Driving tour of Palm Springs after the sun goes down.
The shops, restaurants, hotels and other sights of Palm Springs, California look a lot different after the sun goes down and everything is lit up.
This video takes you on a narrated driving tour of the commercial / retail areas of uptown, downtown and south Palm Springs showing some things to do and finishes up at the residential upper westside community of Miralon. We start the drive at twilight but by the time the tour finishes, it is fully dark out.
Along the way we'll explore the uptown design district, downtown Palm Springs on both Palm Canyon Drive and Indian Canyon Drive, some of the famous landmarks, the smaller boutique hotels on North Indian Canyon Dr, and the gated community of Miralon.
Whether you are thinking of visiting Palm Springs for a vacation or you are planning on moving to Palm Springs, this video will give you a good idea of what Palm Springs is like at night.
UPTOWN PALM SPRINGS AND THE DESIGN DISTRICT
After a brief intro, the tour starts at the intersection of Palm Canyon Drive and Vista Chino at the Arrive Hotel and heads south on Palm Canyon drive to explore the Uptown Design District before looping back north to explore on both sides of Palm Canyon Drive.
Some of my favorite restaurants to eat in this area of uptown Palm Springs are the 1501 Uptown Gastropub, Sandfish (not in video), Trio, Cheeky's, Birba, Chicken Ranch, Koffi and Eight4Nine. But there are many other great restaurants to explore.
This neighborhood is called the Uptown Design District because, well there are a lot of design and furniture stores and art galleries. In the video look for Shag, an artist I love, Interior Illusions, Grace Home Furnishings, a La MOD, and Rug and Loom plus many others.
DOWNTOWN PALM SPRINGS
Downtown officially starts at E Alejo Rd. The Thompson Hotel, which is a Hyatt property, sits at the corner of Alejo and Palm Canyon Dr and after years of construction is now open.
Heading further south on Palm Canyon Dr we pass many local shops as well as some national chains, a few hotels - the Hyatt and Rowan, and many restaurants including those on La Plaza such as Farm and Grand Central which are two of my favorite restaurants along with Tac/Quila, Clandestino, Blue Coyote, Ponzu and many, many other great places to eat. You'll most likely recognize the national retail chains so I won't name check them.
I take a detour to Museum Way to catch the Aluminaire House and the Palm Springs Art Museum before we turn again to view the Marilyn Monroe Statue (before it is moved) and the Graffiti Yard.
SOUTH PALM SPRINGS
As we head further down Palm Canyon Drive we pass two architecturally significant ..... banks. The Chase bank on South Palm Canyon Dr started out life in 1961 as the Coachella Valley S&L and, get this, was designed by E. Stewart WIlliams who also designed Frank Sinatra's Twin Palms Estates.
The Bank of America branch on South Palm Canyon Dr, constructed in 1959, was designed by Rudy Baumfield and was originally a City National location. The designed takes it's cues from Le Corbusier.
Since I'm really into furniture and design, I want to mention H3K located in South Palm Springs. It is visible in the video.
HEADING NORTH ON INDIAN CANYON DR
After passing more local shops and restaurants, we'll pass by the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum and the Agua Caliente Casino. We'll also see La Plaza again as well as Thompson Hotel from the other side.
Passing out of downtown on Indian Canyon Dr we'll drive past a number of really great local hotels such as The Movie Colony Hotel and the Riviera which was most recently Margaritaville.
MIRALON PALM SPRINGS
Miralon is a gated community located in the upper westside. Since that's where I live, I show you what a residential neighborhood without street lights looks like at night.
00:00 - Intro
00:53 - Uptown Palm Springs
01:26 - Palm Springs Design District
05:16 - Downtown Palm Springs
08:53 - Museum Way, The Aluminaire House and the Palm Springs Art Museum
10:36 - The Marilyn Monroe Statue at night
11:46 - La Plaza restaurants such as Grand Central and Farm
13:08 - Heading south on Palm Canyon Dr from La Plaza
14:45 - South Palm Springs
14:57 - Chase Bank on South Palm Canyon Drive designed by E. Stewart Williams
24:34 - Le Corbusier inspired Bank of America
15:54 - Indian Canyon Dr headed north, south of Downtown Palm Springs
16:55 - Indian Canyon Dr headed north through Downtown Palm Springs
17:24 - Agua Caliente Cultural Museum and Agua Caliente Casino
18:33 - Hotels on North Indian Canyon Dr past Alejo
20:16 - Desert Regional Medical Center
20:54 - Palm Springs windmills at night
21:25 - Miralon Palm Springs
23:36 - Outro
I hope you enjoy the tour. Subscribe!
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