Wish We Were There: Palm Springs’ Del Marcos Hotel

Call me a masochist: Now that we’re at last into the territory of blissful, almost-chilly early-Fall evenings in New York, I’ve been craving. . . bright sun and lazy, hot days by the pool in blissful Palm Springs. I’m off shortly to a favorite haunt there—the Mid-Century Modern mecca of the Del Marcos Hotel.

Built in 1947 by noted desert architect William F. Cody, the Del Marcos’ 17 large, spare rooms—each of them stocked with original period furniture—face a perfect saltwater pool, where you float away your days listening to a particularly excellent edit of classic Rat Pack-era tunes piped in at a perfect volume (I was wary of this when I first heard about it, having found earlier in my life through repeated exposure that a little bit of Rat Pack goes a long way, but everything about this version of it was perfect.)

New to Palm Springs, or just need to be pointed in the direction of the area’s many Mid-century masterpieces? Laura Ramstead, the hotel’s manager, gives architecture tours both formally and informally, so just ask and you shall receive. Otherwise, we’d recommend keeping a nice-and-easy schedule—though if you’re looking for some lively fun, we’d recommend the Ace Hotel just down the street and around the bend, which features former Village People singer Mark Lee on the piano on Monday nights (along with more mellow “pursuits” such as spa treatments.)

We’ll see you there. . .

Photos: courtesy of the Del Marcos Hotel