After a particularly cold and chilly August, last summer I suggested to a friend living in LA we meet up for a weekend in Palm Springs. (When you’ve lived in San Francisco for a while, you begin to get strategic about planning escapes to hot weather!)

To my joy, my friend said yes — then suggested we skip staying in Palm Springs proper and head to a place she loved in nearby Desert Hot Springs, a little resort enclave boasting hot mineral waters known as Two Bunch Palms. Hot mineral waters? Spa treatments? Hot desert sunshine? In!

The locale

Two Bunch Palms is about 20 minutes from the Palm Springs airport, a little oasis surrounded by palm trees and some desert flowers. When we went, they had just finished expanding the resort property to now have 70 rooms of various sizes and configurations.

The pool itself are not large, but they are beyond relaxing. You may think it sounds strange to soak in hot water while in the hot desert air, but it makes for an ultra relaxing day. Drift around in the pool, lay out in the sun (or, in my case, the warm shade), go back to the pool, repeat. It’s easy to while away an afternoon.

Two Bunch Palms has a restaurant serving fresh, healthy food, which perfectly complements the resort’s good-for-you vibe. We had a delicious brunch, went for spa treatments, then headed back for late lunch salads and a glass of wine — all wearing our robes, of course.

*One of Two Bunch Palms’ relaxing outdoor areas*

The atmosphere is helped by being kid-free and maintaining a chill, low-voices policy, especially near the main soaking pool. People may be enjoying drinks throughout the day, but a raging pool party this place is not. (There is a lap pool also filled with mineral water that may have a slightly more lax approach to noise, but the general vibe of this place is healing and restorative, not Viva Las Vegas.)

Spa treatments

I did a sugar scrub followed by an hour long massage. The sugar scrub was heavenly and the hour long massage was excellent.

Two Bunch Palms: the good

This is a truly relaxing place that makes it a great weekend (or weekday) getaway. If you’re just going for the day, I believe you can either purchase a day pass or book spa treatments to use the pools. I would love to go back!

Two Bunch Palms: the not-so-good

I have few complaints about Two Bunch Palms; our only small critique was the air conditioners on top of the rooms were very loud and noisy. To hear that much noise in newly-built rooms was a little concerning, but thankfully earplugs and plenty of wine on Saturday night helped drone it out.

*With a car, you can combine a trip to Two Bunch Palms with a visit to Pioneertown, just outside Joshua Tree*

The final word

Two Bunch Palms is a lovely little resort about 23 minutes away from Palm Springs. It’s a great option for people looking to have a truly restorative and peaceful vacation, which can be combined with venturing into Palm Springs for more excitement (restaurants, nightlife) via car or Uber/Lyft. If you’re looking for a more lively party scene, or a place to bring your kids, this is not it. It’s also not next-level luxury; while it’s certainly high-end, the focus here is on healthy food and the lithium-rich mineral waters. The treatments at the spa, for example, were excellent, but the space itself is on the smaller-side (the focus is on the quality of the treatments themselves, not lavish decorations.)

Other things to do in the area

While we had great breakfast and lunch at Two Bunch Palms, we took an Uber to a great low-key Vietnamese dinner at Rooster & The Pig in Palm Springs, as well as drinks at Melvyn’s at the Ingleside Inn and the Ace Hotel. And on Sunday, after we checked out, we drove to Pioneertown and had lunch at hipster oasis Pappy & Harriet’s before doing a quick drive through Joshua Tree (before my friend took me to the airport in Riverside and headed back into LA).