Where to Stay in Palm Springs | Best Areas & Hotels

Palm Springs is a pretty modest city that’s located relatively close to Los Angeles. It’s known for its favorable climate for most of the year, which makes it an ideal place for vacation goers.

If you’re one of these would-be visitors that aren’t quite sure about where to stay in Palm Springs, then our article might be able to give you a better idea.

The Best Places to Stay in Palm Springs

While this storied city is actually a pretty small place, it’s still divided into quite a few regions. Our recommendations for the best places to stay in Palm Springs include:

1. Downtown Palm Springs: Home to some of the most interesting museums in the city
2. Uptown Palm Springs: A neighborhood known for its nightlife
3. Historic Tennis Club: Plenty of shops and the famous Tahquitz Canyon
4. Tahquitz River Estates: The closest thing to a center of the city that you’ll find
5. Old Las Palmas: The Liberace house and Elvis’s hideaway

Where to Stay in Palm Springs: Best Areas & Hotels

Palm Springs has quite a few hotels that will fit anyone’s agenda. What’s more, you’re almost always guaranteed to find a room regardless of where you’re staying.

However, the more tourist-heavy locations that we go over will definitely have fewer available rooms, so it’s probably best to reserve a hotel ahead of time. As we go through the most notable areas around the city, we’ll also cover all of the best hotels that you can find.

It doesn’t matter if you like to spend your holidays in luxury or if you’d prefer not to break the bank on the rooms; we’ll suggest accommodations that are just right for your price range and preferences.

1. Downtown Palm Springs

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One of the most visited attractions in this part of town would probably have to be the Palm Springs Art Museum. Some of the most notable attractions are the works that were created by the likes of Edward Ruscha, Sam Francis, Mark di Suvero, and other notable artists. 

While there are many different exhibits that you can check out, a lot of them have a theme: the desert. A lot of the works are based on the terrain that surrounds the city, as well as Native American culture.

The Architecture and Design Center is another location that you can visit that has plenty of interesting exhibits on contemporary design.

There are also plenty of tours that take you past the most interesting architectural feats from giants in the field. While it may not be as large as the other art centers that we’ve mentioned, this area is also the home to Nat Reed’s Art Gallery.

Despite the smaller size, this gallery has some particularly interesting exhibits, especially if you’re interested in artifacts and architecture from the mid-century modern era.

While there are also a lot of other attractions in this part of the city, the museums and art galleries are undoubtedly the biggest draws.

This is great news for history buffs and art aficionados. However, if you don’t have much of an interest in either history or art, then it would probably be a good idea to stay in another part of the city.

Downtown Palm Springs Budget Hotels

• Quality Inn Palm Springs Downtown comes with a cable TV and an AC unit in every room, as well as an outdoor swimming pool and an on-site fitness center.
• Palm Mountain Resort & Spa provides all of the guests with a coffee maker and a microwave in every room, on top of the outdoor swimming pool, and a full-service health and wellness center.

Downtown Palm Springs Mid-Range Hotels

• Hotel Zoso has a flat-screen cable TV and free wifi in every room, an outdoor swimming pool with a lounging area, and an on-site fitness center.
• Fleur Noire Hotel provides you with an AC unit and a flat-screen cable TV in every room, a garden and terrace where you can enjoy a drink, and free wifi throughout the property.

Downtown Palm Springs Luxury Hotels

• Hilton Palm Springs comes with a fully-equipped fitness center, a full spa, and a wellness center with plenty of massage and body treatment options, as well as an on-site restaurant and bar where you can enjoy a meal and a drink.
• The Colony Palms Hotel and Bungalows comes with an outside swimming pool that guests can use, an on-site restaurant with a pretty impressive menu, a full spa and wellness center that you can visit, and room service that comes to you.

See Palm Springs' Best Hotels

2. Uptown Palm Springs

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Strictly speaking, Palm Springs doesn’t actually have a region on the map that’s labeled as “Uptown.” Instead, the area we’re talking about is directly above Downtown Palm Springs, and it encompasses two areas: The Movie Colony and Ruth Hardy Park.

This area of the city is known for having pretty much everything. The Ruth Hardy Park area is full of sports fields. This makes it the ideal destination for anyone that wants to stay active.

However, this area is also known for its non-standard architecture, as well as the famous Frank Sinatra Estate that you can visit.

As for the Movie Colony region, the main draw here would have to be the numerous nightclubs, cafes, and bars that are littered all over the place. You can easily find a cocktail lounge or a tiki bar and spend the entire night without a dull moment.

The biggest issue with the Uptown Palm Springs area as a whole is the fact that most of the places that you can visit around here are pretty expensive.

A large number of tourists means that the bars charge more per drink than most other places in the city. Even the sports fields that we mentioned might cost you a bit more than you’d assume.

Uptown Palm Springs Budget Hotels

• Best Western Plus Las Brisas Hotel comes with a free parking spot that you can use, an outside swimming pool with a lounge area, and free wifi throughout the property.
• Adara Palm Springs has a massive 42-inch flat-screen cable TV and an AC unit in every room, and a pretty sizeable swimming pool as well.

Uptown Palm Springs Mid-Range Hotels

• Hyatt Palm Springs provides you with access to an in-house restaurant, a complimentary breakfast each morning, and a heated swimming pool and hot tub.
• Avalon Hotel and Bungalows Palm Springs comes with a full wellness center that’s always open and that you can take advantage of, as well as an in-house restaurant that has a menu full of West Coast cuisine.

Uptown Palm Springs Luxury Hotels

• Renaissance Palm Springs Hotel has an on-site restaurant that’s always open whenever you want to grab a bite to eat, a full fitness center that you can use, and even two swimming pools if you ever want to take a dip.
• Kimpton Rowan Palm Springs Hotel provides you with a front desk that’s always open for whatever you need, a flat-screen TV and an AC unit in every room, and an on-site fitness center that you can use.

See Palm Springs' Best Hotels

3. Historic Tennis Club

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As the name might lead you to believe, the Historic Tennis Club region is one of the oldest areas of Palm Springs.

As befits a place that started out as nothing more than just a few narrow streets and a handful of hotels, this area has some of the most affordable and accommodating inns that you can find anywhere in the entirety of the city.

There are a few malls around this area, as well as some interesting shops. You can easily go on a shopping spree and be able to find shops where you can completely redesign your wardrobe. 

Most notably, though, the Historic Tennis Club area sort of serves as the gateway to the Tahquitz Canyon. The Canyon provides plenty of hiking trails if you’d like to see the city from high up and get some fresh air.

You’ll also find some spectacular sights in the canyon, which include the Tahquitz Falls and the different wildlife and flora that have made this massive area their home.

The Historic Tennis Club is a great vacation spot for outdoor enthusiasts that want to spend as much time in nature as possible as well as shopaholics. However, there are very few restaurants, bars, or any other types of notable attractions that you might be interested in visiting.

Historic Tennis Club Budget Hotels

• Desert Hills comes with a hot tub that guests can use, a flat-screen TV and an AC unit in every room, and coffee and tea-making facilities in every room.
• The Three Fifty Hotel has free parking that every guest can use, an AC unit and free wifi in every room, and an outside swimming pool and a hot tub.

Historic Tennis Club Mid-Range Hotels

• Palm Mountain Resort & Spa comes with a pretty small room, but it still has a large flat-screen TV, an outside swimming pool that you can use, and a full on-site fitness center.
• Del Marcos Hotel provides you with a free breakfast each morning, a business center that they can take full advantage of, and concierge and massage services that come to your room.

Historic Tennis Club Luxury Hotels

• Ingleside Inn has an on-site restaurant where you can grab a bite to eat whenever you’re hungry, and all of the rooms come with a flat-screen TV and free wifi, as well as an outside swimming pool and a hot tub.
• Andalusian Court provides all of the guests with concierge services, free wifi throughout the property, a flat-screen cable TV and a coffee maker in every room, and even a free parking spot for everyone.

See Palm Springs' Best Hotels

4. Tahquitz River Estates

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Tahquitz River Estates is mostly an “in-between area.” What we mean by this is that its main draw in terms of tourism is its proximity to other more interesting areas of the city.

While this might not sound all that important, it’s a real lifesaver if you’re a tourist and aren’t really sure which attractions in the city you want to see. The River Estates are close to most of the major tourist centers of the city, as well as most of the parks, nature exhibits, and golf courses.

This means that you’ll be able to go and take a walk in the Moorten Botanical Garden and have easy access to a nearby bar to have a drink — all that while still staying relatively close to your hotel.

Speaking of which, this area has quite a lot of great hotels as well. If you’re in the mood to stray a bit further from your room, you’ll also easily be able to find plenty of tour busses that organize daily excursions to the north of the city.

More specifically, to the Joshua Tree National Park and all of the hiking trails and natural beauty that it possesses. If you’re in this area, you might also be interested in paying a visit to the Palm Springs Air Museum, where you’ll be able to see plenty of interesting exhibits on aviation.

As you might have guessed, the only drawback of this area is that it doesn’t have any particular attractions of its own. It’s really only a great place to sleep and recharge before heading out for another day out on the town.

Read Next: Best Time to Visit Joshua Tree National Park

Tahquitz River Estates Budget Hotels

• Delos Reyes Palm Springs comes with a cable TV and free wifi in every room, as well as a coffee machine that you can use if you need a pick-me-up in the morning.
• Adara Palm Springs provides all of the guests with a room that has free WiFi and a 42-inch flat-screen cable TV, as well as an outdoor pool.

Tahquitz River Estates Mid-Range Hotels

• Hotel California offers all of the guests a complimentary continental breakfast every morning, a full kitchen equipped with a dishwasher and a microwave, and even laundry services and a business center.
• Desert Riviera Hotel comes with a flat-screen Tv and a DVD player in every room, as well as a microwave and a coffee maker in the kitchen area and free wifi throughout the property.

Tahquitz River Estates Luxury Hotels

• Santiago Resort provides all of the guests with a sizeable swimming pool that they can use, a room that comes with an AC unit and a flat-screen cable TV, and room service that’s always available.
• L’Horizon Resort & Spa has an on-site restaurant where you can grab some breakfast in the morning, a full spa and wellness center that you can take advantage of, and an outside swimming pool.

See Palm Springs' Best Hotels

5. Old Las Palmas

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Old Las Palmas is probably the most diverse location in Palm Springs. What we mean by this is that there’s something for just about anyone. You’ll see plenty of cinemas, theaters, galleries, and even tiki bars.

If you go a bit to the north, you’ll find the famous North Palm Canyon Drive. This is a long strip of shopping malls, boutiques, and stores of all different shapes and sizes.

While the Historic Tennis District might have had a few shops as well, this area completely blows it out of the water. It’s such a popular destination that there are several tour busses that make their rounds for shopping-hungry tourists daily.

The Old Las Palmas region is also known for a few famous buildings as well. They’re not important to the history of the city and the people, and they don’t have any spectacularly distinct architecture either, but they do have a story.

One of these buildings is the Liberace House with its dazzlingly opulent interior, while another would be the Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway, which was used by Elvis and Priscilla Presley.

Old Las Palmas is right next to the uptown area of the city, which unfortunately also means that it shares its issues of everything costing a bit too much.

Old Las Palmas Budget Hotels

• The Twist Palm Springs has a hot tub that you can use, a swimming pool, and a room that comes with a cable TV.

Old Las Palmas Mid-Range Hotels

• The Weekend Palm Springs provides you with a tea and coffee maker in every room, as well as a room that comes with a TV with cable channels and a patio.
• Skylark Hotel comes with free parking on the property, as well as free wifi throughout, as well as a heated outdoor swimming pool, and a hot tub that guests can use.

Old Las Palmas Luxury Hotels

• The Colony Palms Hotel and Bungalows has a full spa and wellness center with plenty of services that you can take advantage of, a swimming pool and hot tub that you can use, and an in-house restaurant.
• Triada Palm Springs comes with a swimming pool, a full fitness center, a complimentary breakfast each morning, as well as a room that comes with tea and coffee-making facilities, and a flat-screen cable TV.

See Palm Springs' Best Hotels

So, Where Should You Stay in Palm Springs?

Palm Springs is a great city to visit, and there are plenty of attractions that you can visit. If you’ve read our article and still aren’t quite sure where you’d like to stay during your trip, there are a few things that you should keep in mind.