Review: Thompson Palm Springs (California)

Review: Thompson Palm Springs

Image: hyatt.com

Thompson Palm Springs, located in the heart of Palm Springs, was initially planned as an Andaz property. Although the project faced delays during development, it eventually moved forward and became part of the Thompson Hotels brand under Hyatt. Despite the initial setbacks, the hotel has emerged as a vibrant addition to the area, and its prime location and upscale accommodations make it a notable new destination for travelers. The property features 168 guest rooms, including 18 suites, and offers a range of amenities such as a rooftop bar overlooking the strip, a pool area, and on-site dining options. 

At A Glance: Thompson Palm Springs

• Average Nightly Cost During Stay: $675.00+ USD
• Loyalty Program: World of Hyatt
• Loyalty Category: Category 5
• Discount Applied: 20,000 Points
• Room Type as Booked: 2 Queen Beds Room

Booking/Redemption

~ PHOTO GALLERY ~

Hotel Entrance/Valet

Turn left at this sign, yes it will feel like your driving in the wrong lane

Valet area ahead

House Rivian

Front Desk/Lobby

Image: hyatt.com

Walkthrough Tour: Two Queen Beds Room

Room Key / Property Map / Postcard

Room Gallery

Bathroom

Room Quirks & Issues

We found the placement of the couch against the bed to be strange, especially because it faced straight into the bathroom (and not toward the TV).

To fix this, we moved the couch 90 degrees toward the TV. And just like that, we hacked the room code to turn it to a “junior suite” that actually felt comfortable.

Behold: the “junior suite” hack

Next, we ran into a quirk that is possibly a serious issue.

The bathroom lights don’t have a switch, but rather, a motion sensor on a timer.  The timer seems to turn off somewhere around the 5 minute mark, leaving guests in the bathroom in the pitch-black darkness. This can be remedied if the motion sensor can “see you” to trigger it back on – but due to the placement of the hand towel holder – you may not “be seen”.

I found this out the hard way as the light turned off while I was in the middle of a hot shower when the room suddenly went pitch-black, and I couldn’t get the motion sensor to trigger the light back on because there was a hand towel hanging there.

Luckily, I was able to count on my plus-one to save me by opening the door and removing the hand towel to trigger the light. But this seems like a real problem, the kind of problem where somebody can really get hurt.

This is a big problem…

Property Gallery

Second floor bar at Lola Rose

Second floor bar at Lola Rose   

Fire Pit

Convenient staircase to Palm Canyon Drive

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Artwork

It wouldn’t be a proper Palm Springs hotel without the artwork. Luckily, Thompson Palm Springs has you covered.

Thank you Pepsi

Dining: Breakfast At Lola Rose

Our breakfast dining experience at Lola Rose was a bit jarring. On one hand, we had some of the best breakfast dishes at a Hyatt property anywhere: The Steak and Eggs, Chicken & Waffles, and Lebneh and Honey were all amazing.

On the other hand, the fruit bowl was dry, the breakfast burger was less than mediocre – but the worst dish was the easily the Salmon Benedict with salmon cuts that were “offensively not fresh” and that’s putting it mildly.

Image: hyatt.com

Steak and Eggs: Do it!

Breakfast Burger: Skip it!

Fruit bowl: Skip It!

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Chicken & Waffles: Do it!

Eggs Benedict: DON’T DO IT!

Labneh With Honey: Do it!

Pool / Fitness Center

Image: hyatt.com

THE FHOP BOTTOM-LINE 10 RATINGS:

The Bottom-Line Review: Thompson Palm Springs

Thompson Palm Springs is a brand new, upscale hotel, which we enjoyed very much. However, that doesn’t mean it’s without growing pains that have yet to be worked out.  

Thompson Palm Springs has a prime location along Palm Canyon Drive (the main “strip” of Palm Springs), offering easy access to downtown Palm Springs and it’s many attractions (there’s even a stairway to take you straight from the bar to Palm Canyon Drive). The hotel is branded as a Thompson, and it does adhere to that standard aesthetic in terms of room decor and hotspot “coolness factor”.  I can verify the bar at Lola Rose was a bonafide weekend hotspot. The artwork was interesting and the service was excellent (we were even walked to our room). The property itself is is quite attractive being set against Palm Trees and Mountain backdrops. There are beautiful spaces throughout, including the pool area, bar/lounge area, and the well manicured desert flora guests encounter on the way to their rooms. 

On the negative side, breakfast was such an uneven experience in terms of “excellent” dishes served alongside those that were “just plain bad”, that we were actually confused (do yourself a favor and go with the Steak and Eggs or Chicken & Waffles). There were some noticeable, weird quirks which I’ll mostly attribute to growing pains and redevelopment including: the weird room layout with the couch facing directly into the bathroom, fire-pit in the middle of a walkway away from the chairs, the alien-feeling “left lane turn” drive into the hotel valet area, the property elevator which drops you off smack in the nightclub on the second floor, the strange design which requires you to walk through the restaurant to get to your room, the [above mentioned] potentially serious hand-towel/blackout issue, and the austere concrete patios which just stare into a wall. 

With that said, the positives greatly outweigh the negatives, and the bottom-line is we really enjoyed our stay at Thompson Palm Springs. I personally feel this hotel would have fit in better branded as an Andaz (it reminds me of Andaz Scottsdale), but for some reason Hyatt seems to be really pushing the Thompson brand. Regardless, it was clear “the word was already out” and this new hotel is likely going to be a “hit” (the hotel was fully booked during our stay).  We can easily recommend Thompson Palm Springs for couples, girls trips, boys trips, and singles (although we wouldn’t necessarily recommend it families, business travelers, or golfers). I’d also recommend redeeming points for hotel stays here sooner than later (while it is still a Category 5 hotel), as I have a feeling the 20,000 point redemptions may not last long. 

FINAL RATING: 8.5 out of 10