The desert has long called to those seeking revitalization. Its arid climate serves as a natural detoxifier, aiding recovery from respiratory ailments, and the sunshine lifts spirits and soothes the soul. Bring to light your wellest self through the curative powers of this oasis.
stay
L’Horizon Resort & Spa
Designed in 1952 by renowned modernist William F. Cody and renovated in 2015, the sumptuous adults-only resort features 25 bungalows on 3 acres. Rooms are kitted out with Le Labo toiletries and Frette linens, the spa is a sightly indoor-outdoor retreat with its own fresh juice bar, and there are complimentary yoga sessions weekly by the pool. Readers of Condé Nast Traveler last year voted L’Horizon the second-best resort in the U.S., citing among other things the stellar service, which includes unexpected treats brought to your room every afternoon.
The Spring Resort & Spa
The waters of Desert Hot Springs have been compared to those of European stalwarts such as Baden-Baden — rich in calcium, iron, and magnesium, plus silica, which may be beneficial to skin. The Spring takes advantage of that, offering water-centric spa treatments and complementary wellness programs such as juice cleanses and yoga and fasting retreats.
Miracle Manor
When was the last time you checked out from the world? That’s the focus at Miracle Manor, a 10-room adults-only modernist retreat amid the hot springs. The miracle is unimpeded mindful relaxation, from mineral water treatments and summer aloe facials in the spa to a serene courtyard garden of indigenous plants.
PHOTOGRAPH BY DANIELA STALLINGER
The Springs Resort & Spa
taste
Mid Mod Café
Opened by the owners of
South Palm Springs’ long-standing Palm Greens Café (also worth checking out), this eatery is hyper-focused on clean, organic cuisine: health-conscious meals like tempeh breakfast bowls, grass-fed beef or vegetarian spinach-nut burgers, and salads ranging from seaweed to loaded turkey bacon cobb. The juice bar serves essential-oil-spiked wellness cocktails, fruit smoothies, kombucha, turmeric shots,
and just about everything in between.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY MID MOD CAFE´
Mid Mod Cafe´
Nature’s Health
Food & Café
This convivial little market abides by the Hippocrates saying, “Let food be thy medicine; let medicine be thy food.” Bulk nutrition staples like chia seeds and tasty granola mixes, supplements, and natural beauty products mingle with hard-to-find specialty items like nutrient-rich bone broth and vegan ice cream. The counter-service café has more than 100 vegan and vegetarian options on the menu ranging from grain “sausage” omelets and avocado toast to veggie tacos, sprout salads, and nearly every juice and tonic elixir you can think of.
Whole Foods Market
The organic grocery chain opened in 1980 in Austin, Texas, and now has 478 stores in North America and the United Kingdom. Its Palm Desert outpost has a gourmet deli, a sandwich counter, fresh sushi selections, a coffee and juice bar, a self-serve mochi station, and kombucha on tap. The on-site Tap-In Taproom serves vegan fare, like a meatless burger and cauliflower “nachos,” along with heartier pub plates and tasty flights of craft beer.
PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRISTY JEZIORSKI/WHOLE FOODS MARKET
Whole Foods Market
explore
Desert Serenity Float
Eight-hundred pounds of Epsom salts are dissolved in a bath of body-temperature water to create a gravity-defying flotation experience. Sessions, ranging from 60 to 120 minutes, take place in individual float pods and are said to ease the mind into a theta-brainwave state (read: deep relaxation). Fearful of the sensory deprivation? Treatments can be taken with the tank door open or closed, and you can get out at any time — you create your own experience.
PHOTOGRAPH BY THINKSTOCKPHOTOS.COM
Desert Serenity
Cabot’s Pueblo Museum
Perched atop a hillside, the
expansive four-story adobe-style property is the result of one eccentric man’s ineluctable obsession. Cabot Yerxa, the Desert Hot Springs homesteader who tapped the area’s natural mineral springs in the early 1900s, began building a pueblo in 1941 using reclaimed materials. In 1949, he and his wife, Portia, opened a museum — a full-scale monument to Native American design — to house Yerxa’s eclectic collection of art and artifacts from his travels around the globe.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY CABOT'S PUEBLOW MUSEUM
Cabot's Pueblo Museum
shop
Crystal Fantasy
Get your self-cleanse on at Crystal Fantasy in downtown Palm Springs, where you’ll unearth more than crystals in an array of colors (and healing powers). It’s also your one-stop shop for the mind, chakra, and soul. Discover books, cards, candles, jewels, drums, and other spiritual goods, and schedule a reading with a reiki master, clairvoyant, astrologer, or tarot-card reader for a truly enlightening experience.
PHOTOGRAPH BY THINKSTOCKPHOTOS.COM
Crystal Fantasy
The Body Deli
At this lavish locally owned beauty café, master cosmetic chefs whip raw organic superfoods into artisanal products to pamper the hair, skin, and senses. Products are produced right here in Greater Palm Springs, in small daily batches. Some, like the Sea Plasma Masque and Cucumber Juice Elixir, must be refrigerated, but all will benefit from chilling to extend the raw ingredients’ potency. They smell so good you’ll want to eat them. (Don’t.)
Q & A
Dani Burling
shaman at Two Bunch Palms in Desert Hot Springs
Burling aims to connect her Two Bunch Palms clients with the innate wisdom of their souls.
She relies on many spiritual modalities to help those on a journey toward healing, facilitating a spectrum of individual and group wellness workshops, from energy-clearing sessions to blessing ceremonies to sound and hypnotherapy. Burling also dips into the natural powers of water and heat — one client claims the hot springs spoke to her, audibly urging her to receive their healing medicine. It doesn’t get more powerful than that.
What’s so great about the hot springs?
These waters, between 94 and 105 degrees, hold the healing mineral of lithium, which enhances our mood.
Are the benefits noticeable?
Many have claimed
the waters take away
their aches and pains,
and they sleep so much better. The warmth and healing minerals calm
the muscles and reduce stress, which allows the body to relax into the sacred energy of the land and each individual’s unique experiences.
PHOTO COURTESY DANI BURLING/TWO BUNCH PALMS
Dani Burling