Palm Springs area

[Presley Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Presley]

Since there seems to be a million TS all around that area, I am trying to determine how far off the beaten path Indio is. Indio has a couple decent looking TS (Grand Pacific and Worldmark), but I hate spending too much time in the car when I am on vacation.

Here are the places that we like to visit out there:

Living Desert in Palm Desert
The Tram in Palm Springs
Joshua Tree Park in Joshua Tree

Other than those, we can pretty much just find stuff along the way that we will end up checking out.

Our main gigs are all pretty far apart. Obviously Palm Desert is a good spot for the Living Desert, but it feels like a really long ride to Joshua Tree.

I've been out in that area probably a couple dozen times and I don't think I've ever been to Indio. How far is Indio from all that stuff?

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

All I can say is that it isn't far by car. We stayed in Palm Desert a week and went to a date festival in Indio once. Don't ask me when because I don't remember.

According to this link, it is 26 miles.

Indio, California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There are many timeshares in this area with several different exchange companies.

[StressCadet Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close StressCadet]

Presley,

I've stayed at WM Indio a few times. It's kinda out there. You exit the freeway, drive beside a residential area, drive through a residential area, wonder where you are...head toward a golf course (Terra Lago) and then you are there. Wow, big ol resort in the middle of ...where am I again? Which is not to say it isn't nice..it's just out there.

I have used it for kids' soccer tourneys in Palm Desert and to visit my Mom. She lives in Indio..Shhh! Don't tell her..she thinks she lives in Palm Desert. Actually, she does..it's just not Indio proper.

All that said, if you really don't want to drive and want to be more centrally located-then I'd chose something in Palm Springs. Joshua Tree is going to be somewhat of drive no matter where you are...but the Living Desert and The Tram would be more convenient if you were more centrally located.

Hope this helps.

Edited to add: If you don't go for the big name timeshares, Marriott, Westin, Etc. Desert Breezes looks comfortable and well located. I drive by it all the time and think "Oh that looks like home. I'll keep that in mind if I ever need an extended stay here."

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

We live just an hour from Palm Springs and visit there frequently for 3 day getaways. I don't recommend staying in Indio. Parts of Indio are pretty seedy and you are quite a distance from the tram, etc. I would stay in either Palm Springs or Palm Desert.

[Presley Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Presley]

Thanks, everyone. I guess I will stick with Palm Desert and Palm Springs for now.

Anyone have an opinion on Lawrence Welk in Cat city?

[StressCadet Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close StressCadet]

Thanks, everyone. I guess I will stick with Palm Desert and Palm Springs for now.

Anyone have an opinion on Lawrence Welk in Cat city?

I have always wondered about the Welk resort out there as well. The one in Escondido is well liked and well kept. I can only assume the same for the desert location. Did you check tripadvisor?


Desert Oasis Resort (Cathedral City, CA) - Resort Reviews - TripAdvisor

The candid pics look decent. Similar to the furnishings in Escondido...just older maybe? I'd probably stay there now that I look at it.

As you may already know, Cathedral City is a little "lesser." Hotels rooms are always cheaper than Palm Desert or Palm Springs. Many of our soccer families would pick C. City as it was always more affordable. There is a fun Mexican restaurant we used to go to there...the name escapes me at the moment.

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

Thanks, everyone. I guess I will stick with Palm Desert and Palm Springs for now.

Anyone have an opinion on Lawrence Welk in Cat city?

I don't know about Lawrence Welk. Parts of Cathedral City are not very good wth some gangs.

We stick to downtown Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, and Indian Wells. We have traveled all over the Coachella Valley. We have stayed at 3 different timeshares in Palm Springs and Palm Desert. We have also stayed several times at the Hyatt Regency Suites in downtown Palm Springs and many times at the Agua Caliente Casino Resort in Rancho Mirage. In fact we will be going to Agua Caliente Casino Resort next month for 3 nights.

[Carlos Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Carlos]

Not the Welk You Think

I have stayed at Palm Springs properties a great deal. Many times in the summer believe it or not. I have stayed in downtown Palm Springs at that Hyatt Regency and at the DRI timeshare Marriott Marquis. In Palm Desert I have stayed at all three Marriotts: Desert Springs I & II and Shadow Ridge. All three are nice.

I wanted to just share two things. First, I have visited the Welk property in Cathedral City and I wanted to let you know that it is NOTHING Like the one in Escondido. They are like night and day. The Cathedral City timeshare is much much smaller. The rooms are okay and they don't have nearly the amenities that the Welk in Escondido. If you go there expecting that you will have a major disappointment.

Secondly, you may want to consider the Diamond Resorts International Marquis Villas. It is in downtown Palm Springs and you can walk to everything from it on that main street. I loved it there, because of that. The movie theatre is right around the corner. Now I do want to make sure I say this. When i went there the first time about 10 years ago, I absolutely loved it because of the big units and the location. I went three years later and hated it. It was not maintained and it was horrible. I went again to visit it the next time after Diamond took it over and the resort was being refurbished. The general manager took me around. They were working on it. That was about four years ago. The units are really big too. They have upstairs downstairs on two bedroom units with the kitchen and living rooms downstars and the bedrooms upstairs. There are bathrooms on each level. If this place is fixed up like it should, I would stay there in a heartbeat.

[Brogers92026 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Brogers92026]

We enjoyed our stay at Welk Cath. city

Thanks, everyone. I guess I will stick with Palm Desert and Palm Springs for now.

Anyone have an opinion on Lawrence Welk in Cat city?

We stayed in Welk Cathedral City in 2009 and enjoyed it. It isn't on par with Marriott or Westin but it was still nice and comfortable.

They only have 1 BR units IIRC. So, if you are exchanging from an efficiency, you have a high chance of room size upgrade. It started out as an apartment complex and then was converted over to TS. I believe that it is wood frame construction based on noise levels from people walking. Choose a 2nd story unit to keep noise down. The place is a bit older. Like another poster said, it is not on par with Welk Escondido.

2 pools, hot tub, washer in lobby, activities, clean grills sprinkled around the complex, nice grounds, free wifi, free parking, clean, midweek clean up (IIRC). No washer/dryer in unit. Nice balcony (2nd floor). Handicapped elevator. Fairly conveniently located.

I see a fair amt. of availability on II and RCI so I think that it is easy to trade into or to get as a Getaway or Last call.

We ended up eventually buying a 2BR LO at Marriott DS2. But if we trade our DS2 week and still wanted some time in the Palm Springs area, we would probably consider going back to Welk if we couldn't get into a higher tier place.