Rock72

I checked in last night on a FWN stay. I came here about 10 years ago when it was the Merv Griffin. The property looks great (nicer now). They did not have all of the sitting areas, hammocks, firepit, etc. back then. Check in was very smooth and the lady was friendly and nice.

My confirmation email says:
Taxes
Bid Assessment 2.0 Percent Per Room Per Night Is In The Rate
Guest Room Tax 13.57 Percent Per Room Per Night Is In The Rate
Resort Fee 30.0 Usd Per Room Per Night Is In The Rate

I will take this up with them later to see if I can get the $30 resort fee waived. But if not, I don't really mind so much since it includes parking, internet, etc.

I was upgraded to a nice room on the North building. The room has a nice patio with sitting area and you can walk over to the pool very easily from here. The room also gives 24 hour access to the pool so that's nice. We were too tired last night so we all slept early.

The room is a decent size and very relaxing. I like it. Our room also included a bottle of San Pellegrino (didn't know it was free though but that's nice).

There was a wedding here last night so the property did have a lot of people walking around but overall, it wasn't bad.

We will check out the spa facilities today.

Overall, a great property for Palm Springs.

Rock.

nexusplexus

I had a great stay two weeks ago using a FNW.
I sent a nice email to [email protected] about the no resort fee charge and they quickly credited my SPG Amex card.

zakami

Is there really a resort fee on award stays. I have a reservation and this is from the email confirmation:
To me that seems like the resort fee is included just as the taxes are.

Starwood Lurker II

Hi zakami,

If you have been advised prior to your reservation that resort fees are applicable to your free night award stay, then you might be asked to pay for it.

[email protected]

Thyetus Lee | Online Forum Coordinator(AP)
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd

chrisdeaner

As a few of us have said, make sure you bring a printout of the confirmation email where this is noted with you and show it upon checking in. Also, make sure you check out at the front desk and verify that it did not show up on your bill. Took me two times to successfully get it removed but it never was an issue (first time I think the girl helping us wasn't sure how to handle it).

Sam P. Goodman

I'm here now after staying last night. Best sleep I've had in weeks so I'm a happy camper--though I imagine sleeping isn't on the agenda of many of the guests. Check-in was a bit chaotic. The lobby was overflowing with people and they didn't seem to have any rooms ready mid-afternoon. We hung out and enjoyed the lobby and free hot chocolate while we waited. They're very full so no upgrade, but the upgrade denial was exactly how I think it should go.

Without any prompting, "Mr. Goodman, we have your platinum number on file. I'd like to thank you for your loyalty, but unfortunately, we're very full tonight and we're weren't able to upgrade your room this time around...." Seemed genuine.

The grounds look beautiful. Unfortunately, there's been a lot of rain so the paths are muddy and we haven't had a chance to enjoy them. It's sunny this morning so we're hoping to take a stroll around.

The hotel has a great funky vibe and we're enjoying the fact that it doesn't look like anywhere else we've stayed. I tend to think it would fit better under the Luxury Collection brand for that reason, but what do I know. The standard room is spacious and comfortable. Only knock on the bedroom is the zenith 25" CRT TV. Not cool at a place of this caliber. The bathroom is galley style (long and narrow) and could use an update. Top notch bath products (Hermes, L'Occitane, Molton Brown, etc.) make the $30 resort fee easier to swallow (along with the included valet).

I'd happily stay here again...hopefully for longer than one night!

UPDATE: On check-out, we saw the agent who checked us in. Turns out she was the Assistant Front Desk Manager. She once again apologized for not being able to upgrade us and gave me a business card asking me to contact her before our next visit. I was impressed.

TCnSanDiegoCA

Here's a promo I received by email today, seems like very good rates:

Available June, July, & August
Weekdays from $79 and Weekends from $109.
Must be booked by midnight, March 26th.

http://theparkerpalmsprings.com/spec...astination.php

bigguyinpasadena

I will be there this weekend and will post an update.
Loved my last stay-am looking forward to this one.

xtremeflyer

My wife and I just checked in for a one night stay. I paid extra to get the deluxe patio room w hammock because as everyone says if you want a specific room, then book it..

The front desk told us we were upgraded to a jr suite, which considering all the complaints people had lately about not getting the platinum upgrades, we should be happy.. Unfortunately, I was looking forward to the quiet outdoor space and proximity to the pool the patio rooms provided.. The jr suite only provides a nice shower and a couple of uncomfortable chairs. The big room makes the old TV farther from the bed. It's also farther from the pool.

I spoke with the manager Rose and told her I appreciated the upgrade but we'd prefer the room we originally booked. She said she couldn't do that as she had already given that room away and all she had was a patio room with two beds (not the most romantic for an anniversary). I'm sure the rest of the weekend will be great, just happens to be one instance where the upgrade isn't as nice as the room we wanted..

SoCalPLT

I wasn't impressed with the staff or hotel. I won't be going back and I would suggest you don't go either.

itsaboutthejourney

Sorry to hear. This has become one of my fav SPG properties, although it's taken some working with them to get there.

bigguyinpasadena

Whoops-I got the room you wanted(paid for)and I would have been happy to have switched with you!
I was upgraded to a pool patio room.While it was a very nice big room and the patio was swell(you could just walk right over and jump in the pool)I would have prefered the verandah room with the party shower that the xtremeflyers were in-more my style.
Lovely stay otherwise-really love this property and the staff.
I had been at the Renaissance the night before,with 200 screaming teenaged girls there for a cheerleading competition and their stage mothers.The Parker was a sophisticated respite from that madhouse.

xtremeflyer

Haha.. I had a great time at the property none the less. We actually didn't want the pool side, we wanted the other side with the shaded patios and hammock. We "made the best" of our jr suite of course, I was just a little annoyed at the time. Of course, I told the hotel that I appreciated their upgrades of Platinums and ended up leaving it at that. It is a beautiful property. If they added a bigger TV in the Jr Suite and a chaise lounge instead of two separate chairs the room would have been more to my liking. There was no real way to snuggle up and watch a movie.

chrisdeaner

FYI if you ever get in the same situation I'd recommend the patio room, even if it's the one with two queens. I was in a similar situation and we took the patio room and pushed the beds together creating one giant double queen

chrisdeaner

Just came back for stay #2 last weekend. Used a combo of 12K points and my Plat Gift Free Night from last year before it expired. Arrived at the hotel only to find the Plat rep I spoke to on the phone had booked us for Sat and Sun night instead of Fri and Sat night which I had asked for. Granted I did get a confirmation email that I never opened but I definitely requested Fri and Sat nights. Worked it out over the phone when we got there so no big deal.

FYI, it seems they've "fixed the glitch" with the resort fee as the confirmation email now clearly states the $30/day fee is NOT included in the rate. It also mentions some taxes which we didn't have to pay as NOT being in the rate. However that covers the valet parking, spa access, Pelegrino in the room and I believe daily coffee service upon request (not 100% sure about that one) so it's not a terrible deal.

Because of the scheduling issue our room wasn't ready when we checked in so went by the pool for a bit. Took the Beer & Pretzel amenity and had it delivered pool side which was nice. Got a call when the room was ready and found it was in the main building. We really wanted one in the North building (by the smaller pool) so they said they would check on it and let me know. I checked out the room they assigned us which was actually very nice, about twice as big as the rooms with the private Hammock back patio in the North building with a nice view of the grounds. However, while in the room I got a call that we could be moved to a Hammock room (the Lanai suites were not available) so we took that.

Hammock room is smaller than the Lanai suite as it doesn't have the room for the additional sitting area in front of the TV. This is actually better, in my opinion, since the TV ends up being very far away from the bed in the latter situation (and since they're currently still all CRT TVs, they're not easy to see at that distance). The hammock on our own back patio was great and it's in the shade the majority of the day which is perfect to relax in if you get too hot by the pool. Toiletries were the higher end set consisting of both L'Occitaine and Hermes soaps, Bulgari lotion, Peter Thomas Roth sunscreen and various other brands of shampoo and conditioner.

Everything was per my original review a few posts up. We both noticed that the service actually seemed even better this time around (not that it was anything to complain about initially!). One thing about this property is the staff all seem genuinely nice, not as if they're only putting on a smile for the customer. Not sure if that's because of training or that they're happy to be working outside all day but it is noticeable and nice!

We did venture into the Palm Springs Yacht Club (onsite spa) so I can write about that. The gym is mediocre, I was actually expecting more. Most of the standard machines were available as well as a few of each type of cardio (treadmill, one old school elliptical, bikes and one rowing machine). The dumbbells up to 50lbs were present but only one fixed bench was around to use. They offer a yoga class on the weekends if you're into that. Inside the main part of PSYC there is an indoor pool, about the size of the North pool, two small jacuzzi tubs, and indoor seating area with couches under an Arabian style tent as well as a room that's mostly dark except for some candles to relax in (we actually saw Will Ferrell coming out of there for a massage). There's an outdoor seating are that's only accessible from inside the spa to use as well. All this is co-ed and additionally there are divided locker rooms (good to use if you need to change before your room is ready), steam room and saunas (which are clothing optional). All in all a great place to head to after you're done baking in the sun as it's usually close to empty.