When fellow Easy Escapes agent Caroline told me she was heading out our way for a mini-vacation, we knew we had to meet up with them! So, we took a quickie trip to La Quinta Resort and Club to relax, enjoy some frozen drinks, and catch some rays. We booked through me, since I’m a travel agent with Easy Escapes Travel and we drove out there since it’s only 3 hours from our home in Arizona.
La Quinta Resort and Club: We arrived Friday evening after a 3 hour drive from Phoenix. The drive was not really bad, but there is absolutely NOTHING in between Phoenix and Palm Springs. The scenery is gorgeous, though! When we arrived, we headed directly to the reception desk and requested a spa villa since Caroline was staying there as well. I had booked a package that allowed a room upgrade, but that didn’t seem to matter to the desk. They promptly told me that there were no spa villas available, but once he saw that we were in fact meeting another couple, he arranged for us to be in one (amazing, huh?) After checking in, we drove around to our room. That’s right- we had to drive because the resort is HUGE!!! I’m sure you could valet, and they would take you via golf cart to your room, but we figured that we might as well drive since we can park right across from the room. The room itself was fairly large and seemed relatively new! We had a corner room (there are three rooms per villa- one facing out toward the parking lot, two facing the pool) facing the pool and it appeared to be larger than the other two rooms. The decor had a Spanish mission flair, but also a very dated look. By this, I mean that while everything appeared new, it was going for the “older” look. The ceiling was VERY high- I’d imagine at least 15 feet if not more- and the bathroom extended an entire side of the room with a double vanity sink, a separate toilet room, a large soaking tub, and a fairly large walk-in shower. The room also had a gas fireplace that could be seen on either side from the bedroom and the bathroom. The room also had miscellaneous items such as a mini-bar, snack basket, TV, high speed internet, and a safe. It didn’t have a full length mirror, which was frustrating since I’m short and couldn’t see my outfit from the sink mirrors.
After settling in, we all wandered over to dinner at Adobe, a Mexican Restaurant at the resort. The walk to the restaurants/shops/lobby is LONG and slightly confusing. The resort is huge, with many rooms, private residences, and some 40+ pools! Not to mention there is a very large full service spa and at least 15 tennis courts. So, with all of these amentities, there was plenty of space to be explored. Before heading into the restaurant, we sat in a patio courtyard and had drinks. The courtyard was nice, with a firepit in the middle, surrounded by a fountain, and they had a band playing every night. I believe they were called the Inka Kings. The service here was slightly slow, but I think they had very few waiters working the area and too many guests. Plus, communication was very difficult (remember, this is California, too!) since many of the staff members barely spoke English. After our drinks, we had a relatively light meal at Adobe, which was pretty good, but the menu was very limited. I found this to be true of all of their restaurants. It could just be that I’m very picky, but I think if I spent more than 3 nights there, I’d have to move on just because I would have eaten everything I liked!
The next day, we woke up fairly early and ate a simple breakfast in our room from the coffee shop. We spent the majority of the day by our pool, which was directly outdside of our room. The pool was small, but only shared by 6 villas (so, roughly 18 rooms). Each set of villas had the same set up. When we first got to the pool, we were the only ones there, but then a group of 5 women came over and brought large rafts, which took up almost the entire pool. In my opinion, it was rude because this was not a large space and they were sharing it with other guests. We could only stand in the pool and could not swim around. After a few hours at the pool, we went to the Spa Bistro, which is an informal restaurant located in between the spa and the tennis courts, adjacent to the main pool. The main pool was PACKED and packed with children, we we avoided it like the plague (we were there for peace and quiet, not family time). The Spa Bistro also serviced the people sitting at the pool, so they had 3 staff members doing the poolside food AND the indoor restraunt. While our server was nice, he was very rushed. The food was pretty decent again- not the best burger in the world, but certainly not the worst. Keep in mind, this restaurant is also swarming with loud children since it’s also adjacent to the game room. After lunch, we headed back to the pool and had a late dinner that evening at Morgan’s, which is a steak and seafood restaurant. I thought this restaurant was the best we ate at while there and my filet, while extremely pricey, was delicious. Again, service was a little off, and the waiter barely spoke English, but all was good. (note: I don’t mind the language barrier, but when in the United States, you expect people to at least understand the language.)
The next morning was where it got interesting. We woke up around 8am and had plans to go to breakfast around 9am. Well, around 8:30am, an earthquake hit the Palm Springs area and shook us up a tad! It was a 5.6 on the Richter Scale, and apparently, a large one for the area, but no damage had been done as far as I noticed. I was a tad bit tense, having never experience this before, but we were very lucky!! After recooping from the events of the morning, we walked to the lobby to be shuttled over to the Mountain Golf Club restaurant. Breakfast was delicious, albeit not cheap, and the views were spectacular. After being shuttled back to the lobby area, we hit the shops. They featured Ralph Lauren, Tommy Bahama, and a Lilly Pulitzer store, among others. I then enjoyed the afternoon at the spa! Also, worth mentioning was the front desk again. My package specifically noted a late check out would be given to us. After confirming this, they said the latest we could check out was 2pm. Since I was at the spa until 2:30pm, this was a slight hassle.
The spa was a wonderful experience and I wish I could have spent the entire day there. They had several open air areas, where you can sit in a garden tub and listen to peaceful music, sit in a steam room, or just sit in an aromatherapy room and relax your senses. My first treatment was a detoxifying seaweed body wrap. While the smell was a little be nauseating, it was a very relaxing treatment. The aesthetician exfoliated my skin, then applied the seaweed mask to my legs, arms, upper chest, and back. She then wrapped me in around 8 layers of plastic, heated blankets, and foil to cause me to sweat out the impurities. While I was in my wrap, she gave me a scalp and facial pressue point massage. She then unwrapped me, and rinsed off the mask. Finally, hydrating moisturizer was applied to my body in a massage like fashion. It was a great experience. I then had my brows waxed (nothing special to report here) and then went to have a pedicure in the adjacent Yamagucci Salon. The Pedicure was also very relaxing and she used bamboo and several lotions to help stimulate circulation in my feet and legs. My toenails look gorgeous, but the pedicure was not cheap at $70. After my wonderful, relaxing afternoon, we then hit the road for home.
Overall, we enjoyed our stay very much and will most likely return for another long weekend. I’d like to go when it is slightly cooler out and I would like more time at the spa. The surrounding areas also seem to be very nice and are in the process of being built up and developed, so more amentities will soon be on their way!