Go for Palm Springs... it’s boiling in the shade
Eighties’ rocker Billy Idol famously remarked that the California desert community of Palm Springs reminded him of Fred Flintstone’s hometown Bedrock. Seen from the station at the mountain-top, reached by a glorious cable-car ride, Palm Springs does have a slightly prehistoric look: lots of single-storey dwellings separated by palm trees.
Out towards Coachella Valley, now famous for its annual music festival (Beyoncé headlined there last week), the Thousand Palms Oasis sits atop the notorious San Andreas Fault. This is a thoroughly primeval spot – it would be no surprise to see a tyrannosaurus rex rampaging across the desert.
What drew me last summer, however, was not the desert – nor the oasis – but the belief that the best places for holiday are those that most other people avoid at the time of year you’re planning to visit.
Palm Springs is very much a winter place: in February, the temperatures tend to hit 90F. In summer, however, it’s not unusual to see the mercury rise to 120F.
I wasn’t planning on braving Palm Springs’ midday sun but I thought I might be happy enough in the shade. Particularly as the tourist economy operates largely to a winter clientele.
As a result, self-catering prices tumble dramatically. In late August you can practically have the place to yourself. We thought we would steal a march on the heat by arriving at night. Actually the temperature remains a pretty constant ‘roasting’ night and day.
But since we had just left a shivery England in August, extreme heat seemed like a blessing, even at midnight. We had a large house with five bedrooms, spacious highceilinged living rooms, a swimming pool and Jacuzzi; and powerful airconditioning that beavers away night and day – the house info came with large warnings about not tinkering with temperature settings.
The living-room thermostat kept things in the mid-70s, which sounds warm until you open the front door, which is rather like opening the door of an oven.
It means you can’t expect to do too much in the way of outdoor activity during the day, but that suited us. We wanted a week of doing nothing – dolce far niente, as they say in Italy.
Palm Springs and surrounding areas are full of good shops, especially discount outlet malls – and they have great airconditioning. To reach them we had a Toyota Prius rental which in electric mode travels silently – perfect for quiet desert outings.
For a longer excursion, we drove for an hour to San Bernadino and visited the site of the first McDonald’s hamburger stand on Route 66. The perfect leisure activity in Palm Springs was to float in a shady part of our outdoor pool, Whatsapping pictures of the poolside thermometer recording temperatures of 120. ‘Some like it hot,’ I messaged.
I could also have added – as a nod towards our bargain August rental – ‘Some like it cheap’ but that would have sounded, well, cheap…
America As You Like It (americaasyoulikeit.com, 020 8742 8299) offers a seven-night family package from €4,920 for two adults and two children (2-11yrs) including return flights on Norwegian, car hire and seven nights’ self-catering. For more information, see visitgreaterpalmsprings.com.