VOL. II, ISSUE 17
Every year, I go to the desert to do nothing.
I prefer to go off-peak, when it’s hot enough that the heat frees up the day. I sleep in, indulge in a longer breakfast, spend a few hours by the pool, and enjoy a glass of wine after dinner. Sure, I could stay home and do the same thing. But getting away prevents me from feeling pressured to make my way through my never-ending to-do list.
For a long time, I assumed a resort was essential to my desert retreat. If I planned to spend an entire trip on property, surely I would want the one with the most to offer. A recent stay at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa made me less sure.
The Resort
The JW has almost everything I associate with a resort. The property is surrounded by golf courses, ponds, and swimming pools.
The view from my room featured mountains rising behind rows of palm trees. The recent room redesign reflects the scenery surprisingly well. Rattan details and a mural of gray and dusty pink across the wall reminded me of the mountains at sunset. A mirror behind the television reflected both the mural and the actual landscape framed by large glass doors.
The bathroom was even better with stone floors, a glass rainfall shower, and a deep freestanding soaking tub. Frosted sliding windows opened the bathroom into the rest of the room.
It looked like the perfect retreat. But outside the room, there was almost too much to do.
An 18-hole mini golf course, tennis, and pickleball were included in the resort fee. Access to the driving range was also included, complete with TaylorMade club rentals and golf balls already set up in the bays. There were three central pools and a hot tub, an extensive arcade, boat rides from the lobby, fitness classes and a gym with weights up to 100 pounds. A weekly schedule offered a variety of activities. There was also a spa I never made it to.
For families or groups, I began to understand the appeal. There is little need to leave. Children can swim or play mini golf. An avid golfer has a course and driving range outside.
The resort made it easy to do the activities Palm Springs is known for. They just weren’t what I had come to the desert to do.
Doing Nothing
I have started to think that the real test of a luxury resort is whether doing nothing for an entire day feels like enough.
The JW was busy during my stay. The central pools were full of families. Music traveled from the pool toward the rooms. The adults-only pool was closed. The activity schedule seemed designed to make sure there was always something to do. I would expect the atmosphere to change with occupancy, and much of the programming made the property particularly well suited to families.
But the experience made me realize that I didn’t want to be entertained.
A couple of years ago, at the Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain, I arrived to find champagne waiting in my room and bath mats placed beneath the double vanity in the bathroom. I attended a wine tasting at CORE Kitchen & Wine Bar with only a few other guests. Afterward, I went for an evening swim in the main pool and found that I was the only one there. The spa treatment came with access to a separate quiet saltwater pool lined with mostly empty cabanas.
There was still plenty to do. Golf and tennis were available by shuttle. The spa could take an entire afternoon. The restaurant drew inspiration from the surrounding Sonoran Desert. But none of it made the property feel as though it needed to keep me entertained.
I had the same feeling at the Ritz-Carlton Rancho Mirage. There was a central pool, but I preferred the hot tubs at the edge of the property, overlooking the desert. At The Edge Steakhouse, large windows centered on the view of the Coachella Valley, and the food was good enough that I would consider returning even without staying at the hotel.
My room opened onto a covered patio facing the courtyard. Spritzers on the overhang made the heat bearable enough that I enjoyed sitting outside even in summer. At night, I drank wine beside the fire pit. Even the pool loungers already had towels waiting on them.
None of these details were extravagant, but they made it easier to do nothing.
The Invisible Details
I chose the JW because it had everything I thought I wanted from a resort. But I realized that I cared more about the details that were harder to see before booking.
My room, for example, struggled to stay cool overnight until I manually changed the fan setting from “auto” to “high.” There were other small inconsistencies in upkeep and communication throughout the weekend. None was significant enough to define the stay on its own, but together they made me think more about how the hotel was operating than I wanted to.
The stay made me realize that luxury is the ability to do nothing because someone else has paid attention to the details.
That doesn’t mean eliminating every inconvenience, providing a sprawling list of amenities, or stocking a specific brand of toiletries. To me, it means that I don’t have to think about how the hotel works. From a towel already waiting on a lounger to a spritzer making a patio comfortable, it’s often the smallest details that accomplish this best.
At the JW, it was the ease of using the driving range, with balls already set up and complimentary clubs available a short walk from my room. For someone who came to the desert to golf, being able to walk onto a driving range without packing clubs might be exactly what luxury feels like. For parents, a schedule full of activities might mean not spending the weekend figuring out how to entertain everyone.
How Much Resort Do I Need?
There is another reason my threshold for a desert hotel is high.
I live close enough that I don’t have to stay overnight to visit Palm Springs. I am already surrounded by palm trees and have access to a pool and gym at home, so leaving for a weekend has to offer more than a change of scenery and another set of amenities.
I used a 35,000-point free-night certificate for this stay. In that context, the JW made sense. But I am less convinced that I would return using my own points or money. It also made me wonder whether I even need a resort at all.
Three pools. Golf. Tennis. Pickleball. Mini golf. An arcade. Fitness classes. A spa. Restaurants. An activity schedule. But if I don’t want to do most of those things, does it matter that they’re there?
Maybe a smaller hotel could accomplish the same purpose with a quiet room, a well-maintained pool, food good enough that I don't want to leave for dinner, and thoughtful service. The places I have most enjoyed in the desert haven’t eliminated activity. Dove Mountain had golf, tennis, a spa and wine tastings. Rancho Mirage had pools and restaurants. I just never felt like I needed to do any of it.
The Desert Retreat
By the end of the weekend, I didn’t dislike the JW Marriott Desert Springs.
The redesigned rooms thoughtfully reflect their surroundings. The golf facilities are remarkably easy to use. The amount of recreation included on property is substantial. For families and avid golfers, many of the things that weren’t especially important to my trip could be what makes the hotel work.
It simply didn’t entirely match what I had gone to the desert to find.
This trip clarified what I’m actually looking for in a desert retreat: a quiet pool, food that reflects the local environment, a room that stays cool, and somewhere comfortable to sit with a glass of wine while watching the sunset.
The heat limits what you can do, and for me, a good hotel doesn’t need to fill the empty space. Perhaps that is the real test of a desert retreat: not how much there is to do, but whether doing nothing feels like enough.
Explore Volume I: Tokyo | Kyoto | Osaka | Kobe | Nara & Uji | Sapporo | Chicago | Denver | Orange County