Summer in the desert. As we head into autumn, I’m a big proponent of desert serenity and the pleasures of desert heat, as long as the little ones are thoroughly coated in sunscreen and there’s shade to be found. A new favorite escape is the Italianate ambiance of the Miramonte Resort and Spa in Indian Wells, a quiet community near Palm Desert, CA.

Hotel Accommodations & Amenities

Fun for the whole family in this lovely pool

It doesn’t matter where you’re near in reality, because Miramonte’s lovely, flower-filled grounds and villa-style accommodations look like Italy. My kids loved the family movie nights under the stars, the San Jacinto mountains forming an elegant moonlit backdrop, burbling fountains, and of course the screening of Toy Story 3. They loved the big pool, and they loved the hammocks strung in the shade throughout the grounds. Maybe best of all – the herb garden. Sniff the chocolate mint, and if you’re lucky, as we were, perhaps a staff member will offer a small taste of this tasty fresh herb. Tots can spend a happy hour here, sniffing and exploring. Older kids will love relaxing in those hammocks, and ordering poolside sandwiches and fries.

Large, luxurious rooms – perfect for a family stay

Parents and kids alike will love the large, modern Italian-themed rooms with wrought iron balcony, sitting area, in-room movies, and very moderately priced room service kids items. Try the perfectly portioned, bargain kids’ ice creams – they come with a cookie! Terracotta roofs attract sparrows, and waking to bird song here is a small but sweet pleasure. The resort offers free, gentle early morning walks – before the heat sends you scurrying under the shade of an umbrella poolside. And if an umbrella isn’t your thing, the whole family can enjoy a cabana, or share shaded, comfortable day beds. Small kids will love the feeling of a cozy spot to rest between dips in the pool. Food and beverage service is fast, friendly, and reasonable. We were pleased to see foam noodles and inflatables available for the kids at the main pool.

The whole family is also welcome to participate in the early morning classes offered here. A gentle yoga stretch inside an air-conditioned ballroom one morning, a pleasant walk before it gets too hot, the next.

The Well Spa

Parents ready for a little downtime can take a turn in The Well Spa, with its fabulous and headily scented Eucalyptus steam room, and private dipping pools. Add in some peace and quiet, cold towels scented with lavender, tea and fruit, and our favorite fruit infused iced water, and it’s relaxing just to be in the spa. But take turns trying the treatments – they are worth the time. Longer than most spa treatments, from massages and body scrubs to facials and pedicures, each treatment is customized with natural, organic products and an infusion of new age pleasures, including choosing a stone from a small bag before each treatment – the stones are marked with words of intention for the treatment process, trust, happiness, peace, beauty – all of these words are likely to apply after a luxurious, relaxing treatment. And I do mean luxurious – each treatment’s skin care product comes from the organic Germain de Capuccini line, originating in Spain. The products contain elements of fine minerals like diamonds and rubies plus herbal oils. Whether its the heady scents or the skilled therapists, or a combination of the two, the treatments here are quite special, and enormously pleasurable. Relaxed, renewed and refreshed are the words you may not pick out of a small bag as your intention, but they apply all the same, making time spent splashing in the main pool with the little ones all the more enjoyable.  A few hours in the spa makes a great gift for that singular mom or dad in need of some special “me” time.

Dining & Area Attractions

The balconies make a lovely retreat

After a full day of relaxing, what’s a family to do? Well there are several potential options. Right on site, you can dine al fresco by the pool, surrounded by the pleasant splashing of a fountain, and sunset views of the mountains. Meals are healthy and while elegantly prepared, reasonable in price, and with several options that will appeal to the kids. We found the chef more than willing to accommodate special diets, too.  A pretty fire pit is also on the grounds, and makes a great place to relax and watch the stars come out.

Off site, try Don Diego’s for big platters of tasty Mexican food, and a happy, helpful restaurant staff. We were celebrating a birthday, and were delighted to have our birthday girl serenaded by the waiters and have a giant velvet sombrero places precariously on her head.

This stunning hotel is an oasis in the desert

Miramonte offers a family package combining an elegant stay with two adult and two kids admissions to nearby Knott’s Soak City twenty-one acre water park, too. Our kids loved the big water slides, and unlike water parks closer to LA, it was reasonably uncrowded, too. And, while not part of a specific package, Miramonte staff offered cordial advice on other area attractions as well – including day trips to Joshua Tree National Park’s twisted trees and amazing rocks, the charming and artsy village of Idyllwild, and of course the Living Desert Museum with it’s combination of animal exhibits and nature center.

A combination of a commodious, luxurious stay, great  and unique spa treatments, and family friendly activities makes the Miramonte a desert escape well worth taking. We found it to be one of those rare destinations that relax and refresh adults while providing a safe, fun stay for the kids too.

Balcony pool view from the Hyatt Indian Wells

If you live in Southern California and need a primo vacation spot for your family that’s a short drive away, then the Hyatt Grand Champions Resort in Indian Wells is the place for you!  We were there with our entire family in late August of 2009. We rated it very high on the “kid friendly” scale and will definitely be going back every chance we get!

My wife was about 8 months pregnant with our first child, and we were travelling with my parents, my sister, her husband and their two kids. My parents were staying in a large penthouse suite overlooking the mountains, and pool.  The view from their balcony was truly breathtaking and the picture I’ve included doesn’t even do it justice!  My sister and her family were staying in a large two bedroom Villa on the other side of the resort.  Their Villa was the ultimate in luxury, with all new and stylish furniture, kitchen,  large bedrooms with flat screen TVs, as well as a large and inviting patio with built in Spa.

View from our Villa Patio

My wife and I were lucky enough to be upgraded to one of their one bedroom Villas after the maintenance people were unable to fix a problem with our air conditioning system.  We both need it to be no more than 68 degrees in order for us to have a good night sleep, and unfortunately we find that many hotels in California have a motion sensor activated air conditioning system installed.   The Hyatt’s air conditioning system was no different, and the air would shut off periodically if there wasn’t enough motion detected to keep it running.   We had the hotel maintenance person come to our room about three different times to fix the problem, and of course they failed to resolve it each time. Late in my wife’s pregnancy she found that it was more and more difficult to sleep through the night and the temperature issue became amplified as a result.  Thankfully we were rescued by a very eager to please hotel manager who agreed to upgrade us to a one bedroom villa.

After we packed our belongings, a hotel staff member shuttled us over to the new Villa in one of their golf cart type vehicles.  Our jaws dropped with glee when we entered the Villa not only because it was nice and cool inside, but because of how plush and luxurious the place was!  The best part of it was our patio area, which had a built in Spa just like my sister’s place, and the best view on the resort!  There was a bubbling  river with rapids flowing just outside the railing in a picture perfect scene of lush green vegetation that made us want to stay there forever!  We were praising God every moment of every day after that for our good fortune.

Poolside Grand Champion Hyatt Indian Wells

I should mention that there was an incident earlier that may have contributed to our good fortune.  No one was hurt, but one of the guests in the main hotel standard rooms accidently set their room’s mattress on fire.  Apparently this couple lit some candles in the room and one of the candles fell over causing their comforter to go up in flames.   The fire department arrived at the scene shortly afterwards and everyone in the building (including us) were asked to evacuate.  After the emergency was over a couple of hours later, people were allowed to return to their rooms but at least one entire floor of guests had to be relocated to other rooms resulting in a shortage of standard rooms.  This is why the hotel manager moved us to that wonderful Villa!

We had a glorious time with our family each day.  When we were not in our patio area or in the Spa, we were at the kid friendly pool area enjoying the wonderful weather and cold margaritas under a large canopy of Palm tree branches hanging high over us like a natural umbrella.   The men in our group like to smoke a good cigar on occasion, which we were happy to indulge under the approval of the hotel rules. 

My sister’s two kids absolutely loved the pool area especially since there were plenty of other kids out there to befriend.  And perhaps the biggest attraction that will keep the children begging to come back  is that giant waterslide equipped with plenty of exciting twists and turns.  There is also an adult only pool at the resort for those people travelling without kids, so it’s safe to say this resort can cater to a wide range of guests.  All in all this was a wonderful trip and the Hyatt Grand Champions Resort is now permanently on our favorites list!  The location can’t be beat between Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage.