What better way to get ready for the Oscars than treating yourself to some old-fashioned Hollywood glamour? A day at the Estrella Spa in the Palm Springs Viceroy Hotel is a day of star-worthy pampering.
Even just stopping by for a single treatment leaves you feeling like a movie glamorpuss from the 30s or 40s (actresses Ann Miller and Joan Crawford both frequently stayed at the hotel). If you do nothing else at the Estrella, go for the poolside mani/pedi conducted under a warm desert sun.
The spa is a reasonably new addition to the Viceroy. Estrella and the Citron restaurant both opened in 2003 after the entire property was re-designed and renovated beginning in 2001. The Viceroy opened as a classic California bungalow hotel in 1933, set on four acres of landscaped courtyards designed for seclusion just a couple blocks from the busy main streets of downtown Palm Springs.
Today, the hotel/spa complex remains secluded, cool and calm with its Hollywood Regency style, private villas, three pools, leafy citrus trees and manicured lawns. A yellow and white color scheme carries through the hotel lobby, restaurant, pool areas and spa.
A few new packages have been added to the Estrella Spa service lineup since I was last there a couple years ago and both sound interesting.
The Spa Under the Stars package offers al fresco massages for singles or couples from 8pm until 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays. I think a night-time massage in the cool desert air would put me right to sleep, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
The Ice Haus is a do-it-yourself open-air treatment package for one person or a couple. It starts with a full-body clay mask that you can paint on yourself or your partner followed by a full-body ice exfoliation, again done by yourself or your partner. A seaweed scrub shower, cooling spearmint skin spritzer and the spa’s special body lotion finish off the treatment.
For details about the Estrella Spa or Viceroy Hotel, go to www.viceroypalmsprings.com.