Where "Hip n Groovy" Meets Desert Sand

Room 544

"Clip art".  Teri Agins at bottom

Bathroom alcove and mini bar

Canvas curtains cover french doors

Canvas wall covering, work table and vintage chair

I've always loved the Ace Hotel & Swim Club in Palm Springs mostly for their porridge which is good for my cholesterol and my budget.  But now in the doldrums of summer- and with a major construction project underway next door to Rancho Juanita- I decided to check-in to the hotel for a good night's sleep.  I got that and much more.

Re-build in 2009, with design by Commune, the L.A.-based architectural firm, the Ace is set on the grounds of a former HoJo and Denny's-  both Palm Springs classics in their day.  The basic layout of the motor inn exists- cinder-block two-story structures form a perimeter around two swimming pools and an event space called, what else, The Commune.

The guest rooms are spartan but very functional.  Canvas drapes walls to mask electrical wiring for a large flat screen TV and creates curtains for french doors opening onto the second-story public balcony.  The same canvas- with nautical-inspired grommets- is used for the bedspread, and dark indigo denim covers a free form headboard.  That's the hip part.

The groovy part of the guest room might begin with the rock crystal on a small work table, or the magazine tear sheets clipped to the wall behind the bed.  Or is it the 1970's Natty Geo's for your reading pleasure?  (Or in my room 544, the tear sheet of a young Teri Agins extolling her own virtues of her nubile body-- yes that WSJ fashion editor Teri Agins-- or the nakedness of somebody named Cherry Vanilla?)

The bathroom is totally functional with subway tiles lining a narrow walk-in shower with ceiling-mounted rain shower head.  A long Corian countertop serves as both wash basin and mini-bar counter in an alcove off of the sleeping area.  Painted black metal pipe forms a towel rail along the front of the counter for an industrial feel.

So much for the design.  The Ace's Swim Club was full of hipsters-  locals, Angelenos and Germans (you know they love the summer heat here)- so I had plenty of eye candy to go along with my welcome gift of four Pabst Blue Ribbons.  If I smoked, I would have felt like a hipster, too.

I loved it.  The whole experience...with one exception:  a $20 resort fee.  The Ace offers a $75 a night rate (Take Ten) with a $25 food and beverage credit and the above-mentioned beer.  But they sneak in a "fee" for  wireless internet and gym and pool use.  I think it's cheap on their part.  Just charge me $95 a night and be done with it, OK?