My family and I stayed at this hotel (1 night) for the first time a week or so ago while on a western USA roadtrip to see various national parks. Overall, we had a _great_ time at this property and would consider returning. My wife even mentioned just flying out to palm springs to stay at the hotel for a few days (we would almost never go to a place just to stay at a hotel normally).

I was travelling with family (wife + 1 daughter). We stayed on points (17,750k - cat 5 high) which IIRC was a junior suite (apologies if wrong - I stayed at several SPG properties on the trip and each had slightly different options). We tried to use a SNA but it did not clear. However, we were put in a very nice room (it had a name and was not part of the larger hotel building - I think there were 3 other units in our building), so I assume we were upgraded at check-in.

Things we loved:
* the grounds are very private - lots of greenery, very pretty. We watched hummingbirds visit the flowers/vines in the morning from our patio while the sun came up
* normal hotel service was excellent (restaurant, front desk, valet/bellhops). Everything was done top-notch.

Not quite as good:
* we had arrived after a long drive from Phoenix through a very serious downpour and were tired. We wanted to eat at the pool (so my daughter could go swimming as well - we had promised ). Service here was a bit slow but everything was to order and was great.
* overall the pool was busy and not really being serviced well (towels, cleaning up abandoned chairs to allow others to use them, etc). There was leftover food items left for some time at the pool and there were no clean towels. I don't know if this is a common issue or just due to it being a bit busy when we arrived.

Random:
* almost everyone else at the pool was speaking foreign languages (French, Spanish, and (I think) Polish). It was really interesting to see how broad the appeal of the hotel was.

I stayed at 4 other SPG properties during our road trip (+ La Posada de Santa Fe, Westin Vegas, Westin Kierland Mammoth, Westin Kierland in Phoenix). While each was nice in its own ways, I think this one was pretty darn special in terms of the décor, ambiance, etc.). I will post in each hotel thread on my experiences in the other hotels.