Villa Royale

Three Postwar Courtyards Built One at a Time

Villa Royale began in 1947, when Los Angeles designer Kenneth Dreisbach drew a cluster of California ranch buildings that contractor Ralph Young spent four years raising on South Indian Trail, a few streets from downtown Palm Springs. Two neighboring small hotels, the Indian Trail Villa of 1950 and the Country Manor of 1956, joined the property in 1985, which is why the hotel still reads as three distinct courtyards rather than one wing stretched thin. The result, Spanish in spirit and worn in on purpose, is the kind of property regulars return to for its quirks rather than its uniformity: an antique sideboard here, a different tile pattern there, and a desert garden tucked behind nearly every door.

Why It Works

We chose Villa Royale because thirty-eight villas, no two alike, do more for a stay than a uniform room count ever could. The Evelyn Pell Villa alone justifies a special request: its own desert garden, a private hot tub, and a lounge set apart from the main courtyards. Three pools mean a quiet corner is always findable, each framed by the San Jacinto Mountains rather than a parking structure. And because the hotel keeps a loaner fleet of Electra bicycles instead of a gym, the default activity here is riding into Uptown rather than circling a treadmill. It reads like a well-kept secret that happens to take reservations.

Why This Location

Indian Trail sits a five-minute walk from the restaurants and galleries of downtown Palm Springs, and an equally short ride from the Uptown Design District's vintage furniture and architecture shops. The street itself stays residential and quiet, shaded by the courtyard walls that keep Villa Royale's three pools out of view from the sidewalk. Guests who want nightlife step into it on foot after dinner; guests who want silence get it back the moment they turn down the driveway. It is the rare Palm Springs address that lets a traveler choose, night by night, which city they are staying in.

Fast Facts

• Price: Luxury

• Vibe: Spanish courtyards, adults-only, unhurried

• Rooms: 38 individually decorated villas, some with private hot tubs

• Best For: Design-minded couples and pet owners seeking a quiet adults-only escape

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: The Evelyn Pell Villa's private desert garden and hot tub

• Dining: Del Rey, an intimate Spanish and Mediterranean bar and restaurant built for communal tables

• Amenities: Three pools, loaner Electra bicycles, a pet program with beds and treats, adults-only policy

• Attractions: Downtown Palm Springs (5-minute walk), Uptown Design District, San Jacinto Mountains views

Villas Decorated One by One

No two of the thirty-eight villas share a floor plan or a palette, a holdover from the three separate properties that make up the hotel today. Expect antiques mixed with Spanish-tiled bathrooms, deep soaking tubs in some rooms, and private patios in others that face directly onto one of the courtyard gardens. The top tier, the Evelyn Pell Villa, adds its own hot tub and a lounge sized for entertaining rather than passing through. Furnishings favor worn leather and dark wood over the pale minimalism common to Palm Springs' midcentury hotels, a deliberate contrast that signals this property's postwar, Spanish-revival roots rather than the city's better-known Modernist strain.

Del Rey, the Hotel's Table

Del Rey keeps its footprint small on purpose: a twelve-seat oak and marble bar, stucco walls, and a menu of Spanish and Mediterranean small plates meant for sharing rather than solo ordering. The wine list leans the same direction, Spanish and local bottles alongside the poolside cocktails guests carry back to their villa. Dinner here tends toward communal tables, which suits a hotel that already asks guests to walk past three courtyards of other people's quiet evenings to reach their room.

Before You Book

Villa Royale is adults-only, so this is not the address for a family trip to Palm Springs. The hotel welcomes dogs with beds, bowls and treats rather than merely tolerating them, which matters on a property with multiple gardens to walk through. There is no on-site gym; the Electra bicycles and a five-minute walk into downtown stand in for one. Rooms book up fastest around the city's spring festival season, so travelers set on the Evelyn Pell Villa specifically should request it well ahead.