Ace Hotel & Swim Club

A 1965 Howard Johnson reimagined as the original West Coast Ace Hotel — 180 rooms across two clusters, two pools, the Kings Highway diner attached, and the kind of party-adjacent design-hotel rhythm that defined the Palm Springs reset of the late 2000s. Ace Hotels is a small group (small enough to qualify under lehotelist's independent-hotel scope), and Ace Palm Springs is the property that essentially started the contemporary Palm Springs scene fifteen years ago.

The aesthetic is retro-motor-lodge applied with restraint and irony — concrete-block exteriors, Pendleton blankets, mid-century furniture, neon signage. The pool deck on weekends is the social center. The diner is open all night.

The setting

Ace Palm Springs sits on East Palm Canyon Drive, the south end of central Palm Springs, a short drive (or a longer walk) from the village's restaurant and shopping core. The property is anchored to the road but turned inward toward its courtyards and pools. The Coachella Valley spreads out east; the San Jacinto Mountains rise immediately west.

Downtown Palm Springs is five minutes north. The Aerial Tramway is fifteen minutes northwest. Joshua Tree's south entrance is forty-five minutes north. Coachella Music Festival grounds are twenty minutes east in Indio.

The building

The shell is a 1965 Howard Johnson — concrete-block construction, single- and two-story buildings around courtyards. The Ace renovation kept the structural typology and overhauled everything else: rooms gutted and refit, two pools restored and expanded, the Kings Highway diner installed in the original highway-restaurant space, public spaces reimagined.

Materials throughout: concrete, painted block, glass, vintage neon, wool, and the kind of curated mid-century furniture mix that defined Ace's house aesthetic. The look is playful-retro applied without nostalgia kitsch.

The rooms

180 rooms across the property's clusters. Categories are wide: standard king rooms, larger king rooms with private patios, two-bedroom suites for groups, and the bungalow-style rooms with their own outdoor patios. Bathrooms are minimal and well-considered. Beds are good. The aesthetic is consistent across categories — concrete floors, simple bedding, vintage record players in some rooms.

Rates from $285 in shoulder; Coachella, Modernism Week, and music-festival weekends climb significantly.

Food & drink

Kings Highway Diner is the on-site restaurant — breakfast through late-night, retro diner format with serious cooking, open to non-guests. Amigo Room is the on-site bar — vinyl, vintage cocktail program, runs late on weekends. Both have local followings beyond the hotel.

On the property

Two pools (one larger and party-leaning, one quieter), a small spa with treatment rooms, fire pits, the Amigo Room bar, the Kings Highway diner, occasional DJs and pool parties on weekends. Programming includes music nights, screenings, and yoga.

• Two pools (party and quiet)
• Kings Highway Diner (24/7 in some windows)
• Amigo Room cocktail bar
• Spa with treatment rooms
• Open year-round

Who it's for

• Festival travelers — Coachella, Modernism Week, Palm Springs International Film Festival
• Travelers who want the social/party-adjacent design hotel rather than a quiet retreat
• Design and music people on weekend trips
• Repeat Ace customers from other cities

Who it's not for

• Anyone seeking a quiet adults-only minimalist desert hotel — Ace runs lively
• Light sleepers in rooms near the main pool on weekends
• Travelers wanting a full-service traditional resort

Nearby

Downtown Palm Springs and the Palm Springs Art Museum are five minutes north. The Aerial Tramway up Mount San Jacinto is fifteen minutes northwest. Indian Canyons hiking is ten minutes south. Joshua Tree's south entrance is forty-five minutes north. The Coachella Music Festival grounds and Stagecoach are twenty minutes east in Indio.