Gay Palm Springs
Frontiers Magazine
Finding Desert Paradise
Ed Walsh
6/8/2011
 “Details, details, details. Clean, clean, clean,” Desert Paradise Resort owner Dale Dawursk told Frontiers last month when explaining his business strategy for maintaining a loyal repeat clientele despite the sluggish economy. The Desert Paradise Resort is in the heart of Warm Sands. It’s known for the signature outdoor chandelier that is strung between two palm trees. Dale’s Gatsby car, emblazoned with the hotel’s logo, is usually parked out front. The attention to cleanliness and detail is evident throughout this perfectly maintained property. Dale thinks of almost everything a guest could want and supplies it. All the toiletries he furnishes for guests are specially made for him and use natural ingredients. You would be hard-pressed to find even a five-star hotel that pays more attention to cleanliness. When a guest checks out, all the bedding in the room, including the bedspread, are thoroughly cleaned. Each room has spare pillows in the closet and each pillow is wrapped in a paper seal. If the seal is broken, the pillows are cleaned before the next guest checks in. The Desert Paradise also offers a closed-circuit television feed of the front gate, parking lots, pool and Warm Sands Drive. Some of that live video (not the interior of the property) is put on the Desert Paradise’s website. All 14 units at Desert Paradise are a little different. Each is named for a different gay icon from Mae West to Madonna. Two of the units are suites complete with a kitchenette and wet bar. Four of the rooms, including the suites, have a Murphy bed. Dale notes that sofa bed mattresses are seldom comfortable so he went to the extra expense of installing the wall-beds. Video tours of each room are also available on the resort’s website. The Desert Paradise seems to anticipate everything. A wide range of adult channels are available for viewing on the room’s flat-panel TVs. One channel has a hotel orientation video. But one of the best features of the Desert Paradise is the resort’s wonderfully landscaped grounds. It has more than a dozen unique fountains and two koi ponds. And if the desert sun is not warm enough for you, the resort has immaculately clean wet and dry saunas. The Desert Paradise also offers a complementary expanded continental breakfast with a wide-variety of breakfast foods, coffee, tea, juice and snacks. Desert Paradise Resort, 615 S. Warm Sands Dr., Palm Springs. (800) 342-7635; desertparadise.com |
