Thompson Palm Springs—Bold Art, Bright Design, and Big Flavor

HAP Editor Ruby Gregg here. Palm Springs is a desert playground: a fizzy cocktail, one part leisure, one part culture. The same can be said of Thompson Palm Springs, the lifestyle brand’s outpost in the heart of downtown. Here, the city’s design fixation and midcentury flair finds a fresh—yet effortlessly Palm Springs—point-of-view. 

The hotel's clean, all-white exterior, visible upon entry from Palm Canyon Drive, immediately sets the tone for what lies behind its walls—just steps from downtown Palm Springs’s finest shops, galleries, and restaurants.

Guest rooms feel calm and considered, with soft neutral palettes, clean-lined furnishings, dark wood accents, and floor-to-ceiling windows that flood the space with desert light. For guests seeking a more elevated stay, the hotel’s premium adults-only wing, Upper Stories, offers larger accommodations and a heightened sense of privacy above downtown’s lively scene—complete with a private pool and pool deck overlooking sweeping desert views. 

Service throughout the hotel reflects Thompson’s signature hospitality style—warm and attentive without feeling overbearing. Whether you’re settling in for a pool day or heading out for the evening, the staff anticipates your needs. The hotel also participates in the World of Hyatt program, allowing guests to earn points toward their next desert escape.

January through April is peak season, but all year, the 168-room hotel buzzes with guests of varied backgrounds and interests. By the pool, you’ll find a mix of weekend travelers, Coachella and Stagecoach attendees—including performers—or those simply seeking a desert escape from colder climates.

Lola Rose, the hotel’s all-day restaurant located on the second floor, isn't just for guests—it's a destination for anyone nearby craving Executive Chef Quentin Garcia's culinary magic. A sleek staircase from the sidewalk leads to the restaurant, lounge, and high-top bar, opening Thompson's oasis of art, design, and low-key desert glamour to all. The hotel is designed to balance exclusive, guests-only spaces with bars and restaurants that infuse the scene with locals and their houseguests.

Aside from the remarkable mezze-driven menu, Lola Rose features a lounge that welcomes guests sipping coffee before an afternoon by the pool and comes alive at night with live music, low lighting, and impeccably crafted cocktails. The interiors are casual, contemporary, and effortlessly comfortable—never tired. This fluidity reflects Thompson's hospitality philosophy: intuitive, elevated, and full of subtle surprises.

Beyond Lola Rose, the hotel’s amenities extend even further. Two skyline pools offer cabanas and poolside service, perfect for lounging under the desert sun. A well‑appointed fitness center keeps guests active, while the on-site HALL Napa Valley Tasting Room provides a cozy spot to savor some of California’s finest wines. On the ground level, an array of shops and curated boutiques blend seamlessly with the hotel’s artful design and Palm Springs energy.

Art is woven into every corner—hand-painted palm fronds, sculptures, and oil paintings from the hotel's featured artists showcase a range of perspectives. This emphasis on culture echoes Thompson Hotels’ early days in SoHo, NYC, where the brand launched in 2001. Thompson Palm Springs immerses guests in creativity, transforming each hallway and gathering space into a gallery that beautifully complements the hotel's design.

Beyond its aesthetic, Thompson is a social hub. Recently, the hotel served as host for a "40 Under 40" celebration honoring Palm Springs' most influential young leaders—cementing its place as more than somewhere to stay, but a gathering point for the city's creative class.

With a finger on the pulse of culture, design, and people, Thompson Palm Springs belongs at the top of your list for the next time you're in the desert.

How to Admire Thompson Palm Springs’ Art Collection

In a city famous for midcentury pastels and vintage glamour, Thompson Palm Springs takes a different stance. Curated by Virginia Shore of Shore Art Advisory, the hotel's museum-quality collection foregrounds female and Native American artists whose work wrestles with land, history, and identity–not as gesture, but as the intellectual and aesthetic backbone of the property itself.

Gerald Clarke Continuum Basket (Lobby)

A member of the Cahuilla Band of Mission Indians, Gerald Clarke is among the region's most significant cultural voices. His Continuum Basket anchors the lobby with both scale and intention—120 inches in diameter, meticulously crafted from crushed aluminum cans reshaped into traditional Cahuilla motifs. The work embodies Clarke's "kitchen sink" philosophy: the conviction that meaningful art can emerge from the most ordinary materials, and that heritage is not fragile but adaptive.

Jeffrey Gibson The Land is Speaking... Are You Listening? (Ground Floor)

A member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Jeffrey Gibson works at the intersection of indigenous aesthetics and modernist sensibility. His mosaic greets guests on arrival with a provocation as elemental as it is urgent—a call for environmental kinship that refuses to be decorative. The piece establishes the collection's animating question before guests have fully crossed the threshold.

Nanibah Chacón Large-Scale Floral Lowrider (Lola Rose)

Nanibah Chacón's work pulses with layered cultural energy. Her large-scale floral lowrider draws on Chicana tradition and the visual language of customization as resistance: vivid, celebratory, and politically alive. It transforms one of the hotel's most intimate spaces into a site of genuine narrative depth.

Julie Buffalohead The Dressmakers (Lola Rose)

Julie Buffalohead’s The Dressmakers uses a rich crimson canvas to tell an indigenous fable. It’s a striking, soulful piece that rewards guests who pause for a second look at the stories woven just beneath the surface, adding a historic touch to the lounge near Lola Rose.

To Sum It Up

Together, these works transform Thompson Palm Springs into something rarer than a luxury hotel: a living gallery where art and architecture hold genuine conversation, and where the desert experience carries the weight—and the wonder—of the stories embedded in this land.

Lola Rose is the heart and soul of Thompson Palm Springs. Located on the building’s second floor, the elevator doors open directly into the lounge, where uninterrupted floor-to-ceiling doors stretch toward the outdoor bar and pool, merging effortlessly with the desert’s striking terrain. The lounge is best described as an elevated living room—complete with plush sofas, chairs and booths grounded in wood finishes and a palette of sunset hues, soft neutrals, and rich desert tones—which naturally leads to the hightop bar and remainder of the Lola Rose. 

Every design detail feels deliberate, from the curated palette to the collected artwork. Gilded patterns by Cheryl Pope, Wendy Red Star’s wild horse sketches, and vivid oil paintings by Julie Buffalohead energize the space, grounding the restaurant in its cultural lineage while bringing warmth to the room.

The menu channels the spirit of Morocco and the Mediterranean, shaped by Executive Chef Quentin Garcia’s travels through Istanbul and along the region’s sun-drenched coastlines. In our conversation below, he reflects on studying centuries-old techniques, reinterpreting them through his own culinary vision, and how his desert upbringing continues to influence the flavors and philosophy behind Lola Rose.

Ruby: Your time spent travelling throughout Istanbul and across the Mediterranean clearly informs your cooking. Which experiences or moments abroad most profoundly shaped your culinary perspective? 

Quentin: What struck me most during my time in Istanbul and across the Mediterranean was the hospitality. It wasn’t just warm; it was intentional, thoughtful, and woven into every moment from the second you arrived. Before I even got there, the team asked about my favorite things to eat and drink. I rattled off a few; Red Bull, yerba maté, Ramune, not really thinking about how hard some of those might be to find. But when I arrived, every restaurant across the resort already knew who I was. At every meal, no matter the time of day, they’d take my usual drink order and then bring out a tray with all of my favorites, asking, “Would you prefer a taste of home with your meal?” It was such a small gesture, but it hit me hard. Those little touches showed me how deeply they think about the guest experience, not just service, but care. That level of thoughtfulness completely reshaped how I approach hospitality in my own kitchen.

Ruby: What drew you to Palm Springs, and how are you translating your Mediterranean point of view to resonate within this desert landscape? 

Quentin: I was born and raised in the desert, Thousand Palms to Indio, so Palm Springs has always been part of my story. My dad worked here, and I grew up running around the valley. I left at 17 to study in Orange County and eventually cook my way around the world—I didn’t think I’d move back. But during a transition at my last property, the Lifestyle RB&E team reached out and asked me to consider a few opportunities. One was Alila Napa Valley, and the other was the not‑yet‑opened Thompson Palm Springs. When I toured the site, it was still a full construction zone, dust, scaffolding, the whole thing, but then I saw the concept decks. I could immediately picture what this place was going to become. Thompson was taking a big swing with this project, and an even bigger one by introducing one of the very few Eastern Mediterranean restaurants in their entire portfolio. There was real excitement around the culinary vision, and I knew my travels and my point of view could actually shape the food scene here in a meaningful way. It felt like the right moment to come home, to bring everything I’d learned abroad back to the desert that raised me, and to build something that leaves a mark on the place where my roots still run deep.

Ruby: Eastern Mediterranean cuisine is deeply rooted in tradition. How do you honor those foundations while presenting dishes in a more modern, elevated context? 

Quentin: What matters most to me is honoring the recipes, terminology, and techniques I was taught, the real foundations of Eastern Mediterranean cooking, while still giving guests a menu that feels approachable and connected to California. A lot of people hear “Middle Eastern” or “Mediterranean” and immediately think of the classics: falafel, hummus, tzatziki, baba ghanoush. Those are great, but the cuisine is so much deeper and more expressive than that. I wanted our dining room to feel like a true, abundant mezze experience, the kind where you can come multiple times a week and still discover something new. 

Ruby: Could you walk us through the story behind one of your favorite dishes—perhaps the lamb kebab or your house-made dips which I was able to try—from initial inspiration to the final presentation? 

Quentin: I remember walking into my first Lebanese restaurant and being completely overwhelmed in the best way. It took me a full week to work through the menu, and I loved every second of it. That sense of discovery is something I wanted to capture here. One of the dishes that really embodies this is our kebab. A lot of people think kebab means cubes of seasoned meat on a skewer. But the Lebanese style I was taught is so much more intentional. We use lamb loin with the fat cap, marinate it in shatta, pepper pastes, spices, and garlic, brush it with seasoned rendered lamb fat, roast it in the tandoor, finish it on the grill, and glaze it with pomegranate molasses. Then it’s served with sumac onions, grilled peppers and tomatoes, lavash, and toum on the side. It’s become the heart of the restaurant , and people constantly ask what we’re doing to make it taste so good.

Ruby: How do California’s seasonal ingredients and local purveyors influence your interpretation of Mediterranean flavors? 

Quentin: California’s seasons give us a lot to play with, especially when it comes to salads, mezze, and fresh dips. The produce here is unreal; herbs, greens, stone fruit, citrus and working with local purveyors and the Santa Monica Farmers Market lets us bring that vibrancy straight into a Mediterranean framework. Seasonality shows up most in the dishes where freshness matters the most. Our salads shift constantly based on what’s peaking, and our dips get layered with whatever herbs or fruits are at their best. Even our crudité board is fully built from Santa Monica market produce for guests who want something crisp and bright instead of pita. It’s a fun way to let California speak the same language as the Eastern Mediterranean; bold, colorful, and ingredient‑driven, without losing the soul of either place. 

Ruby: Lola Rose offers a distinct visual identity. How does the interior design—from the curated artwork throughout the space to color palette—interact with your menu to create a cohesive, sensory dining experience? 

Quentin: The design at Lola Rose has a very bold, expressive personality, and I’ve learned to let the food meet that energy in its own way. The space is colorful and eclectic, so my approach is to create dishes that feel just as vibrant—not by matching the design literally, but by letting the food bring its own sense of movement, texture, and color to the table. The mezze format naturally lends itself to that: a table full of dips, herbs, grilled meats, and bright vegetables becomes its own visual experience. What ties everything together is the sensory layering. The room has its own rhythm, and the menu adds another one; smoky from the grill, fragrant from the spices, fresh from the produce. When those elements meet, the space and the food create a dining experience that feels lively, warm, and a little transportive, which is exactly what Eastern Mediterranean cooking should do.

Ruby: As you look ahead, how do you envision the menu and guest experience evolving while remaining grounded in your Mediterranean roots? 

Quentin: The most important thing for us is holding onto the trust we’ve built with the community. Eastern Mediterranean cuisine is still new for a lot of people in the desert, and we take seriously the responsibility of opening that door, introducing new names, new terminology, and new traditions in a way that feels exciting rather than intimidating. Guests have embraced us, and you can see that in how hard it is to get a reservation. That trust gives us the freedom to keep pushing. What really excites me is bringing in dishes that have never existed in this market before and watching them become new favorites. There’s so much depth to this cuisine, and we’ve only scratched the surface. As the menu evolves, the goal is to stay rooted in the authenticity of Eastern Mediterranean cooking, the techniques, the spices, the stories, while continuing to guide guests deeper into the food of the region. If we can keep expanding that world for people, while staying true to the recipes and processes that define it, then we’re doing exactly what we set out to do.

Positioned as the vibrant gateway to the hotel, Bar Issi perfectly encapsulates the essence of Palm Springs and its mid-century soul. With its bullion-fringed stools, vivid botanical walls, and cohesive pops of pinks, greens, and ambers throughout, the space feels less like a restaurant and more like a lush, maximalist sanctuary hidden from the desert sun. The menu spotlights Italian favorites through a seasonal California lens—from house-made pastas and charred wood-fired pizzas to premium fish and meat selections. Much like the maximalist interior, Bar Issi’s curated precision elevates these nostalgic classics into something as vibrant and unexpectedly remarkable as the space itself.

In a recent interview with Tom Parker, Co-Founder and Creative Director at Fettle Design, I explored the visionary design behind Bar Issi. We delved into his considered approach to the space, his integration of bespoke artwork, and how he navigated the desert’s rugged elements to cultivate a captivating culinary environment for travelers and locals alike.

Ruby: Palm Springs has a distinctly recognizable design legacy. How did you create a space that feels connected to the city while moving beyond its mid-century expectations?

Tom: The starting point of our design narrative for Bar Issi drew inspiration from coastal Italian food concepts. This led us to look at iconic photographer Slim Aarons’ work during his summer trips to the Amalfi Coast. The photos he took of celebrities cavorting, relaxing and dining in homes, restaurants and yachts had a warm, playful and carefree feel. It was this feel we aimed to epitomize with the design of Bar Issi. This comes through in the use of color, such as the bold patterned wallpaper or gold velvet ceiling, and even in the layout with the whole space that centers on the grand oval shaped bar. 

Ruby: When conceptualizing Bar Issi, what served as the initial anchor—the architecture, the atmosphere, or the art?

Tom: The design narrative was all centred around the atmosphere and energy of the space. This dictated our choices in regards to architectural layouts, finishes and art selections.

Ruby: The artwork feels integral rather than decorative. How did you approach curation to ensure it actively shapes the room’s energy and narrative?

Tom: We envisioned the fabric of the architectural finishes to be quite artistic; each surface has a level of detail to it. Whether that’s the mismatched stripe of the wood flooring, the patterns of the furniture and fabric scheme, the blown glass of the wall lights, or the logo inlaid into a penny tile mosaic at the entry. There weren’t really any typical or basic finishes anywhere in the space. This approach was then extended to the art scheme itself.

Ruby: Palm Springs has long attracted artists and creatives. How do you see Bar Issi contributing to that ongoing cultural dialogue?

Tom: Given how playful and energetic Palm Springs is as a place, many of the food and beverage options locally are quite serious and buttoned-up. Our intent was to create a restaurant that feels more social, relaxed and playful, while still feeling chic and somewhere you could really dress up to visit.

Ruby: The desert landscape carries a distinct light, texture, and tonality. In what ways did the surrounding environment influence your material selections and palette?

Tom: The light in Palm Springs, particularly as the sun sets over the mountains west of town, is really unique and crisp. It’s reminiscent of the light and feel of Slim Aarons’ Amalfi Coast photography, which served as the basis for the design narrative. We wanted to embrace this as much as possible by retaining the full height glazing on three sides of the restaurant and really connecting the space to the streetscape of Palm Canyon, the mountains, and the desert beyond.

Ruby: What is one subtle design element you hope guests register subconsciously—something not immediately obvious, yet central to the experience and view?

Tom: Many of the materials in the design are recycled and sustainable. The entire bar top and bar front, as well as all the table tops, are made from recycled yogurt pots from a wonderful company named Smile Plastics. The finishes themselves look quite bold and daring, but the material itself was essentially plastic, headed for landfill. Guests likely won’t ever notice this, but we found it interesting that something which is a waste product can form this jewel box backlit bar—forming the beating heart of this restaurant space.