Rhonda Bracey: At Random

On Saturday night, we stayed at the Marquis Villas in Palm Springs. HUGE! Full size kitchen with all amenities, 1 bedroom with 2 double beds, a large living/dining room with a double sofa bed, 2 bathrooms (one was massive), walk-in robes and lots of storage space, a wide balcony, and a great view of the mountains. Definitely a great choice for 5 people and all their stuff – good one, Sue!

On Sunday we moved into the conference hotel – the Wyndham Resort, Palm Springs. Well, how do you compare these two places? On price, the Marquis Villas was more expensive ($225 for the one night… but we split that between 5 people so that was very affordable), but the Wyndham at $159 a night (conference rate) is very pricey for what you get… or, more to the point, don’t get. No fridge (you have to collect ice from way down the hallway) or mini bar (not that I ever get anything from the mini bar); two double beds that are really slightly oversized singles and couldn’t fit two normal sized people; high-speed internet access (but only if you have wireless; dial-up is still dial-up and slow); car parking out in the open at $5 per day (the Villas had free underground secure parking); a bathroom that looks tired and has a shower faucet that takes some fiddling to get right, with a showerhead that spits water at you and a drain that doesn’t drain properly, and a vanity area that fits two toilet bags at a pinch with no room for anything else. The Marquis Villas beats it hands down. And to be honest, for the level of facilities, I think that the Motel 6 in Paso Robles was better value for money at $42 a night. The facilities in the room at the Wyndham offer very little more than we got at that Motel 6… for more than three times the price. And remember, we’re getting the conference rate, not the standard rate.