Best Family Hotels with Pools in Palm Springs, CA

The best family hotels with pools around Palm Springs are the Grand Hyatt Indian Wells, Omni Rancho Las Palmas, the Westin Desert Willow Villas and the JW Marriott Desert Springs, and the Grand Hyatt is the one with the biggest pool day. Its HyTides water park is the largest at any hotel in Greater Palm Springs, with a 450-foot lazy river, dueling waterslides and a splash pad for smaller children. Omni Rancho Las Palmas has Splashtopia, with slides, a lazy river and two splash pads, the Westin villas have a kiddie pool, a waterslide and full kitchens, and the JW Marriott has no slide or kids pool but an arcade for 110-degree afternoons.

At-A-Glance Comparison

Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa

The Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa is in Rancho Mirage, about fifteen minutes down the valley from Palm Springs, and its Splashtopia water park is the reason families book it.

• What it’s like: High-energy and unapologetically about the water park. This is not a quiet desert hotel.
• The Pool: Splashtopia has two water slides, a winding 300-foot lazy river and two splash pads. The splash pads are where under-fives will spend the week, because the slides carry a 42-inch height limit that catches a lot of families out.
• Rooms That Fit a Family: Standard resort rooms, with poolside rooms available at roughly $20 a night extra.
• Walk to the Sand: None, this is the desert. The water park is the substitute and it is a good one.
• Nearest Groceries: Albertsons at 40101 Monterey Avenue in Rancho Mirage, open from 6am.
• Tip: Book a cabana in advance rather than on the day. They come with misters and ceiling fans, which in desert heat is the difference between staying out and going in.

What It Actually Costs: Treat a cabana as part of the price rather than an upgrade. Guests are blunt that renting one is close to mandatory if you want shade and a seat, and the ones who skip it describe hunting for a single chair.

Good to know: Splashtopia fills up and gets loud after about 1pm. Without a cabana you are given a wristband good for four hours, and reviewers say you need to be at the pool at 9am or 2pm on the dot to get anything at all. Go early, take the middle of the day off, come back later.

Skip It If: your children are under 42 inches and the slides are the draw, or you were hoping for a calm poolside week. Neither is what this resort sells.

Grand Hyatt Indian Wells Resort & Villas

The Grand Hyatt Indian Wells Resort & Villas, renamed from the Hyatt Regency, sits in Indian Wells about twenty-five minutes from Palm Springs and holds a 4.0 out of 5 on TripAdvisor across roughly 343 reviews.

• What it’s like: A 530-room desert mega-resort built around its water park, with two golf courses and a spa attached.
• The Pool: HyTides is the largest hotel water park in Greater Palm Springs and it is not close. There is a 450-foot lazy river, 220 feet of dueling waterslides and a splash pad for smaller children, spread across multiple pools including an adults-only one.
• Rooms That Fit a Family: Double queen rooms with a pull-out sleep five comfortably according to guests, so a family of five does not automatically need two rooms.
• Walk to the Sand: None. In this valley the water park is the beach.
• Nearest Groceries: Ralphs at 74884 Country Club Drive in Palm Desert, or Trader Joe’s at 44250 Town Center Way, both a short drive.
• Tip: Camp Hyatt takes children from 3 to 12 and builds its activities around the desert itself. It is a small daily program rather than an all-day club, so use it for a specific window rather than planning the day around it.

What It Actually Costs: Self-parking runs about $19 to $35 a night and valet $40 to $50, with a daily resort fee on top. Confirm both when booking, because the parking range is wide.

Good to know: Crowding is the recurring theme. One guest said the lazy river “wasn’t very relaxing” on a busy weekend, and seating is limited enough that finding a lounge chair at peak is a genuine problem. Restaurants are described as understaffed and housekeeping as inconsistent.

Skip It If: you want quiet. This is the biggest water park in the valley and it is priced and populated accordingly.

JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa

At the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa in Palm Desert, gondolas run through the lobby waterways and kids genuinely do stop to watch. It rates 3.9 out of 5 across about 3,126 TripAdvisor reviews, 12th of Palm Desert’s 25 hotels.

• What it’s like: Grand and theatrical, built around lakes and waterways, with black swans and koi in the lobby channels.
• The Pool: Five resort pools with mountain views, and this is the honest part: there is no waterslide and no dedicated children’s pool. The water here is for floating and cooling off, not for entertaining a seven-year-old all afternoon.
• Rooms That Fit a Family: Large rooms on beautiful grounds, though guests consistently describe the decor as aging.
• Walk to the Sand: None. The lakes are ornamental rather than swimmable.
• Nearest Groceries: Ralphs at 74884 Country Club Drive is the closest, with Jensen’s at 73601 Highway 111 open from 7am.
• Tip: The JW Entertainment Zone is a 12,000 square foot arcade with duckpin bowling and sports simulators. On a 110-degree afternoon that is the actual answer, not the pool.

What It Actually Costs: Parking is now charged at roughly $12 for three hours and $18 beyond that, a recent change that draws real anger in reviews from returning guests. Covered poolside seating is a paid extra and frequently sells out.

Good to know: The resort hosts large conferences, and when it is full the reviews turn sharply. One guest described the pool area as feeling like a crowded theme park rather than a resort, and lounge chairs are described as extremely hard to come by. Check whether a big event overlaps your dates.

Skip It If: the pool is meant to entertain the children. There is no slide and no kids pool, and this is the weakest water offering of the four here.

Westin Desert Willow Villas

The Westin Desert Willow Villas is the highest-ranked property on this page, 4th of Palm Desert’s 25 hotels with a 4.0 out of 5 across about 1,643 TripAdvisor reviews. It is a villa resort, so you get a kitchen and a laundry rather than a hotel room.

• What it’s like: Quiet and residential, set against a golf course and the Sonoran desert. Nobody is here for a party.
• The Pool: Four outdoor pools including a dedicated kiddie pool, a 159-foot waterslide, a whirlpool spa and a poolside bar. Cabanas are available, which in this climate matters more than it does anywhere else in this guide.
• Rooms That Fit a Family: Villas with full kitchens or well-equipped kitchenettes, washers and dryers in the unit, and furnished balconies. The laundry is the detail that changes how much you pack.
• Walk to the Sand: None. There are hiking trails and basketball courts on the property instead.
• Nearest Groceries: Trader Joe’s at 44250 Town Center Way opens at 8am, and Albertsons at 74590 Highway 111 from 6am.
• Tip: A kitchen plus an in-unit washer means one bag less and no restaurant negotiation at breakfast. Combined with the kiddie pool it is the lowest-effort option on this page.

What It Actually Costs: There are no resort fees here, which is unusual in this valley and worth real money against the others on this list. Wi-Fi is included.

Good to know: This is a Marriott Vacation Club property, so expect the offer of a sales presentation at check-in and be ready to decline it. It is also deliberately quiet and set away from Palm Springs itself, so plan on driving for evenings out.

Skip It If: you want walkable restaurants and nightlife. This one is a base for a slow week, not a night out.

FAQs About Family Trips to Palm Springs

When is the best time for a pool trip?

Spring or fall. It is warm enough to swim, the crowds are thinner than in the holiday breaks, and the summer heat is gone.

Can you stay on the resort the whole trip?

At the Grand Hyatt and Omni Rancho Las Palmas, mostly yes, with a water park and restaurants on site and Camp Hyatt at the Grand Hyatt. The Westin villas are set apart from town, so plan to drive for evenings out.

Should I book a poolside room?

With younger children who still nap, yes. A room near the pool makes quiet time an easy walk away.

More Family Travel Guides for Palm Springs:

• Top Family-Friendly Activities in Palm Springs, CA