to several celebrities in the past and present, including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, and Gerald and Betty Ford. The city has also allegedly been nicknamed the "Playground of the Presidents" and the "Golf Capital of the World."
Nestled along the foothills of the Santa Rosa Mountains, Rancho Mirage is known for its country clubs and resorts, which is why I traveled there in the first place! I was lucky enough to be offered a 3-night stay at the Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa located at 41000 Bob Hope Dr, Rancho Mirage, CA 92270.
Upon my arrival at the resort, I was greeted by this sign on the doors to the main lobby entrance, which immediately made me slightly nervous. I had chosen to arrive that day in a sports bra and shorts. Why? Well, in my defense, the desert is hot, and it is 2024.
After donning a sweater, I went inside to get all checked in and passed by this lovely fountain, which I stopped to take a picture of. The lobby is included in one of the main buildings on Omni Ranchos Las Palmas' campus, but I quickly learned that there were many buildings, and this resort is set on sprawling grounds.
During check-in, I was handed a map and that's when I began to realize that the building I was standing in barely scratched the surface on the size of this resort property. I was given a room in Building 1 — which was located by one of the dog areas and not too far from one of the pools.
The room I stayed in with my dog and my partner for the three nights was one of their "traditional rooms," which, according to their website, start at around $309/night with an additional $40 resort charge.
As for the $40 added resort fee, it did not include parking, which was an additional $20/day. This isn't New York City, so I have to assume that most people traveling to the desert do so in a car. Because of that, and because of the massive size of the parking lot (see below!) I am not sure why parking wouldn't be included. That was a negative for me, personally.
The room itself was quite nice and decently spacious. I thought it was quite lovely, even if I wouldn't have chosen this carpet myself. My room was on the 2nd floor of Building #1, and I was thrilled to see it had a balcony. According to Omni's website, each room at the resort has a balcony or patio.
Before I even inspected the rest of the room, I made my way out to the balcony and discovered that our view was better than I imagined. I thought maybe it would look out over a parking lot or perhaps into another building. Instead, it peered over golf courses and the pond on the property with palm trees galore. Because of the pond and plants around the property, I saw ducks and geese daily and even saw ducklings waddling around the grass which I loved.
After pulling myself away from the balcony, I was even more thrilled to discover that the closet in our room housed two bathrobes. If there's one thing about me, I love a hotel bathrobe.
Here's another shot of our room — Room #126 in Building 1 — showing the little seating area, which included a loveseat, coffee table, desk, and desk chair.
And here's the other side of the room, which boasted a little mini-bar with a refrigerator, coffee maker, and a pretty large closet next to it. It also featured a door leading to the room next to ours. I know this is a feature of many resorts and hotels around the country, and while it would make sense if I were traveling with another party, I don't love the door when you don't know who is staying next to you. It was fine, though!
Also, since we had let Omni Ranchos Las Palmas know we would be bringing our dog Pepper with us, we found a little chew toy and poop bag holder on the TV stand. It's the little things.
Now for the bathroom — I'm a bath girlie and love a large bathtub. So I wasn't thrilled that this resort room didn't have a jacuzzi tub in which I could soak my worries away. But the shower's water pressure was surprisingly strong, and the bathroom had two mirrors. One for the main sink and another one for makeup purposes.
Here's the other mirror with a little seating area and vanity. I used it for makeup and sunscreen application.
Also, for anyone who hates a bathroom sliding door, this was the bathroom door. But the bathroom did have a fan, so do with this information what you will.
After getting checked in, I walked around the Omni Rancho Las Palmas grounds to explore a bit. The entire resort is located next to the Rancho Mirage Country Club, and there is *seemingly* a golf course that goes directly through the resort grounds, with signs directing you to avoid walking on the course/golf cart paths. However, it took me until day 3 to realize that I never saw anyone on these courses throughout my stay. Maybe the golf course in the middle of the campus is for show, or maybe it was simply temporarily closed.
The grounds are beautiful, though, and well-maintained. As I've mentioned, they are also BIG. I did a sort of loop around the golf course and then back towards the front of campus where my room's building was located, which was at least a 10-15 min walk, and I didn't even make it to the tennis courts (the resort boasts 18 tennis courts and 8 pickleball courts).
Beautiful flowers are everywhere, which I enjoyed despite constantly thinking about how much water this resort must be using for the golf course and landscaping alone!
This was the little pond and lawn area outside of my room's building.
Now, for the pools! Omni Ranchos Las Palmas has three pools and a "Splashtopia Water Park." The Conchilla Valley Pool, The Azure Pool (which is adults only!), and the Spa Pool (which I believe is reserved solely for anyone visiting the spa.) I'm going to be honest with you guys; I spent most of my time at Omni Ranchos Las Palmas sitting poolside at the Azure Pool because it was closest to my room and also freaking lovely!
When I checked into the resort, I was given bracelets for pool entry and two cards to get towels. But...I never once used these. No one ever asked me to see my bracelet or to present a card to get a towel. I am guessing this is in place for the height of Coachella season or in the middle of summer when the pools are more crowded, but I just walked right in and grabbed as many towels as I wanted.
Like my experience at Parker Palm Springs a couple of years ago, this pool also had a server ready to take drink orders and provide free ice water. And like, obviously since I was on vacation, I decided to partake in ordering some drinks poolside. I ordered a pina colada (delicious) and an espresso martini once made with vodka and once made with tequila. In case anyone is wondering, I prefer the tequila version and highly recommend if you 1) drink alcohol and 2) like coffee!
Each cocktail ranged around ~$17-$20, and I ended up ordering four total over my 3-day stay, which cost me about $115 (with tip!).
While I didn't visit the other pool during the day, I did make my way over there at night and it was huge. It probably had double the amount of pool chairs as the one I spent most of my time at, and the pool itself was gigantic. I can't say for sure, but the water *seemed* like saltwater, which is my favorite type of pool water.
The water in the pool didn't feel heated during the day, and I personally preferred that because the desert gets hot! But I made friends with a couple of businessmen who were in town at the resort for a conference, and they were wary of the water for being "too cold," which I thought was so funny. They were from Texas and said they kept their own pools around 80 degrees! We guessed that the pool water at Omni Rancho was around 74, and to me, it was perfect!
Also, it feels worth mentioning that the larger pool (The Conchilla Valley Pool) did have a hot tub, which I happily used during night two!
Now, for the spa! On my 2nd full day at the resort, I went to the Las Palmas spa for a facial. I am not necessarily a spa person — not because I don't want to be, but simply because any extra money I have goes to other things. I rarely find the ability to treat myself to a full spa experience, but I completely understand why people do. I mean, it's luxury?
I was booked in for a facial on this day at 11:45 am — but before I went in for the facial, I got to explore the spa a bit. I had no idea it was so large! I have to assume that many people in the area visit just the spa without staying at the resort. The spa features a sauna, steam room, jacuzzi, and multiple treatment rooms for facials and massages, to name a few. It also has a private spa pool which you can lounge at all day if you have a treatment booked.
The spa even had its own private balcony where patrons could lounge before or after treatments and refreshments galore. I took a picture of this watermelon electrolyte water because I drank three glasses of it, so it felt like I should commemorate it.
Here's a shot of the sauna, which, as you can see, was empty on the day I visited. And a shot of the bathroom amenities, because everyone wants to know what kind of free products they have in a spa bathroom, duh.
After my impromptu tour, it was time for my facial. Las Palmas Spa was gracious enough to offer a comped facial for me, and since I am not a well-versed spa person, I wasn't entirely sure what to go with, so we decided on a 60-minute Hydrafacial. Here was my room setup:
I've gotten facials before, though never a "Hydrafacial" specifically. I was expecting maybe $150 or so, but when I looked up the prices online, I was shocked to see that it would have been $265 on the Thursday morning I visited.
Here's my face before my 60-minute Hydrafacial for good measure!
And here's my face after. I doubt any facial provides the drastic results I dreamt of — make me look 25 again, please? But I was very happy with my skin after. I felt that it looked refreshed, moisturized, and, dare I say, it was, perhaps even glowing.
Now, for the onsite food options. Omni Rancho Las Palmas actually has six different options for eating within the resort itself; a restaurant called bluEmber, Palms Cafe, Conchilla Valley Pool Bar & Grill, Splash Grill, R Bar, and something called Between The 9s At The Club snack bar and lounge. During my stay, I went to Palms Cafe once just for coffee (it was fine, but I preferred driving to Café La Jefa in Palm Springs) and bluEmber restaurant for dinner. Here's the menu for bluEmber below.
We went to bluEmber on our last night at the resort and sat outside. Here's what our table looked like; it was really lovely.
I ordered a glass of Rosé, and my boyfriend ordered a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon—glasses of wine cost around $12-$20. My glass of Rosé cost $12, and the Cab was $17. Both were delicious and tasted exactly as wine should.
Now for the food! We decided to try as much of the menu as we could. We started with caesar salad ($13) and warm three-cheese bread twists ($7). Honestly I could have eaten just this combo and been happy, but why stop here?
Then we ordered Marlyland-style crab cakes with old bay remoulade and chili oil (on the right), which cost $22, and grilled ahi tuna with basil jasmine rice (on the left) for $36. I will say the crab cake was so good. But the ahi tuna wasn't my favorite. At $36, I would skip ordering that and get double crab cake next time instead.
And for the final pieces of our meal: pan-seared salmon with sauteed beets and tunisian chimichurri ($35) was my favorite main and then of course we also had to try the truffle parmesan fries ($12) for the full experience. The fries were so good. Honestly, I'm a simple girl, and would have been happy with just the fries, ceaser and wine, but I can't deny that the crab cake and pan-seared salmon were delectable.
By this point in the meal, I was slightly wine-tipsy and only thinking of watching Shark Tank in bed while donning a hotel robe, so I didn't grab a picture of a dessert menu or clock the price, but I will say: the coconut creme cake was freaking amazing and I would order it again. In fact, next time I would order at least two slices! Maybe even three.
After dinner at bluEmber, we walked the short walk back to our room and, as promised, I donned the hotel robe to enjoy TV in bed and let myself be sad that the next morning would mean it was time to check out of Omni Ranchos Las Palmas.
During my 3-night stay, I found myself growing more enamored by the place as time went on. When I arrived on day one I was sure I would feel out of place for the week in a golf-centric resort as someone who does not regularly stay at resorts or understand what a birdie is.
But by day 4, and the end of my stay, I did not want to leave. The Omni Rancho Las Palmas grounds are like a little slice of heaven. Even if the thought of how much water they must use to maintain the beautiful grounds almost constantly stressed me out, I would jump at the opportunity to walk around these peaceful grounds again someday. And I would begrudgingly pay the $150 pet fee, too.
