The Drift concept is somewhere between a hotel and an Airbnb. Check-in is via text. A six (six!) button code allows you entry to your room each time you step out. No front desk and no lobby means the restaurant, Maleza , becomes the de facto meeting space. See what they did there? The bartenders here hold it down as greeters and libation ambassadors, though, and the food is welcoming, so it seems to work. Who really needs a lobby anyway? The hotel is a short walk to the heart of downtown, where an impressive number of restaurants vie for attention, misters watering the sidewalk. Hit Farm for arguably the best shady garden seating in the valley and Grand Central for plaza-view dining. Just outside of downtown, we head to the Ingleside Inn and Melvyn’s restaurant, which harkens to old Hollywood in the best way. Pot pies and cocktails? That’s a dream right there. After check-out at The Drift, we head to the Palm Springs Art Museum for AC and a place to contemplate our next move. See, I can only tolerate city life for so long in this heat. The hills call. After two nights in the brand- new Drift, I’m craving something more settled into the landscape, so we head to La Quinta Resort and Club , a desert getaway butting up against the rocky Santa Rosa Mountains. Built nearly a hundred years ago as a series of bungalows, La Quinta’s grounds—dotted with 21 pools and lined with wise old palm trees—feel like a true oasis. Our room, with its private hot tub and multiple fireplaces, is charming to come back to after pool time. Perhaps this resort caters to certain generations better than others, but we still genuinely don’t want to leave, even for meals. Because with a more or less captive audience, the restaurants on site are busy, creating a feeling of being somewhere worth being. Adobe , with its cascading patios, is one of the most hopping restaurants I’ve seen since early 2020. The crowd is into it.
But the road calls and keeps calling. Beyond the cities, there is so much to this desert. I like Pappy and Harriet’s in Pioneertown and Giant Rock Meeting Room in Yucca Valley. Both offer the potential for small-town live-music magic, and the American Dream has been known to grab a quiet beer in the area. The Dream visits this desert often, hat covered in dun-colored dust. Crack your windows—you might smell it.
TOP One of the Baja-chic rooms at the new Drift Hotel in downtown Palm Springs.
LEFT The Santa Rosa Mountains provide an epic backdrop to the legendary La Quinta Resort and Club.
RIGHT Find inspiration
MIDDLE Baja flavors reign at Maleza.
inside and out at the Palm Springs Art Museum.
59 SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE
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