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Enter For A Chance to Win A Romantic Getaway

90 Days of Chill

Romantic Palm Springs Getaway!

Experience the beauty, romance, and excitement of Greater Palm Springs when you enter to be the lucky winner of this romantic couple's getaway at Hyatt Regency Indian Wells Resort & Spa, Indian Wells, CA:

Two luxurious nights in a signature view room at Hyatt Regency Indian Wells Resort & Spa
Massage treatment for two at Agua Serena Spa
One round of golf for two at Indian Wells Golf Resort
One dinner for two at Lantana restaurant
Contest runs through August 15, 2017. No purchase necessary to win.

Click here to enter

The Need for Speed at The Thermal Club

The Need for Speed at The Thermal Club

The Thermal Club Is a Members-Only Mecca for Motorsports

The private playground for performance driving is also a residential resort community.

Miles Branman compliments of the Robb Report

The Palm Desert region of California is known for its hot springs, music festivals, and golf courses, but soon it may also be known for its racetracks. Hidden within blankets of arid terrain, a 344-acre oasis in the town of Thermal offers the finest amenities for motorsports enthusiasts. Unveiled in 2012, the Thermal Club is a members-only haven with proving grounds, resort luxuries, and, most importantly, 5.1 miles of winding tarmac.

Three racing circuits, with varying degrees of difficulty, test the limits of even the most extreme performance cars in a safe, controlled environment. Thermal wants its members to fret less and drive more. To that end, the club accommodates every aspect of storing, maintaining, and tuning vehicles so members can simply arrive and drive.

While most members hit the track in their own toys, Thermal offers Aston Martin GT4s, Porsche Caymans, and BMW M cars for members, their families, and their guests to enjoy. An on-site skid pad (wet and dry) and black lake give drivers a chance to find (and exceed) the grip threshold of their cars – training that informs on-track driving behavior. For some zero-risk fun, members can whip around a short autocross course in high-speed go-karts.

Even without logistical concerns, hours of racing in the desert sun are draining. To rejuvenate its members, the Thermal Club is developing a $150 million facility (scheduled to be finished in 18 months) that will house a gym, locker room, spa, pool, kitchen, kids room, and 48 guest suites

Thermal seeks only the most dedicated affiliates, and asks for a token of that commitment beyond the annual rate of $14,400. Each member must purchase a piece of property within the club grounds and build a home within five years. Residences can be custom built or constructed from several design plans provided. Trackside properties offer a spectacular view of the racing action, which includes GT3, GT4, Lotus Cup, and other hosted series.

Pledging an abode is no small consideration, but the benefits of a private, hyper-local getaway are undeniable. Multi-car garage space, ample room to host guests and parties, and access to Palm Springs (a mere 30-minute drive from the track) are among the main draws. For the Thermal Club, it’s about building a community of car enthusiasts and giving them the ideal private playground. A place for those who would rather master a tricky corner than perfect their golf swing.


To Heck With Coachella: An Old-Timer’s Trip to Palm Springs

To Heck With Coachella: An Old-Timer’s Trip to Palm Springs

To Heck With Coachella: An Old-Timer's Trip to Palm Springs

LAPL Photo Collection/Herald-Examiner Collection

The desert is a good litmus test of personality types, isn’t it? A certain kind of person loves the desert emphatically; another kind “hates” it emphatically. One finds it “empty” while the other takes to the bleached, tan-colored expansiveness of it all as inspiring, a place that encourages free-associative thinking and calm reflection…(you thought I would say something else, but I’ve always been a drug-free person, you see). Not to mention it’s the perfect place to listen to drone music (I recommend anything by either the Hafler Trio or Soviet France; maybe Terry Riley). Basically, the verdict is in: artists and other interesting people love the desert, so deal with it.

Some of my earliest memories are those of the desert areas in and around Palm Springs. My grandmother (Mona Eastley, 1902-2000) lived most of her life in Encino, but when I was a kid, she owned a second house down there, not far from Palm Canyon Drive. My brother and I loved the family trips to that house. My old aunt Nellie lived, throughout the 1960s, in nearby Yucca Valley, at the northern edge of Joshua Tree; thus one of my earliest memories is of waking up in a sleeping bag on the living room floor of her Yuck Valley bungalow, watching the blinding sun rise. That and, on the same trip (I think), taking a burro ride with my mother in Mexicali.

My grandmother’s Spanish-style house in Palm Springs (which her mother always pronounced as “Bum Sprinn”) had a big, delicious swimming pool, so for my brother and me, a weekend there was a case of oh-boy-and-hot-damn! The walls of the house were lined with oil paintings by my uncle, the artist Charles Mureau, very Mexican-flavored they were, with a touch of ‘60s kitsch about them, in retrospect …

LAPL Photo Collection/ Herald-Examiner Collection

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Dream Hotel approved in Palm Springs

Dream Hotel approved in Palm Springs

Dream Hotel approved in Palm Springs

A model of the proposed 171-room Dream Hotel in Palm Springs. In the foreground are raised planting areas and a "farmhouse" to serve as a special event space and greenhouse. (Photo: Skip Descant/ The Desert Sun)

Compliments of The Desert Sun

After years of redesigns, neighborhood negotiations and other delays, the Dream Hotel in Palm Springs is on its way to becoming a reality.

“I think this project is outstanding,” said Doug Donenfeld, a member of the Palm Springs Planning Commission on Wednesday when the body voted unanimously to approve the large, luxury hotel project to be built next door to the Palm Springs Convention Center.

“I think this is an incredible project. You’ve done a terrific job,” Commissioner Randy Lowe told developer Laurie Kibby.

The Dream is planned as a 171-room convention hotel just north of the convention center on what is currently a parking lot. The project has a long history, with planning and development going back a decade. It was most recently approved as a Dolce Hotel project in 2013. That proposal would have built a 200-room hotel with 50 condos.

Read more about the Dream Hotel here...

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