By Paul Rubio

 

One of the world’s hottest LGBT destinations just got a bit hotter. In early 2011, the Riviera Palm Springs Resort & Spa (psriviera.com, 760.327-8311) removed the bandages from a 75 million dollar facelift to the iconic Palm Springs Hotel; and the city hasn’t been the same since!

 

Just like Timberlake brought sexy back, the Riviera is bringing Palm Springs glamour back. The eccentric and eclectic hotel pays homage to the hotel’s former glory years with a vintage luxe edge that keeps history in style.  This forward thinking throwback bursts with energy, originality, and pimped out personality.

 

Spread over vast acreage in the shadow of the towering mountains of the Coachella Valley, the Riviera Palm Springs is a retro design fantasy come to life. The chocolate and mint “face off” in the hallways honors a color palette of a decade when the Palm Springs Hotel was synonymous with the term “swingers” while the tufted headboards and the Neapolitan striped throw pillows are another example of fabulous sixties redux.

 

The conservation piece furnishings and art in the common lounge will have you tweeting a zillion characters per second. The mirror-partitioned lobby lounge is adorned with larger than life facial portraits of Hollywood vixens, constructed from old Central American coins (think “Half Breed” Cher in silver) and then complimented with British country style Chesterfield couches and maroon shag carpets. Throw some tufted gold lounges in the mix with a glittery pool table and some wild glass chandeliers, and the gentleman’s club-inside-a-disco-ball theme gets over-the-top fabulous. 

 

Head to the lobby proper and the white patent leather seats have been sewn together to form an innovative high-rise couch seat platform, topped with Victorian lanterns that reflect off the roof’s twinkling skylights. Go even further and land in the hotel’s signature restaurant, Circa 59, decked out in red leather upholstered booths and chairs, backlit lattice cutouts, and jumbo crystal chandeliers that spill onto the hotel’s renowned center of attention, the historic pool area.  Yes…. this is the pool featured in the 1963 film “Palm Springs Weekend” with Connie Stevens and Robert Conrad, the pool where the Hollywood elite partied hard in the 1960s, where the Rat Pack, Elvis, Sonny & Cher would unwind and help develop a global ideology of “Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous.”

 

The hedonistic overtones of the 1960s prevail around the swimming pool, where an intoxicating mix of cocktails, sunshine, and vacation mentality catalyze days of naughty fun and relaxation. Unlike the sixties, however, there are now private cabanas, glowing fireplaces, and gays who can serve openly in the military splashing around.  Still don’t expect things to get too crazy around the pool. This hotel may have a history of “swinging times” but it’s not the clothing-optional shenanigans of All Worlds Resort (allworldsresorts.com) or Camp Palm Springs (camp-palm-springs.com). Palm Springs’ repeat GLBT guests know that there is a difference in where to stay and where to play. You stay at the Riviera Palm Springs. You play at one of the resorts with a day pass or visit the city’s prolific offerings of gay bars by night.

 

Indeed the Riviera Palm Springs is wildly popular with a younger gay demographic for its style, funk, welcoming  (and easy-on-the-eyes) crowd, and pampering essentials – exceptional spa, amazing eats, excellent gym.  There’s no shortage of quiet spots around the property to appreciate the gifts of Mother Nature, from towering trees and majestic canyons to the bluest of blue skies that dazzle with constellations come nightfall.  Yet Palm Springs is so much more than this awesome historic hotel, cocktails around the pool and trouble in clandestine corners! It is also super stargazing, great hiking, intrepid adventure, and mind-boggling landscapes. Though it’s sometimes hard to break away from anything within stumbling distance of the hotel, shake off your hang over one morning or evening to go beyond Palm Spring’s downtown and appreciate the region’s natural magnificence.  You won’t regret it (though you may regret that last cocktail once you’re 8,516 ft high over vertical cliffs of Chino Canyon!)

 

For an amazing gay-friendly Palm Springs getaway, head to the Riviera Palm Springs Resort & Spa - psriviera.com, 760.327-8311.