I stayed at a resort in the California desert and paid $1300 a night for a room with its own private hot tub. Take a look inside the luxury hotel.
Callie Ahlgrim
- We stayed at the La Quinta Resort & Club before heading to Coachella in Indio, California in April.
- The luxury resort is a favorite for influencers attending the festival — and it was easy to see why.
Upon arrival, we were stunned by the beauty of the property.
Last year, Insider's music team attended Coachella for the first time and stayed at an Airbnb in Palm Springs. For our second time around — largely thanks to traffic and parking pains — we were hoping for a smoother experience.
Staying at one of the nearby hotels associated with the festival seemed like the best way to achieve that goal.
Coachella sells hotel packages that include a three-night stay for two or four people, as well as a festival pass of your choosing (GA or VIP) for your entire group. The shuttle service also operates from these hotels, making transportation back and forth much easier.
However, most of the hotel packages for 2023 had sold out before we had a chance to purchase any.
We decided to book just one night at La Quinta Resort & Club on the Wednesday before weekend one, to get a taste of the popular option.
The hotel is billed as "a desert oasis near Coachella festival."
La Quinta is a Hilton property. The luxury resort is located just five miles from Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, where Coachella takes place.
Many influencers, models, and travel bloggers shared photos at the resort in April — including Claudia Sulewski, who attended the famous music festival with her boyfriend, superproducer Finneas O'Connell. (His sister, Billie Eilish, headlined last year and made a surprise cameo during Labrinth's set this year.)
There's a mind-boggling number of pools on the property — 41, to be exact.
When we checked in at the front desk, we were told the resort spans 45 acres. The property also features 21 tennis courts, eight pickleball courts, and a spa.
After checking in, we were escorted to our room on a golf cart.
Right away, we were made to feel like valued guests.
The resort is massive, so it can be difficult to navigate if you don't know your way around.
We made a few wrong turns on the evening we arrived. But by the next morning, we had our necessary routes memorized.
Had we been able to stay longer, the size of the resort would've been no problem.
We stayed in the "whirlpool casita," a private cottage with a king bed.
The room itself cost $1,105 a night, plus $162 in taxes and a $35 resort charge — more than half what we paid for five nights in our Airbnb last year.
Booking the same experience through Coachella's website (a king bed with two GA passes) would set you back $4,319 for three nights, plus unspecified fees.
The room included a private hot tub and breathtaking views.
La Quinta sits at the base of the Santa Rosa mountains.
As one would expect from a luxury resort, the room was immaculate when we arrived.
The king-size bed offered plenty of space for two people.
The room also included a flat-screen TV and a fireplace.
The warm color palette was exquisitely suited for the "desert oasis" vibe.
The bathroom featured a shower and a bathtub.
Fresh towels, of course, were sitting ready for us in neat piles.
After years of using Airbnb, we were unironically delighted by all the amenities.
The bathroom was stocked with standard toiletries like hand soap and shampoo, plus extra amenities like mouthwash and lotion.
A small kitchen corner featured a Keruig machine and complimentary coffee pods.
The mini fridge was also stocked with complimentary bottles of water.
The resort features three restaurants.
Morgan's in the desert, which serves "American cuisine inspired by the bounty of the Coachella Valley," is described as "La Quinta's signature dining venue" on the website.
The resort also includes the Mexican restaurant Adobe Grill, apparently "famed for its award-winning tamales," and an American bistro called Twenty6.
We chose to dine at Twenty6 because the prices felt slightly more reasonable.
Although we were tempted by the entrée options at Morgan's, we couldn't justify spending $39 for lemon linguine or $56 for a braised short rib.
Alternatively, Twenty6 offered simple dishes at smaller price points, like a Margherita flatbread for $19 and a classic cheeseburger for $22.
We kicked off our meal with fried calamari.
The $19 appetizer was served with tartar sauce and spicy chimichurri.
For the main course, we ordered a Caprese salad and a chicken Caesar salad.
Both dishes were fresh and tasty, if a little basic. The Caprese salad set us back $19 and the Caesar $21, plus an additional $6 charge for chicken.
As the sun began to go down, the resort became even more beautiful.
Golden hour was a lovely time to stroll around the property.
You can even shop without leaving the grounds.
Retail options include Greta's, which offers athleisure and swimwear options, and Polo Ralph Lauren.
We enjoyed our private whirlpool during sunset.
With the pink sky and a glass of rosé, we had a perfect evening.
In the morning, we picked up coffee and food from The Marketplace.
The fast-casual eatery offered an array of beverages, snacks, breakfast sandwiches, and pastries.
We enjoyed our breakfast next to one of the many pools.
We paid $38 (including tip) for two breakfast sandwiches, two lattes, and a Diet Coke for later.
Before checking out, we spent a few hours lounging by one of the many pools.
We were surprised by how many children there were at the resort, especially in the pool areas.
Apparently, La Quinta is a popular option for families as well as influencers.
Luckily, the hotel's easy check-out process made it a stress-free day. If you download the Hilton app, you can check out using your phone without returning to the lobby — which gave us a few extra hours of pool time after storing our luggage in the car.
Even though we spent less than 24 hours at La Quinta, we loved our stay.
If you can afford La Quinta's steep fees, it's hard to deny the resort's appeal — including but not limited to impeccable landscaping, attentive service, and a seemingly endless abundance of climate-controlled, chlorinated water.
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