The Parker Palm Springs

This hotel has racked up an impressive number of names in its seventy-year history. Once Gene Autry’s Melody Ranch estate, it was, for a time, the Merv Griffin Resort, then the Givenchy Hotel and Spa — and now, after a substantial rethink by lifestyle designer Jonathan Adler, it’s back; this time as The Parker Palm Springs.

And its new style is difficult to pin down as well — it’s been described as “hippie chic,” but its promiscuous blend of periods and references is an Adler trademark, and alternately recalls the Mod Sixties, the feel-good Seventies, and the classic Rat Pack vibe that Palm Springs is known for.

This town, after all, used to be where the stars fled to from Hollywood — and the Parker is a conscious attempt to recapture the glamor of those bygone days. Palm Springs skewed older, blander, and more conservative over the decades, but those trends are reversing, and today the stars — and the rest of us — are coming back.

Looking around the Parker, it's easy to see the appeal; every detail calls out for attention, from the bubblegum pink of the bellhops’ uniforms to the occasional animal-print rug, and the inclusion of such refreshingly old-school games as croquet and pétanque, alongside the red clay tennis courts and the five-star diner, Norma’s. And underneath it all, the Parker is quite possibly just as luxurious as it was in the Givenchy days, though miles less pretentious — and, conversely, miles cooler than it was during the Merv Griffin years.

There’s golf all around, of course, this being Palm Springs and all, as well as a multitude of pools, and the spa is still here, whimsically re-christened the Palm Springs Yacht Club. If you need even more personality, you can stay in the original Gene Autry house — but even the standard rooms are interesting enough that you may revise your image of Palm Springs.

How to get there: The Parker Palm Springs is approximately a 7-minute drive from Palm Springs International Airport.