Part of my life, I'm an event coordinator. The common title in the industry is a Travel Director but as a Travel Agent, I tend to not use that terminology because 1) It's too close and 2) I don't direct any type of travel. I actually like the term On Site Meeting Manager as I feel that's a more appropriate title for what us Travel Directors do. This program was for a fast food chain in the Western US. We stayed at the beautiful Indian Wells Renaissance Resort. The grounds were just beautiful and the views from any window of the hotel were so picturesque.
As you may know, there is a famous old song talking about how it "Never Rains in Southern California". Apparently in Palm Springs/Indian Wells, they get between 4-5 days of rain a YEAR according to every person I spoke with! Can you believe that? Well, I guess I brought it along with me from Florida as the night of our outdoor 80's party, it decided to rain. It was quite a different experience than when it rains the day of an event in Florida. They don't really have a protocol so it was up to the lead meeting planner to make the call. Just when we thought the rain was gone, it would come again. After three surprise rain falls, the call was finally made at 5pm. In Florida the call is usually made around 1pm and no later thn 3pm due to set up. However, we were able to gather the troops and get it all set up for a 7pm start time! Impressive!!!
The Renaissance Indian Wells was a great resort. The coolest part of the room was that the closet opened to the bathroom into the bedroom. Of all the hotels I've stayed in, this is the first time I saw this. Great idea if you are sharing the room with someone who may be sleeping while you are getting dresssed. The pool area was beautiful and had two hot tubs with powerful jets that feel great on my sore post workday feet. The food on property was great especially the RICE KRISPY TREATS on our lunch buffet. I'm not usually a pastry person because I come from a long line of great bakers but the did a fabulous job here.
For offsite fun, we went to Fresh Agave for happy hour and some Mexican food. It was about 10-15 minutes from the resort and yummy. We had the taquitos. The final night we went to the famous bar The Nest! If you are from Orlando originally, you probably know of the Why Not? It was very similar but smaller. A good time was had by all!
I highly recommend this resort and if you have never been to Palm Springs/Indian Wells, make sure to get there. Everything looks so new and clean. The airport alone is one of kind with it's open air concept. By the way, easiest airport experience ever!!! Absolutely no line for your ticket check or TSA screening.
So, yes, it DOES RAIN IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA!