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Palm Springs back to life

Go USA:  Once a playground for the rich and famous, the desert resort is making a comeback as a mecca for spas and shopping, writes ALANNA GALLAGHER  

PALM SPRINGS is the stuff of postcards and seared into our collective memory, thanks to its celebrity past. Now it’s enjoying something of a revival, as spa treatments and shopping become the main attractions in the desert resort which boasts some of California’s most alluring scenery.

Set in the base of a rocky valley, surrounded by the San Jacinto Mountains, Palm Springs looks and feels as manicured as a Hollywood starlet. The city has been a desert playground for movie stars wishing to escape from the hustle and bustle of showbiz since the 1920s.

Tinseltown’s old studio system had a “two-hour rule” that helped put the resort on the map. In case last-minute film or photo shoots were needed, actors under contract had to be available within two hours from the studio. Palm Springs was the perfect getaway.

Several celebrities stayed and purchased hideaway homes here: most notably Rat Packers Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. Bob Hope, Cary Grant and Lucille Ball also set up home here. You can now rent Ball’s house through Vacation Palm Springs.

Palm Springs rivalled Vegas as an A-list destination all the way through to the early 1970s, but it fell out of favour and into a bit of a geriatric stupor.

However, the old lady is back in fashion thanks in part to Louis Vuitton’s Cruise 2011 collection being inspired by the resort’s Parker Hotel and American sports-luxe designer Trina Turk dedicating her summer collection to the resort.

Visitors have rediscovered its cool mountain-refined air. It’s a resort that feels pine fresh and clean in a way one doesn’t imagine in America and it puts a spring in your step.

THE CITY IS  immaculate. Its pristine perfect colonial style architecture almost resembles a film set. Even the palms are manicured to within an inch of their lives.

Perfectly-formed clouds hover in the sky above and look like alien flying saucers about to launch an invasion, all of which adds to its surreal atmosphere.

There is very little to do here and that is the whole idea of this American vacation spot. Nowhere does the idea of doing nothing suit better and the resort of Palm Springs has the practice down to a fine art.

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