Staying at the Ballatine is like staying with friends. It's a small hotel - only 14 rooms - that surrounds a lovely courtyard with heated pool and hot tub. It has the feel of a Bed and Breakfast with drinks being served by the pool at 5:00 and breakfast in the morning. The view from your lounge chair is spectucular. In the evening, you can see the lights of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway as it goes up and down the mountain. I never saw the bicycles and forgot to ask, but downtown is certainly close enough to bike or even walk if you're feeling industrious. Barbara took such good care of me, I felt like we'd known each other forever. Be sure to check out all the rooms - they have such fun themes. The 50's music is a nice touch as you spend time in the sun.

While I was there, they were in the process of changing over to the Rendezvous. It was fun to see the improvements - jacuzzis and new floors - and I can't wait to visit again. The owners were very nice and visible, making sure your vacation is going smoothly. We stayed in the movie women room which I really liked. It was roomy and comfortable for a week's stay. With the new renovations, I think this will be the place to go in Palm Springs especially for a romantic retreat.

If you visit Palm Springs, stay here! The different themed rooms are a great idea (we had a tour of all of them!) and a must if you love the 50s! We stayed in the Musicals Room - very spacious and so clean. There's lots of little details ... even a Frank Sinatra CD in a retro looking CD player in the room. The breakfast was very nice (fruit salad, muffins, bagels, cereals, coffee, tea, juice) and the staff were very friendly and helpful and keen to give us one of their famous cocktails by the pool in the afternoon. The hotel is just a couple minutes drive away from the centre and within walking distance to various restaurants. I'd definitely stay here again - love it!!

This place has been used for several photo shoots for fashion magazines, and rightly so – one was taking place while we were there. It's a fantastic place, all in 50s style. Each room is completely different, and most of them face the pool. It's pretty small, they only have 14 rooms. We stayed in the "Douglas Fairbanks, Jr." room which was great. Very stylish furniture, clean, comfortable bed and even the TVs are painted in the main color of the room. The property has a wireless internet connection.

Bobbie, the woman at the desk, was very friendly and helpful. She made us (strong!) and delicious martinis in the afternoons and we enjoyed hanging out at the pool in the center of the property. There's also a jacuzzi.

We stayed for two nights, on the second night we were the only guests, so Bobbie showed us all of the other rooms, most of which looked fantastic! The best rooms in our opinion were "Hawaiian Surf" and the "Pretty in Pink Suite" (you really have to like pink if you stay there!) while "Jasper Johns" and "The Rebel Studio" couldn't compare to the rest of the rooms. Bobbie told us that often the whole property is rented out for events like parties or weddings. We're sure that it's a perfect location for these kinds of events.

The breakfast was served in the lounge and consisted of cereal, bagels, fruit, coffee and juice. It was fine.

Our 1st time staying at the Ballantine's Hotel was May 2006, and we stayed in the Palm springs suite ( beautiful room) and then the 2nd time was in August 2006 and we stayed int he French 50s, that room wasnt as invting and I got a creepy feeling like it was haunted, but it was nice, then we just recently got back from Ballantine's again this month and stayed in the Fairbanks Jr room and that room was really nice too! We were there to celebrate my husbands birthday and we met some of the other guests that saturday and hung out and had drinks in the pool with them. We always stay 2 nights! I love this hotel, I love the staff all of them are very Friendly! I cant wait to come back and see what room we will stay in next, our goal is to stay in a new room each time!
If anyone else has any info on the history of this hotel I would love to hear or read about it, I believe it may be haunted but with some friendly spirits:)