New Year’s Eve at the El Mirador

I finally acquired an establishing shot of the long defunct El Mirador Hotel in Palm Springs. This March 1963 image was taken just nine years before the property was converted into the Desert Hospital. Ray Ryan bought ownership of the rundown El Mirador in 1960 from his other investment partners and spent over a million dollars refurbishing the property in an attempt to return it to its former glory.



Not sure why there’s a Hans Cristian Anderson sign on the palm tree. Perhaps it was tied to what appears to be the hotel’s “Copenhagen Smorgasbord” listed on the sign.



Below is a March 1960 shot of the hotel. While the rest of California shivered from low winter temperatures, the smart ones flocked to Palm Springs to enjoy the dry heat.



Back in the day, the El Mirador was a haven for Hollywood celebrities, like Spencer Tracy and John Wayne, as seen in this 1934 photo:



From the accompanying caption:

MOVIE LUMINARIES AT DESERT RESORT

Among the colonists recruited from cinema ranks at El Mirador, Palm Springs, California, Desert Oasis, are Spencer Tracy (left) and Mr. and Mrs. John Wayne, shown as they reposed on the brink of the El Mirador Plunge. Wayne is a star of the “horse operas.”

At the time, Tracy was the bigger star and Wayne was still making westerns on skid row before getting his break in “Stagecoach” (1939).

While Shirley Temple typically stayed at the Desert Inn when she visited Palm Springs with her parents, she does have a connection to the El Mirador.



The following gem of a story is from the Palm Springs Life website as told by Frank Bogert, who created many a publicity stunt for the El Mirador:

“We had Governor Herbert Lehman of New York as a guest at the hotel,” Bogert recalls. “He wanted privacy. No interviews. No photos. But he expressed one wish. He said he'd like to meet Shirley Temple who was staying at the Desert Inn with her mother. I said I'd try to arrange it. And I did. Shirley's mother said she'd like to meet the governor. So they met for lunch beside the pool at El Mirador. I took several pictures and thought I was doing pretty well until little Shirley spoke up and said, 'Look, Mr. Bogert, why don't you stand over there with your camera? The governor can sit where he is and I'll cheat a little toward him. I think that will do much better.' . . . Well, I did what she said and got a picture that went all around the nation. By following the advice of a 7-year-old. But what a 7-year-old!

Below are images from the Temple/Lehman get together at the El Mirador from the Palm Springs Historical Society website:



Temple and Lehman crossed paths again in 1938 in New York when the child star took her famous cross-country vacation.



I hope you enjoyed the final rabbit hole post at Daveland for 2025!

See more Palm Springs photos at my main website.

Poolside Friday at El Mirador, 1954

As the temperatures begin to climb, so does the desire to head poolside. Let’s visit the El Mirador Hotel, 1954, and take a dip in their pool. First, we see the tower, an architectural signature of the hotel. Note the sun dial:



That water looks so inviting!



If you don’t feel like your bod is ready for swimsuit weather, just put a gigantic matchbook on top of your head. Nobody will notice the rest.



Or sit next to movie star Rhonda Fleming; all eyes will be on her, not you.



Actress Laraine Day is doing her best to stay in the shade:



Actress Joan Taylor probably never event went in the water. Mess up the hair? No way…



Thanks to Daveland reader Nanook, we know that actor Marshall Thompson is the gent on the left and wife Barbara Long (sister of actor Richard Long) is at right:



As the sun goes down, things heat up at the El Mirador, as the hula dancers begin to shake:





See more El Mirador Hotel photos at my main website.

Monday at the Mirador

Back in the day, El Mirador was a popular name in real estate. For Palm Springs, it represented the hotel that opened on New Year’s Eve, 1928. Set on 20 acres of prime desert property, according to vintage postcards, amenities included swimming, tennis, golf (the desert’s first!), riding, skeet and other sports that could be enjoyed all winter long in this “Garden of the Sun.”



The Spanish-Colonial Revival-style bell tower was a Palm Springs landmark.



A shot of the Olympic-sized swimming pool:



Closer…



Ah, desert living at its best. Lazy days by the pool.



How about the blow-up toy on the left? At first I thought it was a cheetah, but zooming in it appears to be a fish of some kind.



Anyone remember Eddy Howard?



The hotel/tower were featured in a number of advertisements, including this one for Hertz:



The hotel was converted into the Desert Hospital in 1972. The original tower burned down in 1989, but was rebuilt from the original plans. How it looks today:



Over in West Hollywood, there are the El Mirador apartments, built in 1929 and designed by S. Charles Lee:



Over the last decade or so, this building has been embroiled in historic preservation legal battles. When I walked by in December, it appeared that they were being renovated.



See more Palm Springs photos at my website.

Melissa on the West Coast, Pt. 2

Our trek to Palm Springs was nice and easy…until it wasn’t. As we approached the March Field Air Museum near Riverside, we noticed two jets taking off ahead of us. Shortly after that, the passenger window of my car shattered. Not cracked. SHATTERED. There it was…until it wasn’t. My brain froze as I saw the open space, felt the hot air blowing in, and saw the look of shock on Melissa’s (aka The Colonel) face. She was also holding Willis at the time, who fortunately was not sucked out the window along with most of the glass! What caused it? Who knows, but we were both pretty sure it wasn’t rock and that nothing else had hit the window first. As I processed what happened and what I would need to do, I decided to keep driving until we got to Cabazon. You know…that place where Pee Wee (Paul Reubens) and Simone (Diane Salinger) had their first date…inside a dinosaur. Isn’t that what most people do? All was going well for them until Andy (her crazy boyfriend) discovered Simone’s indiscretion.



Willis’ little heart was beating fast after the window shattered, but by the time we got to Cabazon he had calmed down enough for a photo. He still looked a little bewildered. Maybe it was the dinosaur.



Nothing can stop Melissa from a good recreation; glass or no glass, she was putting on her best Simone outfit and posing in front of the d%^n dinosaur!



Shortly after our little break in Cabazon where I attempted to remove glass from the passenger seat, we arrived at our destination: The Movie Colony Hotel. It is my go-to hotel for its cool factor (designed by Swiss architect Albert Frey), its location, and its price. If you want to know what Melissa was thinking here, well…you really don’t. It had been a long day, and it was barely 3pm!



Let’s focus on the beautiful plants, shall we?



The lobby screams “Palm Springs”…in a good way. Hi, Marilyn!



I get PTSD whenever I see Engelbert Humperdinck. My stepfather thought he was the best.



Lucy brought me back to reality.



The rooms are clean, spacious, and have that Palm Springs vibe.



Melissa immediately stretched out on the chaise lounge after the 2 hour car ride from Hell.



While I lugged everything out of the car for safety’s sake, Willis relaxed poolside. He’s like a little Sphinx.



To help turn things around from our mini-disaster, we hiked down the street to another Palm Springs fave of mine, the Colony Palms Hotel.









Ah…NOW things are improving. My cocktail was delicious.



Melissa was feeling klassy. Beer and a Diet Coke. Hey…whatever it takes to put a smile on your face.



Willis was given a bowl of water. I think he would have preferred a sip of my beverage instead.



Yup…she’s happy.



No rest for the weary; as soon as we finished our cocktails and truffle fries, it was “Chop chop” time. First destination on our Palm Springs Shirley Temple tour: The Desert Inn. Shirley vacationed here frequently with her family over the years. Here she is on one of her visits, with slingshot in hand.



Unfortunately, we were a little late. The hotel was demolished in the 1960’s.



This marker is all that remains of the hotel.



Our fragile east coast flower was not used to the dry desert heat, so I attempted to cool her down a bit by this nearby Downtown Park fountain.



Oh how I was hoping one of the mini jets would spray water up and scare the crap out of her. Sadly, it was not to be.



We didn’t stay cool for long, as a few of the people by the fountain were heating things up with a 420 celebration. Yes, it was 4/20 when we were in Palm Springs. We took ourselves over to the Forever Marilyn statue.



I’m not quite sure that Melissa was quite in love with Palm Springs, but she was a good sport about posing near this sign.



The once grand Oasis Hotel (previously covered here), designed by Lloyd Wright was our next stop:



Melissa may look like she was hard at work taking photos, but she was really just wanting to sit down and avoid the heat!



Two vintage views of the Oasis in its heyday:





A slight rest back at the hotel before our short walk to one of my favorite local restaurants, Al Dente.



Willis wanted to know what was in it for him; the bowls of water don’t quite achieve the “wow” factor for him.



After some cool beverages and delicious pasta, Melissa was smiling again.



Al Dente’s take on one of my favorite Italian desserts, Spumoni:



Did Melissa pass out on the walk home? No…she was just paying homage to one of her other favorite movie stars, Natalie Wood.



Both of us slept well. I was up first doing my laps as Willis relaxed.



The El Mirador Hotel was another place Shirley had visited. Back in its heyday:





As we were leaving town, we stopped by the El Mirador for a pic. However, the El Mirador is now the Desert Regional Medical Center. The original tower burned down years ago and was rebuilt. Not a bad job!



One last pic as we bid “adieu” to the desert:



Sorry, Melissa - you just got upstaged.



Next stop: HOLLYWOOD! See more Palm Springs photos at my main website.