Our winter 2004 getaway was an 11-day trip to Palm Springs in the California desert. We stayed at the Terra Cotta Inn, a small 17-room inn.
The inn includes a nice hot tub and a decent-sized heated pool. Most rooms have a patio, many of them heated as well as mist-cooled. Apparently, the pool area is also mist-cooled when the temperatures soar in the summer. Other amenities include complimentary continental breakfast and afternoon wine & snacks, an amazing video library to borrow from, as well as massage, manicure and pedicure services. The owners Tom and Mary Claire as well as the other staff were extremely helpful and went out of their way to make our stay as enjoyable as possible. While there is no onsite restaurant, each day they offered to bring in lunch for those that were not going out. They also have a binder containing menus for many of the restaurants in town so that you can plan your dining out or ordering in. Last, some rooms, like ours, contained a small kitchen allowing you to prepare you own meals if that's your thing.
The weather was a bit iffy during our stay as southern California experienced near record rainfalls and below-normal temps. Of course, in the week prior and after our visit the weather was just wonderful. But weather aside, we still managed to have a good, relaxing vacation. When the sun came out it was really nice to lie by the pool even though the temps were only mid 60's. We even managed to get some tan and even a bit of sunburn under the warm sun. When there was a chill in the air we relaxed under the heated patio or in the hot tub.
Click on the palm trees or one of the thumbnails to the left to begin the slideshow.
