Here’s a California hotel pick you’ll want to dangle in front of your clients who are looking for more than just a bed to sleep on.
Once known as the Gene Autry Hotel, today the Parker Palm Springs is, as Kelly Teo, the hotel’s Director of Commercial Strategy, says, a “one-of-a-kind unique experience. You have to see it to believe it. It sits on 13 acres of land and there are only 14 rooms, and out of the 14 rooms, 12 are villas and the Gene Autry House.”
The latter is a private, gated residence with two bedrooms and two baths, an enclosed private patio, a fully equipped kitchen, a private treatment room with sauna and a screening room.
With interiors designed by Jonathan Adler, the hotel feels like a home a way from home, if your home were ready to be splashed across the cover of Elle Décor or Architectural Digest.
“It’s theatrical, but it’s luxury without formalities. It’s very bohemian chic,” notes Teo.
“The resort is so well-manicured and landscaped, that you literally want to get lost [on the grounds],” he explains. Active guests will want to know that those grounds are home to a croquet lawn, a pétanque court, four red clay tennis courts and two Padel courts.
Beyond these sporty activities, you can let clients know that the hotel offers a Hotel Art Tour, an Estate Garden Tour, mixology classes as well as a Mid-Century Modern Tour around town, among a myriad other delights.
There are also three pools, including an indoor one, poolside cabanas, a spa, a firepit that beckons guests to idle about with cocktail in hand, and an array of uniquely designed F&B venues, including what the hotel quirkily calls “the world’s smallest restaurant,” Mrs Parker’s, which is a romantic table for two set at the Gene Autry Pool just after sunset.
Speaking with Teo, one gets the sense that the Parker Palm Springs offers a playful vibe rooted in a tongue-in-cheek approach to luxury. Case in point: At mister parker’s upscale restaurant, men have to wear jackets, but, as Teo says, “no worries if you don’t bring a jacket, they open up a closet and it’s all of Liberace’s collection.”
The hotel has launched a stargazing experience—the Space Out with The Parker offer. This 3-night stay includes accommodations in a 1-bedroom villa, a 2-hour private stargazing experience by Sky Watcher Sky Tours (summer is prime for stargazing), a celestial-themed picnic with treats like moon pies and galaxy star cookies and a bottle of Dom Perignon Champagne (the latter chosen because the French winemaker once famously said, “Come quickly, I’m drinking the stars.”).
And the property, says Teo, is committed to the travel advisor. “We value the travel advisor. That’s why we are a Virtuoso member.”
