Travel Diary: How to Spend One Perfect Day in Palm Springs

This winter, Palm Springs flourishes with a wave of new hotels, restaurants and bars.

9 a.m.Brunch

Juniper Table

Light and airy describe both the food and the decor at the ground-level Juniper Table in the new seven-storey (that’s huge for these low-slung parts) Kimpton Rowan Hotel. Chef Stephen Wambach channels a seriously SoCal vibe (there will be fresh juice) to start the day.

11 a.m.Art Hike

Palm Springs Art Museum

Make your way to the northwest corner of the Palm Springs Art Museum’s parking lot and head straight up à la Grouse Grind—45 minutes will feel like three hours. Before leaving, take a peek inside the gallery, where contemporary classics like a Louise Bourgeois Spider sculpture hang.

6 p.m.Happy Hour

Truss and Twine

Truss and Twine is the new bar from the New York-based team behind the super-sleek, concrete-heavy Workshop Kitchen and Bar, so expect a slice of hipster Silver Lake with note-perfect classic cocktails from different eras—Prohibition’s Hanky Panky with Ransom barrel-aged gin or the Golden Age Brandy Crusta.

7 p.m.Dinner

Azúcar

Officially, the public can only access Azúcar Restaurant and Bar in the new La Serena Villas on weekends, but unofficially we’ve found they’ll still accommodate diners mid-week. We recommend booking this pint-sized modern Spanish Revival gem in advance; order the watermelon salad with basil poolside.

10: 30 p.m.Nightcap

Dead or Alive

Finding locals in Palm Springs can be a trick, so the nondescript boutique beer and wine bar Dead or Alive with its blink-and-you’ll-miss-it entrance is a godsend. A co-launch by local design phenom Anthony Cioffi means serious in-house street cred: think a digital sunset every night in the bar.

Where to Stay

The impossibly chic Holiday House boutique hotel reimagines the old mid-century Chase Hotel, thanks to the folks who brought us the Sparrows Lodge. Sophisticated layers of blue and white overlaid with original art (Alex Katz, Donald Sultan), kitchenettes and unbelievably reasonable prices (from $250) make this one of the coolest, best deals in town.

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