Palm Springs: Ace Hotel

Wow, what a weekend!!! Mui Alto and I took a a much needed getaway escape to Palm Springs,..... destination, The Ace Hotel. Our first,... it was a full weekend of new discovery, rest and relaxation.
Our stay at the swanky-ish commune artsy retreat reminded me of a drug-free, 21st century, cleaned up version of Christiania, with it's lack of pretense and boho vibe. Our no-fuss room was comfortable, with it's nod back to the carefree 60's and 70's. The concrete floors, canvas linens, footlocker, record player, yes, vinyl, and walking stick proped as ambience against the wall, helped fully create a setting of ease and leisure, while still lending itself to the mature mid-30 something crowd. We could have easily been in a Venice or Hermosa Beach hideaway. This was not Palm Springs, the rich and famous, this was Palm Springs, the upscale hippy or artist type. In other words, Silverlake done Palm Springs style. We opted to occupy a room with an outdoor patio and fireplace, which added romance and delight to our stay. The grounds were appropriately sparse with dessert scape of agave, aloe, and mesquite trees, decomposed granite and concrete walkways. The communal outdoor fireplaces lit with overhead string lights added to the allure.
Eager and excited, we woke Saturday morning to the San Jacinto Mountain view and started out to the small hotel gym for a brief workout. We then borrowed the old school cruisers to ride into town to the main strip, found breakfast and rode back wandering through the surrounding upscale neighborhood to peep some of the mid century modern architecture that Palm Springs is most famous for. We volleyed at ping pong before lunch, ate, napped in the poolside shaded hammocks, drank Proseco, our weekend drink of choice, ate some more, napped some more, regrouped, showered and made our way back out for a Thai dinner before calling it a night by the fire where we dozed off under the stars in the balmy dessert heat. It was an unforgettable day, I must say.
Sunday was spent in and out of the pool, escaping the 110 degree weather, while grooving to the eclectic sounds of the poolside deejay. Mui Alto took timeout to benefit from the complimentary haircut and we both treated ourselves to the on site free clay face masks. We ate the $8 lunch, munching on sliders, bratwurst and potato salad and entertained ourselves lounging and swimming a bit more before making our two hour trip back to reality,.....darn.
This was undoubtedly a weekend well spent and much needed. I think I can say that the Ace is a new found favorite.