Clothes Free Travel

A-Z TRAVEL — Naturist Edition: D is for Desert Sun Resort, Palm Springs, California

A Naturist Oasis in a Desert Town with a storied past

I would recommend Desert Sun Resort to just about anyone who is nude curious. And if you go during the week, especially in the summer, you may feel like you have the place to yourself. A great way to ease into the sun and out of your swimsuit.

TEXTILE TIP: This is a place I included in a previous post as a great option for those “dubious newbies” who might want to give naturism a try. Why here? The amenities are on par with what you might expect at any other resort in the region, which is seldom the case with clothing-optional venues.

Be forewarned, however. It’s not clothing-optional. If you’re around the pools or sunbathing areas, you’ll be expected to be nude, simply to create a comfortable environment for all guests — all on the same playing field, if you will.

Not ready for that leap? There are lots of great places to stay in Palm Springs and loads of good reasons to go there. I’ll talk about a few of those here.

I think it’s fair to say that the Desert Sun Resort literally set a new standard for naturist tourism in the United States when they first opened as Desert Shadows Inn back in the early 90s. We first visited when it was a small, nine-room hotel that had been renovated as part of an effort to rejuvenate the north end of Palm Springs.

That was early in our own naturist journey. Up until then, we’d only been to nude beaches and hot springs in Northern California. An entrepreneurial couple named Steve and Linda Payne left their post at a naturist resort in the Caribbean to open a family-friendly nude resort in collaboration with the The Naturist Society. Their intent was to replicate the European attitudes related to family-oriented social nudity while catering to an upscale clientele from Southern California. That, as opposed to some of the more campy places in the region that people still referred to as nudist colonies.

Don’t yell at me about the nudist colony thing. Just reporting what I hear!

We became regulars at Desert Shadows. A couple of times we even brought the kids, though the family naturism thing never really caught on as the owners had hoped. In time, the place goes through a few rounds of managerial upheaval with the eventual outcome of succumbing to adult-only status.

The rebranding to prohibit children on the property was controversial, at least. The fear was they were following the trend of clothing-optional resorts in Florida that had essentially morphed into sex clubs catering to swingers. That never was, nor is today, the business plan at Desert Sun Resort, though they are no longer co-branded with The Naturist Society, and the famed sculpture of a naturist family near the entrance has been gone for well over a decade now.

In the meantime, the resort had expanded to incorporate a renovated hotel on the adjoining property — known today as The Chaparral — then three different phases of condos and residences where owners could put their units back into the rental pool to be used as nakation destinations by people like us! The place even made the national news when they built a naked bridge over a major street to connect the residential community to the rest of the resort. The bridge remains to this day but is no longer open to resort guests.

There are three different pools, each with a unique vibe for socialization, a spa, a restaurant, and plenty of quiet nooks to steal away and read a book — making this an ideal place for a newbie naturist to give it a go. There are choices.

The older hotel rooms have been remodeled over and again since the place first opened. During our last stay, I would say they still seemed like older hotel rooms that have been remodeled. I guess there’s no way around that.

The condo units are pretty luxurious, though luxury comes at a price. Suffice it to say, you have to pay the nudity tax for the privilege of walking to breakfast in the altogether. Sadly, that’s become pretty much the standard for nude recreation, especially in the US.

The nudity tax story is another one waiting to be told.

Whether you stay at Desert Sun or not, a long weekend in Palm Springs will not disappoint. Since we’ve been visiting in the 90s, they’ve been in the constant process of reinventing themselves. I suspect it will never regain the status it enjoyed in the 50s as a Hollywood Hideaway.

But plenty of remnants of that era remain, with street names that allude to performers of stage and screen, and a general sense that Frank Sinatra ate here at nearly every little cafe and bistro. We’ve never had trouble finding a great meal, usually at a place that had magically appeared since our last visit. And wandering the downtown streets on a warm evening always leads you to a quaint shop or art gallery.

It’s sort of the desert oasis that time forgot.

We’ve twice attended the Palm Springs Film Festival which is apparently back in full swing this year in early January. Last time we went, we were hopeful for a few 70°F days for a bit of Vitamin D. Unfortunately, we hit a cold snap when the skies were deep blue but the air was freaking cold. Great for going to the movies, but not so much for nude sunbathing. Thankfully, Desert Sun has a couple of large hot tubs to help you take off the chill.

Palm Springs is located at the north end of a string of desert towns that flow seamlessly together for miles and miles in the shadow of the San Jacinto Mountains — towering at 10,000 feet above the desert floor. We’ve never taken the tram to the top. That’s still on our bucket list.

If you fancy desert hiking, just drive a few miles eastward to find the perimeter of Joshua Tree National Park, a huge expanse of land with more trails than you could walk in a lifetime. And were I a golfer, those options seem to be world-class as well — but I’m not, so you’ll have to figure that out on your own.

Perhaps the most striking thing about Palm Springs is the fact that while it’s less than a two-hour drive away from the sprawling Los Angeles Basin, the climate and air quality are completely different. In fact, once you drive past San Bernadino, the skies begin to clear and the temperature spikes at least 10°F in a matter of minutes. Huge wind turbines along the highway illustrate the secret ingredient, as the winds are a fierce deterrent for keeping the fog and the smog in the LA Basin, where it belongs.

Is a nakation destination the best option for everyone?

Maybe not, but I would recommend Desert Sun Resort to just about anyone who is nude curious. And if you go during the week, especially in the summer, you may feel like you have the place to yourself. A great way to ease into the sun and out of your swimsuit.

For most, once you’ve experienced the fresh water and warm sun on your bare skin, there’s no looking back.

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