Palm Springs: No time to sweat with Riviera Resort family deal

Sure, the highs are consistently above the 100-degree mark in Palm Springs these days, but that can be a boon for the vacationer’s pocketbook. With the mercury rising, desert tourism is slowing, and that means some interesting deals by hotels and resorts.

And with the following offer by Riviera Resort, you may not even have time to sweat a thing.

Deal, or no deal?: The “Riviera Family Package” features the following, included with your room: a choice of passes for the family for the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway or Knott’s Soak City; a large pizza, soft drink and one On-Demand movie; daily breakfast; free food onsite for children ages 12 and under; a welcome gift; and a complementary room upgrade. Rates start at $189 per night (pre-tax; after taxes and a $25 nightly resort fee, it’s about $243). Sounds alright, right?

Tested: If there’s more than one of you, you’ll be paying substantially more. Adding an adult is going to up your rate, as is adding a child. Plug in your formula and see what comes up. For two adults and two kids for either a weekend or a weekday night in late July, I got a price of $354 total.

If you’re going to take advantage of all the offerings, especially the attractions and food, then this can work out to be a good, convenient deal for a quick family getaway. If you’re not going to utilize the whole enchilada, you might be better off taking the above as inspiration and instead testing out the resort’s current “summer special” rates (starting at $99, pre-tax). Then, you can go a la carte, on your own, with your itinerary.

When: The family deal is available for stays now through Sept. 30.

Why go: The tramway takes you to a cooler 8,500 feet above the desert; the waterslide park is, well, full of ways to bring the internal temps down; and, at the resort, you’ll probably spend a lot of time lazing about the air-conditioned indoors.

Why not: When the going gets hot, you start melting.

Contact: Riviera Resort & Spa, (866) 588-8311

- Susan Derby, Special to The Times

[Photo: On the grounds of Riviera Resort & Spa. Credit: Riviera Resort & Spa]

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 12:37 pm by Susan Derby and is filed under California, Deals, Family & Kids, Hotels, Palm Springs, Summer, Weekend Getaways. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.