2004
Orbit In - Modern boutique hotel with retro charm
by Gregg Rosenzweig
No town does throwback as well as Palm Springs, and perhaps few executions are as hip as this mid-century modern creation, which endured a 1950s facelift to begin the 21st Century. With the San Jacinto Mountains serving as its dramatic backdrop, Orbit In screams Rat Pack, as it's decked out in designer furnishings from resourceful modern minds such as Charles Eames. Each room has personal touches, from the homemade CD mixes left in the room, with music from Herb Alpert to The Doors, to the kitschy kitchenettes decorated with already-set tables and '50s print advertisements framed on the walls. Catering big time to the modern day lounge lizard, Orbit In has robes that are as soft as the womb chairs are comfortable, and there are free "Orbitini" cocktails (orange juice, cranberry juice and sake) at the pool's boomerang bar each evening and a more-than-suitable continental breakfast every morning to temper bouts with the Irish flu
Presented as two separate properties -- the Oasis (9 rooms) and the Hideaway (9 rooms) -- Orbit In gives guests the option of being accessible to other guest's ogling eyes at the Oasis or staying at Hideaway's more covert setting. At the neighborly Oasis, it's inevitable that you'll make buddies by the pool or at the gratis happy hour. But if hermitizing yourself through spa services is your modus operandi, estheticians and masseuses can come straight to your room to initiate your pamper-fest. For special requests or just general inquiries about Albert Frey's former mountain residence (visible from the pool area), ask the remarkably unimposing staff who're as cool as the bar's luminescent lava lamps.
