The Ritz-Carlton, Rancho Mirage

My stay was odd. First of all the location is a bit out of the way but the reward is the view is nice. You are on a little mountain overlooking town but you are about 30 minutes to Palm Springs (no matter what anyone says). Check in was chaotic. For a Ritz this shouldn't be the case. There was a bit of a wait and everyone seemed confused. I didn't' find the check in staff to be friendly or accommodating. Very robotic and all seemed annoyed. I was also annoyed at their lack of knowledge of the rooms and the location. The rooms are weird and beige. Some have this odd bathroom that opens up over looking the main room and felt very 90s. They are also small. I moved rooms a few times to get a more updated room. I booked the patio room. Overall it was okay. The property was loud and overall not that special. It felt like they all catered to weddings, corporate events and children (think candy stand in lobby), areas off limits to private parties and weddings. The club lounge was pleasant because it was quiet. Otherwise the place was loud. Not the best Ritz.

From the moment we checked in, from the valet, to the front desk, to the bellman, the service here was excellent. Even at the restaurants, the hostesses and servers were all helpful and friendly. Same goes for the poolside service. Everyone was hard working and helpful. The grounds and hotel are beautiful and picturesque. The room was comfortable and the small touches like the mirror and hook in the shower were appreciated. And as someone who loves to take baths, the bathtub was the largest I've ever seen in any hotel and it filled up so quickly. They provide Diptyque toiletries also. There are a handful of restaurants that are close by. The restaurants on site had great food also, which isn't always the case for hotel food. But in this case, all the food we ate turned out to be delicious. We couldn't go on the trails nearby due to the heat, but I imagine if you are an early riser, it would be nice to walk the grounds or up the small hills. Overall, a very relaxing stay. I would definitely come back!

I realize when you stay here you’re probably choosing to do so for location alone. And that’s what’s going to earn this place still two stars. The views are spectacular from the common areas and clearly a landscaper or two values their job. The service of this property - as many note - leaves a lot to be desired. Rooms weren’t ready at standard check in time due to late checkouts. That’s fine - our flight was delayed and we hung out in Palm Springs a bit longer before the short Lyft ride to the hotel. Upon arrival it was clear this was wasn’t going to be your typical Ritz stay. To start, we stayed super off peak during Labor Day weekend. As the Lyft showed up we were the only vehicle in the lot. No offer of luggage assistance or anyone holding the door. Clearly the valet for this property is only concerned with valeting cars. Once inside, despite being an ambassador elite that’s spend $30,000 so far this year with the brands, I found myself negotiating for any form of upgrade. Finally we settled on $350 for what has to be their base type suite overlooking the corner of the resort with a scenic view of the main dining area. Not exactly good room inventory controls or any kind of blocking. This poor training extended to the club lounge. Buyer beware you are fundamentally paying for an “M-Club” with discount wines from total wine and some bulk purchased bottled beer. I’ve seen other presentations in Saint Louis and on Maui and there’s pride behind their culinary offerings. Here there’s absolutely no pride. The club lounge attendants were particularly overwhelmed despite again the hotel not even remotely being full. The lounge is in poor shape with a toaster that doesn’t work, a setup that leaves those with any kind of dietary needs out of luck (like who in any hotel has pork products and chicken products sharing the same serving items - this isn’t isolated - they’ve got ham and turkey and salmon also all using the same utensils). Base level training at even a Fairfield Inn would show this team this is unacceptable. Alas, I was completely brushed off. Which I understand… it’s a long holiday weekend across North America and staff simply are showing no pride for the work they do since management clearly won’t allocate resources where they belong. If you value service and chose to invest in Ritz for this reason - run! Even day of checkout I had to negotiate a late checkout despite being inconvenienced personally from a previous 4pm departure. It’s pretty insulting.

Still the crown jewel of the desert even after all of these years! I’m happy to report it’s still one of your best options if you like things like a clean room and good service: I would have given it 5 stars but I did have some blips during my stay. Pool service on my second day slipped considerably when there was a new team at the adult pool. And my lunch - brisket tacos -was barely edible (avoid) but nobody seemed to care from a server with a chip on her shoulder to a GM who didn’t even write me back. It’s fine. I saw that the good team was back on my third and final day but this time at the big pool and I decided to give that a go since I knew the service would be good and guess what? It was! And it makes a difference. My lunch order was better and they never missed a beat. JR and crew are the best of the best of the best. A big thank you. In fact everyone was appreciative of their hustle in the 105 degree weather. Are the rooms small? Yes. Are they clean? Yes. Do they do turn down - yes! Did they forget one night - yes! Was the front desk helpful? Amazing at check in and no when they forgot turn down and I called and they informed me they would get to it when they get to it. Ouch! The team is very hit or miss! Do the room doors still slam after all these years and reverberate down the hallway - sadly yes! Can you hear the room next door through the connecting doors - yes! With all that said it’s still one of only a very few top hotels in the Coachella valley and I would definitely not hesitate to stay here again. Just know going in what to expect - I always say it’s better to know!

We are currently staying here, and can honestly find nothing negative about this place, number one for us is the staff, every single one of them are fantastic and obviously have had either excellent training or you just employ the right kind of people, the hotel is beautiful spotless, the food and drinks are exceptional, the breakfast are another level, the gym is probably the best one I’ve been to in a hotel, if you are looking for complete relaxation this is the place, the girl who checked us in was so welcoming and informative, so far we have done the tramway, some drives, and have the Joshua tree and casino left to look forward to, honestly cannot fault this hotel one bit