In my previous post, I talked about ≪My First Coachella Experience ❥ Is Weekend 1 really better?≫. Today I’m going to share with you my review of the hotel we stayed at.

Renaissance Palm Springs Hotel

Address: 888 E Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs, CA 92262, United States
Phone Number: +1 760-322-6000
Website: http://renaissancehotelpalmsprings.com

Check-In Time: 4:00PM
Check-Out Time: 11:00AM

Reservation for standard room with one king bed was $1,153.16 USD (~$1,470 CAD) for three nights: $249.00 Thursday night, $369.00 Friday and Saturday nights, $166.16 in taxes and fees.

Pad thai from nearby restaurant Thai House Restaurant.

Another nearby food option: Lulu California Bistro.

Disclaimer:
Before I go into my usual hotel review remarks, I have a confession to make… I was reluctant to review Renaissance Palm Springs because I didn’t bring my DSLR camera with me hence I apologize for the crappy iPhone picture quality. Also, I have mixed feelings about this hotel. It simply felt like a complete rip-off. I understand that Coachella probably makes April one of their peak seasons, but after comparing regular room rates versus what they charge in mid-April, the difference is absolutely ridiculous. You guys know that I’m always straight forward and honest about my opinions. These posts are NOT sponsored. I don’t like to sugar coat anything or present any individual organization in a better light than they really are but at the same time, I don’t wish to make negative comments that are not necessarily true and bash on any specific company. Just a little disclaimer. I’ll get into the price discrepancy in-depth down below too. Oh and we booked for one king bed, but ended up getting two twin (?) beds. My friends were also the ones who made the reservation and they booked through Expedia – that usually doesn’t make much of a difference in price although sometimes I do find it a tad cheaper to book directly from the hotel themselves.

Amenities: ★★★☆☆ (standard hotel amenities – conference room, pool/gym, 1-2 hotel restaurants)
Cleanliness: ★★★★☆
Comfort: ★★★★☆
Proximity to Tourist Attractions: ★★★★☆
Proximity to Coachella: ★★☆☆☆
Quietness: ★★★★☆
Safety: ★★★★☆
Service:★★★☆☆
Space: ★★★☆☆
Value of Price: ★★★☆☆
Internet Access: Free
Breakfast: Not included
Valet Parking: $22USD/day ($12 self-park)

Pros:
– Coachella shuttle stops right in the hotel parking lot
– 5-minute drive from Palm Springs Airport
– Less than 10-minute drive to restaurants and major tourist area

Cons:
– No hotel shuttles available for guests coming in from LAX (Los Angeles International Airport)
– An hour shuttle bus ride to Coachella in Indio
– Jacked up prices during Coachella weekends
– No late check-outs (I think this was only for Coachella season as well)

Price Increase for Coachella
So I did a little research and looked up prices for random dates in June.

As you can see, prices rise to 2 to almost 3 times higher during Coachella weekends. You can say this is the equivalent of how most hotels raise their rates for the popular July and August summer months. It’s understandable and it’s just a business strategy that you gotta put up with.

When you get a few friends together, you get different opinions or everyone’s busy and whatnot so it’s really easy to put off booking hotels. That said, our reservation was made pretty last minute. There were no vacancies at any of the cheaper resorts in Indio hence we chose this as it was the cheapest available choice. In terms of staying here for Coachella, I wouldn’t recommend it unless you are all about exploring Palm Springs as well. One-hour shuttle ride doesn’t sound like much, but coming back from the festival, it’s actually quite tiring.

Hopefully this was a comprehensive review. I’m so torn between whether or not I enjoyed my stay because I understand the business aspect of hotels trying to earn higher profits (and how that’s a norm) but as a hotel guest/traveller, I really do think it’s absolute bogus, especially because we were literally only there to sleep for the nights. Anyways, I shall end the blog post here before I go and contradict myself more. If you’re interested in booking a stay here, you may check their availabilities here.

Make sure to check out my Coachella vlog and I’ll see you in the next post!