A True Oasis ~ Two Bunch Palms
A couple hours from the maddening freeways of Southern California and minutes from the multiplying-as-fast-as-rabbits wind farms at the entrance of the Coachella Valley, Two Bunch Palms Resort & Spa is a welcoming desert oasis. And if you’ve never experienced a true oasis – this is it.
Founded in the 1920s by Al Capone (as legend has it) and popularized by Old Hollywood celebrities, Two Bunch Palms is a refreshing hideaway in the buzzing hillside community of Desert Hot Springs. What Desert Hot Springs lacks in high-end shopping and manicured communities, it makes up for in quality of experience – and the core of the experience is its world-famous mineral water. Most of the 22 resorts in Desert Hot Springs drill into the aquifer for their hot spring water, but Two Bunch Palms has the benefit of hot springs water rising right to the surface... and here you find me... in one of two pools that make up the Grotto..... 98 degrees and 104.... I’m not alone, yet everyone respects a code of silence... which allows you to drift, read, or dream as if you are part of the scenery.
Rooms are modest and spacious, but don’t expect to find a new resort. If anything, you feel like you’re staying in a guest home of a good friend. In this case, our lord of the manor is GM, Brian Bescoby. Before joining Two Bunch Palms, Brian was General Manager of the service-oriented Ritz Carlton in Rancho Mirage. Brian has done an admirable job, taking the best of what existed at Two Bunch Palms, while making marked improvements and thoughtful staff additions along the way.
Relaxation radiates throughout the resort. Guests are encourage to travel anywhere on property in the cozy comfort of a robe received upon arrival. In observing guests at breakfast, dinner or enjoying the nature walk which encircles the property, it seemed that most appeared very comfortable in adopting a 'less is more' wardrobe philosophy.
The Spa reception at Two Bunch Palms occupies a very modest space. However, the openness of the 256-acre resort and its surrounding property allows therapists to guide guests to a variety of private locations.
Robert Altman immortalized Two Bunch Palms’ mud baths in the movie The Player, but the resort’s other body, skin and water treatments will also have you feeling like an Oscar nominee. If you have never experienced water therapy, you must try it.
The Spa offers traditional Watsu, where you are cradled, massaged and carried through the water in a private mineral pool, Wassertanzen, which also incorporates being taken underwater for a few moments, and Aqua Soma, which is exclusive to Two Bunch, and expands upon the Watsu model by adding soothing music and nature sounds.
Two Bunch Palms Resort and Spa
Craig Oliver, Spas of America
