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We’re in the Orange! We got off to a great start in April with a toe-in-the-water, scaled-down, sold-out Modernism Week, and in May you can wade into Palm Springs well above your knees.

Mornings bring bright-blue, sunny skies, a back-drop for our majestic mountains, with crisp to perfection temperatures. When the sun drops behind the mountains, millions of stars light up the night and you’ll be falling into the cool, cool, cool of the evening when it’s time to hit the town.

So, let’s jump right into all of the wonderful and crazy fun options available to make this one of the most memorable times in your life.

Quick note: *means I have been here and it was fabulous!

Ongoing Events

Fridays and Saturdays: Illusions Drag Queen Show, Pete’s Hideaway – Located just behind Pete’s Hideaway in Wendy’s Hideout. But make sure to have cocktails and a nosh at Pete’s, too. The bar they’ve branded as “the Cheers of Palm Springs” has a new chef!

Saturdays: Saturday Night Flight at PS Air Bar “Boarding time” is 5:00 p.m. Located inside Bouschet is the kitschy PS Air that gives you Mad Men on a plane feels. The three-hour “flight” is described as “​Great Music, Fine Food, Classy Cocktails, First Class Service, Naughty Stewardess”

Naughty Stewardess at PS Air

*V Wine Lounge – all dressed up in 1960s kitsch, this terrific, large wine bar offers unusual wines for you to try. They also have a rental space for private parties. There’s a huge patio, too, as well as live music Monday and Saturday evenings.

Saturdays: Not Your Grandma’s Bingo at Chill Bar from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. The name says it all.

*Sundays: Palm Springs Drag Brunch, Roly China Fusion. Located on the North End of Palm Springs. It’s dim sum and it’s delicious. They accommodate vegans, too. And the show is outstanding. Rosemary Galore and her queens work hard for the money!

Me and the drag queens at Roly

Oscar’s: Home of the Sunday “T” dance, the most raucous dance party in PS (which is on hiatus because…pandemic), also has some fun shows:

5/1 Sherry Vine, 5/1/2021 5:30-9:00 p.m.

5/6 Open mic event with former American Idol vocal coach, Michael Orland every 4th Thursday @ 5:00pm.

5/28 & 29 Tiffany Takes Over 7:00 p.m. “Sharing her ‘rocktails, favorite food, and doing an acoustic set.”

Sundays: 11:00 a.m. & 12:30 p.m. Bitchiest Brunch that is, as they put it, “Serving Attitude”

Check out Wang’s in the Desert for the Ladies: Hunk-O-Mania Friday’s & Saturdays. Ticketed event starts at 10:00 p.m.

*PS Underground – outstanding, themed dinner shows with some of the best talent PS has to offer. Their unique take on entertainment and their gourmet food is more than worth the price of the ticket. Multiple events during May.

Being “Atmosphere” behind the scenes at PS Underground’s A Night at The Chi Chi

 

*Wednesdays thru Sunday: Melvyn’s Ingleside Inn’s Casablanca Lounge is back! From 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. the iconic lounge is where all the celebrities go to sing with resident maestro Mikael Healey. You gotta play dress up, but how fun is that! For rezzies: 760-325-2323

*Sundays: Jazz fans should definitely carve out 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. at Palm Canyon Roadhouse. Band leader and solid jazz player Mikale Karr leads the pro jazz jam featuring the best of the best at this unlikely R&R venue.

*5/2 Vintage Market 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on the first Sunday of every month. It’s a great walk-about, surrounded by all things vintage.

One-Time and Pop-Up Events

5/14: Green Dragon Dispensary – 353 S. Palm Canyon, 4:00 to 8:00 p.m.

All born out of the pandemic, up-and-comers PerfectPint760, SmokeyLips BBQ, and The Best Cookie PS have teamed up with Green Dragon to offer a cure for the inevitable munchies. Grab some deliciousness after you shop, and take it home for later.

Perfect Pint760, BBQ Lips & Best Cookie in PS @ Green Dragon Dispensary courtesy of Perfect Pint760

 

Also if you go to any of our hotels or enjoy our recommendations, please be sure to tag us with your photos on IG, or @palmspringspreferredsmallhotel (yeah, it’s a lot to type, but we appreciate it!)  #PSPSH

It’s getting even hotter here in Palm Springs, and I’m not just talking about the temperature. From the ashes of 2020, new establishments were born – some so new that locals haven’t even had an opportunity to try them!  Some are fancy, some are grab and go, but they’ve all got one thing in common, they’re all brand-spankin’ new and they’re all fabulous.

Quick note: *means I have personally been here and loved it!

Bar Cecil – The brand new eatery is definitely going to be one of the hottest spots around. Check out the story and pix on their website.

Gabino’s Creperie – it’s small, and maybe a tad hard to find, but doesn’t that make it pretty special? Located at the tri-corner of E. Palm Canyon, S. Palm Canyon, and Belardo. If you run into Kreem, a fabulous vegan local ice cream shop, you’re in the right neighborhood. If you’re craving a nice glass of wine, or a frosty beer stop at Dead Or Alive just a few steps north where you can also order from Gabino’s!

Gabino’s Crepe courtesy of Gabino’s

 

Kreem courtesy of Kreem

 

Dead or Alive patio photo credit Andréa Morrisette

1501 Uptown Gastropub Pub – If you’ve ever been to *Eight 4 Nine, *533 Viet Fusion or *Roly China Fusion then you know you’re in the hands of two of PS’s finest restaurateurs, Willie Rhine and Chad Gardner. Make reservations, they’ve been booked solid since they opened.

Boozehounds located at the old Dink’s space at 2080 North Palm Canyon. Beverages of every ilk, a great menu, and 4 tables set aside as work spaces. Especially for dog owners (aka bring’em).

Four Twenty Bank Dispensary and Lounge: At 38,000 square feet, it’s in the running for world’s largest dispensary and cannabis lounge. Pool tables, pinball, Zoltar! and the game Operation are just a few ways to play while enjoying your purchases.

Four Twenty Bank and Dispensary Lounge (Zoltar)

 

Vegan Clean Green Eatin’

So many people have dietary restrictions these days. Some are by choice, others for medical reasons. Whatever your reason, we’ve got you covered. All have plant-based options, and for those of you who are gluten free, just about every eatery has something for you. Including the bakeries. Here are some of the great vegan friendly places. Keep in mind that vegan doesn’t mean gluten free. Seitan is made from wheat gluten, and tempeh is made with soy, but they all still have something for everyone’s appetite.

*Palm Greens, *Nature’s Health Food Cafe, *Native Foods, *Chef Tanya’s Kitchen, *Roly China Fusion, Monsoon Indian Cuisine, Kreem

 

Wake Up Winning With These Local Coffeehouses

You likely know about *Koffi, but here are some other local roasters and coffeehouses to get your caffeine on. Cafe La Jefa   (Latina owned), Ernest Coffee, Gre Coffeehouse and Art Gallery (and they spin LPs).  Bonus points: most are within walking distance of our boutique hotels.

 

Tootin’ Terrific Tours

There’s a LOT of great hiking to be done in Palm Springs, but sometimes you just want someone else to show you around. And that’s what tours are for. And some, like the CannaBus Express Tours, will take you to places no human dares to….nah, just kidding, but you will get to go places that most will never get to see. It’s from “Root to Toot” and it’s a three-hour tour, where you’ll visit growers, distillers, distributors with a “high light” at the end, aka a dispensary lounge where you can smoke’em if you bought’em but smoking on the bus is a no-no.

CannaBus Express Tours

Indian Canyons is one of the best places to hike in Palm Springs, there are tons of different trails, but Red Jeep Walking Jeep Tours is happy to show you around. They’ve got tours of the San Andreas Fault, Joshua Tree, and more. Check’em out. Some include lunch!

If you missed Modernism Week, then PS Mod Squad has some great tours for you. It’s all about the architecture – “see the works of William Cody, Albert Frey, Hugh Kaptur, William Krisel, E. Stewart Williams and Donald Wexler along with others that have been influenced by their version of Southern California Modernism.  They’ve also got a socially distanced interior tour. Check ‘em out.

That should keep you busy for awhile! Next month, we’ll bring you more fun options because we have barely scratched the surface of all the magic that is Palm Springs. And let’s not forget those wise words from Kurt Vonnegut’s commencement speech, “If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.” If you’re older than 20 then you know I just lied to you. That it was written by Kurt Vonnegut is an urban legend. Instead, it was written by Mary Schmich for the Chicago Tribune as a speech she would have liked to give to a graduating class. Vonnegut/Schmich, the message is clear and true: Wear sunscreen.

Say, if you go to any of our hotels or enjoy our recommendations, please be sure to tag us with your photos on IG, or @palmspringspreferredsmallhotel (yeah, it’s a lot to type, but we appreciate it!)  #PSPSH