The Westin Desert Willow Villas, Palm Desert — Hotel in Palm Desert

Something at this place has definitely changed since all these previous amazing reviews. There are no ice machines anywhere. Just a fridge/freezer in the kitchen area, which you need to activate yourself to start making ice. It takes about a day or two for the small bucket in the freezer to fill with ice. In 120 degree weather, this was a bummer.

All restaurants on the resort premises were closed all the time, due to COVID. We tried Grubhub, Postmates, DoorDash, and Uber Eats for several meals, with predicted delivery times of over 120 minutes. Another bummer, especially for our 2 young girls. We ended up having to drive to a grocery store and buy food to cook, which was a sad use of time for a short 3-day stay.

When we checked in, the room had no regular coffee in it. When we called the front desk, they simply stated that the resort had no coffee anywhere on premises, because their shipment of coffee for the rooms had not come in yet. No apologies. Just this cold fact. They said they could send us some decaf pouches or we could walk to the small cafe in the Lobby which sold coffee and some wrapped items...we were assigned a room all the way in a back building far from the Lobby (about a 10-minute walk with 2 young kids), so we just duked it out without caffeine for 3 days (not fun).

The kids’ slide at the back pool near our building was closed for our entire stay, as well as all jacuzzis. We walked about 15 minutes with the kids in 120 degree heat to find the main pools by the Lobby, which had the only open slide on site. The slide is very mild, nothing like the 2 slides at Aulani in Oahu. Apparently Westin assigned a height restriction of 48” to this slide, and the lifeguard was very strict with our kid who missed the height by an inch. We spent the rest of the afternoon consoling 2 crying kids whose entire reason for choosing this particular hotel was the awesome picture of the fun slide on their website...

We then also learned that the game room (billiards, ping-pong, air hockey, football) and kids club room (arts & crafts) were also closed due to COVID. The kids had been thrilled over the pics online of these two rec rooms. No mention online that they were closed.

The main pools were so crowded with little to no social distancing, no masks worn by anyone else other than staff. So we walked all the way back to the less crowded pool closer to our building.

The pull-out sofa bed had bed bugs in it. This is a first for us. We travel with the kids at least 3 times a year. We stayed at the gorgeous Westin in downtown San Francisco a few years ago & loved it. We have never seen bed bugs in any of the hundreds of hotels we’ve frequented the past twenty or so years. We’ve never ever had anything like this in our home. We had to look up the bite mark pattern on Google, when we finally realized these were bed bug bites...

The room we were assigned had zero natural light. It faced a tree in one direction and the hallway straight off the elevator in the other direction. Suffice it to say the blinds on the hallway side remained closed for privacy.

We could not believe this hotel/resort managed to hold on to its 4-star rating during the COVID pandemic:

No restaurants (closed). No ice machines anywhere, with dysfunctional/slow/loud freezer ice in each room. No jacuzzis (closed). No gym (closed). No kids’ club room (closed). No game room, billiards, football, ping-pong, air hockey (closed). No mention of any of these closures on the hotel website at the time of booking, just a bunch of gorgeous pics of amenities which all turned out to be closed on arrival. No coffee. Enough said there. This alone is enough to drive any 2 sleep-deprived parents to insanity. No slides (all closed) in any pool areas except the one by the Lobby. The resort is a sprawling collection of 15-20 three-floor buildings, meaning loooooong walks to get to the Lobby or main pool for our back building.

More like a...

This is a very nice resort with great amenities. The rooms are spacious, updated, clean and (for the most part) staff are very hospitable. We had a fireplace and an in room jacuzzi and the few times we called housekeeping they were very responsive. The on site staff were almost all very very nice. That said, I would be VERY CAREFUL booking before December 31, 2026 due to SIGNIFICANT CONSTRUCTION.||We drove 9 hours to get to the hotel and arrived at 4:30 pm. Check in was 4 pm but we were told that our room wasn’t ready and that the hotel was at capacity. The front desk told us that the room wasn’t ready and that they didn’t know when it would be ready. They told us that they did however have a 1st floor room ready that overlooked the golf course. We weren’t initially excited to be on the first floor but we decided to take the room so we could check in. At 6:30 in the morning we realized why the room was available: THERE IS MASSIVE CONSTRUCTION GOING ON RIGHT OUTSIDE THE ROOM. I included pictures and videos below. ||We called the front desk, express our displeasure, Chelsea (the manager) said that since the construction is not being done by them, but rather buy another property, there is nothing that they can do. I said that we were not made aware of the construction proximity when we checked in and had this been made aware to us we would not have taken that specific room in place of our room, which wasn’t ready according to their published check in time. Chelsea said that it is their policy to inform gas at check-in of such issues. I informed her that we were not made aware of this. She acknowledge that their policy l and procedures were not correctly followed. She said she would look into the matter and get back to me.||A few hours later, I got an email from the hotel saying that although we were not made aware of the construction at check-in, their policies and procedures were in fact followed because the construction was advertised on their website. Upon reviewing the link that I was provided by the hotel, the link indicated that construction would occur during normal business hours. Normal business hours do not begin at 6:30 AM. Upon making the hotel aware of this, they said that the information published to the website was meant to be interpreted in general terms. That seems very odd. Just to make sure I understand, when I make a reservation for a specific date and time for a specific number of people, is that meant to be interpreted generally or are those dates meant to be interpreted? When a business advertises that activities are going to occur during normal business hours, it is reasonable for a consumer to interpret that, in fact, activities would occur, as the business stated, during normal business hours. But no. Weston responded by saying that we shouldn’t interpret that information literally.All this to say, the hotel was very unaccommodating to us. While the facility is nice, I would not book here again before December 31, 2026 because the hotel has no control over the construction and that construction can occur at anytime in the morning or evening. As it infected with us. You can see by the videos below, there is a massive amount of construction occurring right outside our window.||She said she would look into the matter and a few hours later we got an email saying that on their...

I recently spent five wonderful nights (late July to the first week of August) at The Westin Desert Willow Villas, Palm Desert, and it proved to be an excellent destination for a warm-weather getaway. As a highly rated vacation ownership resort, it delivers a compelling blend of relaxation and recreation with resort-style amenities—all delivered without resort fees.

Vacation-Style Amenities That Shine

The villas are spacious and thoughtfully appointed—whether one- or two-bedroom lockoffs—with full kitchens or well-equipped kitchenettes, washers/dryers, Westin Heavenly® Beds, Heavenly® Baths, balconies or patios, and reliable Wi-Fi.

What stood out most were the lush pool facilities: • Mirage Pool Deck: A family-friendly upper deck with cabanas and a whirlpool spa; and a lower deck with a sports pool featuring volleyball, basketball nets, and a 159-foot waterslide. • Palo Verde Park & Pool: A large heated pool, whirlpool spa, four cabanas, kiddie pool, and a snack bar. • Quiet Pool: A tranquil retreat for moments of peace.

The fitness center (WestinWORKOUT®) is open 24/7 and features a full range of cardio, strength equipment, and steam rooms. Though the dry sauna wasn’t working during my stay, the steam room was ideally refreshing.

For relaxation and recreation, there’s tennis and pickleball equipment available for check-out, plus grilling areas and inviting fire pits—perfect for unwinding under the desert sky.

Prime Location and Golf

Nestled adjacent to the renowned Desert Willow Golf Resort, guests have seamless access to two award-winning championship golf courses—and the villa overlooks offer beautiful views of manicured fairways and desert landscapes.

Beyond the property, the locale is equally compelling: minutes away from attractions like The Living Desert Zoo & Gardens, Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, and Indian Canyons.

Personal Experience Highlights • The multiple pools meant there was always a quiet spot—even during peak heat. • The steam room was my go-to daily treat after morning walks. • My villa felt like a comfortable desert home base—spacious and well-organized. • On-site bars and the Marketplace provided convenient refreshment, though I mostly self-catered or used delivery services during my stay. • Minor construction was underway for a new “wake pool” and expanded dining—an exciting addition to look forward to.

One Downside

The only disappointment during my stay was the view. I had made it very clear before arrival that a Mountain View was important to me, and I confirmed this multiple times with different staff members. When I arrived, however, I was told that all Mountain View rooms had already been given away, even though my reservation had multiple notes about the request. My only options were a pool view or a construction site view. While I still enjoyed my stay overall, this was a letdown given how much emphasis I placed on the request in advance.

Final Thoughts

I thoroughly enjoyed my stay, I rated it 4 stars. I reserve a 5-star rating for properties where every element—from service to hardware—is flawless. That said, this resort delivers exceptional value, comfort, and upscale amenities without the resort fee and offers the kind of desert escape I’d...