Alcazar Palm Springs

Admittedly, the notion of an authentic local experience in a resort town like Palm Springs is a bit of a slippery one. But that’s about what’s on offer at the locally owned Alcazar — and to judge by the hotel, the desert townie life, at least in these parts, turns out to be quite rich. The routine? Intelligentsia coffee and fresh-baked pastries in the morning, some loafing on a poolside patio in the afternoon, and a good rest under Italian linens and fluffy down duvets by night. And it all takes place in an attractive, whitewashed little Spanish-colonial boutique hotel, with the ever-present backdrop of the mountains just beyond.

The hoteliers behind the Alcazar are Palm Springs native Tara Lazar and her partner Marco Rossetti, whose nearby restaurant Cheeky’s has quickly become something of a local institution in the town’s Uptown district. With the opening of the Alcazar and their second, more nightlife-oriented restaurant Birba, it’s starting to feel like Lazar and Rossetti are refashioning the neighborhood in their own rather stylish image, and in the process they’re shifting Palm Springs’ center of gravity to the north. The blocks around the hotel were already home to some of the best shopping, with a number of design shops and art galleries, and now it’s got the dining, drinking and sleeping options to match.

That the hotel doesn’t have its own restaurants or shops is really just a technicality. There are probably hotel elevator rides that take longer than the walk to Cheeky’s or Birba. Other hoteliers spend millions of dollars cultivating what these ones have arrived at fairly organically: the experience of a fantasy-worthy lifestyle. In Alcazar’s case, it’s simply the life of the neighborhood. Instead of contriving high-concept social spaces, the Alcazar and its neighbors foster an effortless conviviality, where guests find themselves talking midcentury modern design with shop owners up the block and locals come to the hotel for events like concerts and art shows.

Not that you can’t get a little privacy if you want it. The rooms start out small, but in their sunny, pared-down simplicity, they invite long mornings in bed. Go up the scale and you start getting jacuzzis, views of the mountains and private patios. The hotel recently underwent a meticulous renovation, and they took care of the sorts of little details a lot of places in this price range might overlook, right down to the plentiful electrical outlets. It’s not the sexiest detail, but it’s worthwhile. Lazar and Rossetti want the Alcazar to be more than just marketable; they want it to be livable, just like their neighborhood.

Text Courtesy of Tablet Hotels