Kimpton Rowan Palm Springs Hotel — Hotel in Palm Springs

This is a beautiful, sophisicated hotel, with a modern-meets-midcentury design that looks and feels expensive. Everything in downtown Palm Springs is within walking distance and the location is pretty much perfect. The rooftop pool area is large and has plenty of seating, with great views. It is definitely more of a relaxed vibe up there, so if you're looking for a party pool, you might be bored at this one. This is more of a read a book while sipping some champagne kind of pool, which is exactly what I wanted. The rooms are comfortable and clean (and separated by concrete, so they're very quiet), the bathrooms modern, and the concierge team is friendly and efficient. Loved the "text for your car" option with the valet team, who were courteous and professional. Breakfast at the restaurant in the lobby and the food from the bar at the pool were both very good, and there is a wide variety of food and drink options, with three restaurants and two bars on-site. There are also social events hosted by the staff - we went for pizza in the lobby/lounge area one evening and it was fun talking to other guests. There is a really cool bookcase down there too, filled with books that you can bring back to your room, along with a free coffee bar every morning. The place was really very thoughtfully designed, with a clear emphasis on a great guest experience.

To me, a 5 star review means something is perfect, and there are a few things preventing me from giving it 5 stars:

-The cocktails at the pool bar are expensive ($18-22 each) and very weak. I don't need a lot of booze but when you pay $20 for a Piña Colada, you want to taste the rum a little bit. -No microwave in the room. Dinner at the hotel is expensive, too, so it would have been nice to be able to just eat some hot food in for a night or two (I think this is done on purpose). We had pb&j's one night instead. -The "Resort Fee" of $49/day on top of what we booked is a little steep, especially since we tipped the hotel staff regularly. -The beds are comfortable but the pillows are down pillows and flatten immediately when you try to sleep with them. So you have to do the "fold the pillow in half" move and I didn't like that. Bring a supportive pillow if you can. Down pillows: luxurious, expensive, not good for sleeping.

Overall these are nit-picky things, but just enough to take away...

I stayed here in mid July, and had the absolute best service from the front desk to pool servers. There are so many kitschy places to stay in PS and honestly this chain type place would not be my first place to stay except with covid I know places are understaffed and the Kimpton had the best recent service reviews so I went for it and was not disappointed.

Pros: the pool was always clean, always fresh towels available on the deck, ice cold water, staff at the pool really hustled. Pool would get crowded by late afternoon but I still always easily found a lounger. Check in was so easy, I even got to check in early without having to plead which after a six hour flight was so appreciated. Food at both the pool bar (high bar) and place in the lobby (juniper table) was delicious especially tacos at the pool and the burger at juniper table. Service was out of this world, I'm sorry to read others didn't have this experience as I always found the help that I needed and everyone just seemed so happy and pleasant to be working there. extra nice things: free ride to airport if you let the front desk know in advance, the gym is really bright and clean, and you get free hot coffee in the lobby but even better is you can get free iced coffee at juniper table if you're a guest of the hotel, and soaps/lotion in bathroom were really pleasant.

Cons: rooms are noisy because of their construction (they're concrete? so no sound barrier) could hear everything above me, and then there was construction out my balcony (i was in a spa room on 4th floor) looking at the marilyn statue with that terrible beeping noise when machines back up omg. non stop. thankfully i was at the pool all day but forget an afternoon siesta in your room. lastly, i wish kids weren't allowed here as the pool is small and they jump around, splash, are loud etc. but obviously i knew kids were allowed going into my stay here so c'est la vie, that's on me.

Would highly recommend staying here, it's also walkable to...

hands down cannot beat the location. As first timers to PS, it was the perfect landing point to explore what the city has to offer. The iconic Art Museum and Forever Marilyn statue are steps away; not to mention the many shops and restaurants.

We were situated on the side of the hotel that faces the San Jacinto mountains. I would definitely opt for a room that offers a balcony and faces that side as the sunsets were one of our favorite parts. We splurged on a room that offers a in-suite tub/spa. It was romantic but after using the tub the first night we noticed the cleanliness was less to be desired and thus put us off on using the tub further for our trip.

The hotel is comfortable though and tastefully designed. The ceilings and windows were tall making it feel bigger offering amazing views of the mountains. The rooms are surprisingly quiet for being situated so close to nightlife. Expect the occasional siren or car alarm but that’s the trade off for being in the city.

We borrowed the bikes they have for guest use. It was fun to cruise and tour the neighboring residential areas. So much interesting architecture, design and landscaping. We noticed and issue with one of the bikes and the amazing valet took swapped them out for us. No employee made you feel like you were being a hassle as long as you returned the kindness.

We used the pool liberally as it was abnormally warm during our January trip. The chairs were comfortable nor did the pool feel crowded. The rooftop location made it feel private offering the same amazing views you cannot escape.

Everything at the hotel was pricier than what you could find in neighboring restaurants/bars. It was upsetting to pay for the breakfast package to find out it was just a $60 voucher that essentially paid for two basic breakfast meals.

The cons didn’t negatively affect our trip. We still came home relaxed and refreshed which was the point of our vacation. We would visit Kimpton Rowan again based on the...