10 Reasons to Visit Palm Springs in August

Most people thought we were crazy when they heard we were heading yet again to Palm Springs in August. They asked, “Who in their right mind would go there when it’s so freakin’ hot?” First of all, we aren’t like normal people. We thrive for adventure and will do things others are fearful of. Secondly, we go to Palm Springs every August to take part in a friendly golf tournament among friends called the Flock of Grouse. The tournament’s format is a fun scramble with four players and foursome’s weighted score is determined by the Callaway system, so it’s meant to be a stress-free game of golf. As the Flock says, “Stop your grousing…it’s a dry heat!”^TM

Our Reasons to Visit Palm Springs/Indian Wells in August

1. Hotel and resort deals – There are some awesome hotel deals during the hot summer months. It’s a difficult time to have full occupancy, so the hotels throw out deals to entice visitors. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency at Indian Wells, a resort we highly recommend for their customer service, pools, amenities, and good food. Lantana offers a breakfast buffet on the weekends for $23 a person plus $5 for a build-your-own Bloody Mary bar! How cool is that? An omelette and spicy Bloody Mary after a workout is how I roll!!!
2. Low green fees – Palm Springs is home to some beautiful golf courses with lots of trees and rolling greens. Many are PGA certified and would normally charge an arm and two legs to play on them but during August, you will spend roughly two- thirds to half the regular cost.
3. Lack of people – There just aren’t as many people visiting in August since it’s also around the time kids have to head back to school. With fewer people, there is room in the gym, pool, spa and restaurants.
4. Good age group – You’ll notice most visitors are in their mid 20’s to mid 50’s. This age group is most likely there to party though. It’s too hot for the old folks to come out to play so there are fewer of them around.
5. Family friendly crowd – Although many are there to party, some visitors are families. I have, however, seen some parents drop their kids off at the hotel day camp, so they can lounge around the pool kid free. There are lots of kid friendly pools to keep cool for those who want to hang out with kids.
6. Cheap airfare – We flew down to PSP from SFO on a Thursday and returned on Sunday afternoon for about $285 per person.
7. Short flight – The flight to Palm Springs is only 1.5 hours from San Francisco. Palm Springs is pretty short trek for neighboring states as well.
8. Easy access – The city of Palm Springs and Indian Wells are easy to get to from the PSP airport. To get to the Hyatt at Indian Wells via a cab will cost you $70 each way. We found that renting a car is cheaper than a cab and it gives you flexibility in getting around if you want to leave the resort. With our AAA card, we were able to rent a car for $111 from Thursday night to Sunday night. A car rental is really not needed though if you don’t want to hassle with it as you can stay at the resort and not leave.
9. Spa deals – I paid $17 for a pedicure at the mall and $159 for a 50 minute massage and 20 minute body scrub at our hotel. One thing I never do is a get a manicure or pedicure at a spa. Who wants to pay those outrageous prices? Not me. Typically, spa deals are offered Monday through Friday but since they were not busy, they extended the spa packages into the weekend when we asked. We stopped by the concierge to ask questions about the spa and the nice lady behind the counter must have sensed our cheapness and gave us discount cards. So on top of the spa package which was already a deal, we got another discount. Score!
10. Shopping – The boys had to get some outfits for their golfing so we went to Lumpy’s, where we found some great deals. $20 for dry fit polos and buy one get one free shorts which came out to about $20 each plus awesome discounts on clearance golf clothes. There are some cool stores at the Desert Hills Premium Outlets. We didn’t make it there but we’ve heard good things about it.