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Summertime in the Coachella Valley means only one thing: as temperatures rise, green fees and room rates fall. Hear that knocking? That’s opportunity imploring you to bunk at one of the Coachella Valley’s coolest destination resorts and tee it up at a few of its hottest courses. The choices to stay and play are endless in the desert, but no need to sweat them. Here’s a round-up of the best places to chill when the heat is on. MIRAMONTE RESORT AND SPA When going on vacation, luxury and prime location are key. Look to the Miramonte Resort and Spa to score on both. Not only is it centrally located in Indian Wells, it’s also within a 15-minute drive of the area’s top links and a chip shot from upscale shopping centers and fine dining. Miramonte is a lushly intimate boutique resort offering an expansive menu of luxury amenities and services in a setting that shouts blissful tranquility. The surroundings, complete with red-tile-roof villas, arched breezeways paved in terra cotta, and gardens bursting with bougainvillaea, roses and citrus trees, are infused with Tuscan village charm. Luxuriously appointed suites boast private terraces, pillow-top mattresses and marble vanities and tubs. Still, as nice as the rooms are, it’d be an absolute crime to hole up when you could shed those pesky urban cares at The Well at Miramonte. The resort’s 12,000-square-foot spa boasts indoor and outdoor relaxation suites, mud bars and a Watsu pool, along with the ultimate in treatments geared toward complete surrender. Among them are a therapeutic mud bath, a wine bath, aromatic oil massage and a refreshing Vichy shower on a table built from a 100-year-old acacia cedar. One of Miramonte’s signature treatments created just for couples is Pittura Festa, a “mud and clay painting party” where brushes are provided and encouragement given to couples to paint colorful muds and clays on each other. As they bask in the sun in their private cabana, a therapist performs scalp and face massages by touching on pressure points. The resort’s Mediterranean ambience continues at Brissago, where Chef Sarah Bowman treats the palate with creative appetizers such as Maine lobster timbale, bursting with flavors of tarragon and grapefruit, entrees such as the grilled prime Snake River ranch pork chop served in a pinot noir sauce with polenta and eggplant ratatouille. Brissago’s varied menu and seasonal specials means never having the same dish twice. However, should well-meaning friends drag you from the premises, the best bets for sumptuous fare are two upscale chophouses within a 10-minute drive, The Falls Restaurant and Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. With luxury and location in the bag, you need only focus on your golf game, which is in for both testy and fun challenges at four nearby links. The Golf Resort at Indian Wells Hurry over to the East Course. This summer marks the last chance to play this desert jewel, which will be closed at any minute for a complete redesign by British architect (and La Quinta resident) Clive Clark. It’s a shame in a way, because as much as we sometimes curse Ted Robinson for his mysteriously undulating fairways and maddening tiered greens, his masterful touch here can’t be denied. The East Course’s rolling fairways and greens push but don’t prod, and the views are spectacular at every single hole. But alas, competition brought on by new courses in the area forces a lengthening of both the East and West tracks, with the latter’s now underway. Here’s to you, Mr. Robinson. SilverRock Resort You’ll use about every club in your bag, including your ball retriever, at the new (maybe, still up in the air) home of the the Bob Hope Desert Classic, where Arnold Palmer loads up on large bunkers, lots of lakes, lengthy par 4s of 470 to 525 yards, and a few 600-yards-or-so par 5s. All the better to offer you the sweet smell of reward or the sour taste of defeat — more often than not on the same hole. Watch out for the tricky greens, as the breaks here are influenced by the gravitational pull (we swear!) of those gorgeous Santa Rosa Mountains that loom in your face on nearly every hole. Sweet! Marriott Desert Springs Resort Wide fairways and generous greens greet you at the Palms Course, as Ted Robinson took pity on resort guests who rarely tee it up during the year and went easy on the penalizing bunkers. But before you start calling him Mr. Nice, keep in mind you’d be wise to pick your spots on the fairways, as undulation-minded Ted makes you work to break 100, 90, 80 — er, whatever you want to tell your golf buddies back home. Extensive water features and lush landscaping (along with the crazy pink flamingos) give this desert oasis a distinctly tropical feel, and makes for some really nice backdrops on your digital snapshots. Mountain View Country Club Yes, it’s private, but we’re including this Palmer-designed course in La Quinta anyway, in case you get an invite from a member or decided to one day make it your home club. Careful shot selection is required on nearly every hole, along with some intense soul searching in deciding whether or not you’ve got what it takes to carry the water or one of several arroyos (these are big natural swales that eat balls like they’re candy). And for those fortunate enough to scoop up one of the luxury fairway villas now being built by premier homebuilder Toll Brothers (and being offered at value-added prices that include golf course membership), we have one word for you: Lucky! |
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