The best family hotels in Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley
Written October 2026
Where to sleep in Palm Springs with kids, which hotels are adults only, and which pool is worth the whole booking.
You found a gorgeous Palm Springs hotel with a pink door and a pool you want to live in. Then you scroll down and read the words "adults only." It happens a lot here. So the first job of a Palm Springs family hotel list is to say which places actually want your kids, and every hotel on this page does.
The second job is the pool, because in the desert the pool is the trip. Some of these have a separate kids' pool and a sandbox. A few have real water parks, with slides and a lazy river. We say plainly which is which, and we don't call a pool a water park when it isn't one.
It's sorted by where you sleep. Downtown Palm Springs is walkable to dinner and ice cream, and the aerial tramway is a short drive. The resorts down the valley, in Rancho Mirage, Indian Wells, Palm Desert and La Quinta, are where the slides are, and they put you close to the zoo in Palm Desert. They're a real drive from downtown, so you trade walkable evenings for water.
Short on time? A kids' pool and a sandbox, downtown: the Renaissance. Every room a suite, downtown: the Hyatt. A water park: the Omni Rancho Las Palmas or the Grand Hyatt Indian Wells. Dozens of pools to hop between: La Quinta Resort.
How we picked
These are hotels we'd send a friend with small kids to. The facts under each one come from the hotel's own pages, its brand's page and its Play Day listing. Several big hotel sites wouldn't load for us, so where we couldn't read a hotel's own page, we went by what its official pages say in search. If a fact is missing, we couldn't confirm it (not that the answer is no).
We left out hotels whose family details we couldn't confirm, however pretty they are, and we haven't listed any that turn kids away.
Downtown Palm Springs
Stay here if you want to walk to dinner, the splash pad downtown and an ice cream, and be at the aerial tramway in a short drive. What you give up: the big water parks are down the valley, and the zoo in Palm Desert is a half-hour drive.
Hyatt Palm Springs
Downtown
The easy pick: it's an all-suite hotel, so the kids get a second room and you get a door to close. It's on Palm Canyon Drive, a short walk from downtown's restaurants.
Ask for a cabana suite on the ground floor. It has its own patio, and the pool is a short walk from your door, which makes nap time simple. The pool is outdoors and heated.
- Suites
- Yes
- Fridge
- Yes
- Pool
- Yes, heated
- Laundry
- Yes
Renaissance Palm Springs Hotel
Downtown
The best pool setup downtown for small kids. Next to the main pool there's a separate kids' pool and a big sandbox, so toddlers have a place of their own.
Downtown is a short walk away, and the hotel runs a shuttle if the heat says no. For a kid who just wants water and sand, this one wins.
- Pool
- Yes
- Laundry
- Yes
Kimpton Rowan Palm Springs Hotel
Downtown
The stylish one that still takes kids: you can book it with kids on the hotel's own site. The pool is up on the roof, with mountain views, and the hotel sits in the middle of downtown.
It's a boutique hotel, so it's more grown-up than the others in this section. We'd pick it for older kids, and we couldn't confirm a kids' pool or a set family room setup, so call before you count on one.
- Suites
- Yes
- Pool
- Yes
The valley resorts
Pick one of these if the hotel is the trip. Slides, big pools and activities mean you can skip the midday drive, and from Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert the zoo is close. What you give up: downtown Palm Springs and the tramway are a drive back up the valley, and dinner usually means the car.
Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa
Rancho Mirage
The water park one. Splashtopia has slides, a lazy river, a sandy beach and a splash area for the youngest kids, and lifeguards on duty make it easier to relax. The slides have a height minimum, so check your kid's height first.
The hotel offers a Pack-and-Play for little ones. Rooms are by the lobby, the lake or the pool, so ask for a poolside room and you'll hear Splashtopia from bed (which is fine at 9am and less fine at 6am).
- Pool
- Yes
- Kids' activities
- Yes
Grand Hyatt Indian Wells Resort & Villas
Indian Wells
The other water park pick. HyTides has two dueling slides, a lazy river and a splash pad for little kids, and the resort has several more pools if you want a quieter one.
Most rooms are standard hotel rooms, but there are also suites and two-bedroom villas for a bigger group. We couldn't confirm kitchens in the villas, so ask before you book if cooking matters.
- Pool
- Yes
The Westin Rancho Mirage Golf Resort & Spa
Rancho Mirage
A big, spread-out resort where the Las Brisas pool has waterslides. It's a pool-and-slides weekend rather than a water park, and for most kids that's plenty.
There's a duckpin bowling alley on the property too, so a rainy or too hot afternoon has a backup plan.
- Pool
- Yes
- Kids' activities
- Yes
Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa
Indian Wells
The one for toddlers. The main pool has a zero-entry sandy beach, so little kids can wade in slowly, and Camp Esmeralda runs crafts and face painting.
Rooms with two queens or a king with a sofa bed sleep four, and there are suites too. It's a resort, so dinner is on property or in the car.
- Pool
- Yes
- Kids' activities
- Yes
JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa
Palm Desert
The resort is the entertainment: gondola boats ride the waterways through the grounds, and an arcade zone with duckpin bowling and air hockey, plus lawn games, fill the gaps between swims.
It's about twenty minutes from the zoo and the Children's Discovery Museum, and about half an hour from downtown Palm Springs. It has no water park, so pick this for the setting and the boats, not for slides.
- Pool
- Yes
- Kids' activities
- Yes
La Quinta Resort & Club, Curio Collection by Hilton
La Quinta
The pool-hopper's pick at the east end of the valley, with dozens of pools in all. Some of the pools are adults only, so ask which one is the family pool and whether there's a kids' pool.
Rooms are in white-washed casitas spread around the grounds, and a few suites have kitchenettes. It's the farthest from the tramway and a short drive to the zoo, so it works best when the resort is the plan.
- Pool
- Yes
Adults-only hotels
Plenty of Palm Springs boutique hotels are adults only, and they mean it. Check on the hotel's own site before you fall for a photo, and look for a line about guests' ages. Every hotel on this page takes kids.
Water parks and kids' pools
Real water parks: the Omni Rancho Las Palmas and the Grand Hyatt Indian Wells, both with slides and a lazy river. The Westin Rancho Mirage has waterslides at its Las Brisas pool. La Quinta Resort has dozens of pools to choose from. The Renaissance Palm Springs has a separate kids' pool with a sandbox, and the Renaissance Esmeralda has a sandy zero-entry beach. In summer, hot pools get hotter than you'd like, so go early and late.
Questions
Which Palm Springs hotels have a pool for kids?
The Renaissance Palm Springs has a separate kids' pool and a sandbox next to the main pool, and the Hyatt Palm Springs has a heated outdoor pool a short walk from its cabana suites. Down the valley, the Omni Rancho Las Palmas and the Grand Hyatt Indian Wells go much bigger, with slides and lazy rivers, and La Quinta Resort has dozens of pools.
Which Palm Springs hotels have a water park?
The Omni Rancho Las Palmas in Rancho Mirage has Splashtopia, with slides, a lazy river and a sandy beach. The Grand Hyatt Indian Wells has HyTides, with two slides, a lazy river and a splash pad. Both are down the valley, not downtown.
Where should we stay in Palm Springs with kids?
Downtown at the Hyatt or the Renaissance if you want to walk to dinner and be close to the tramway. A valley resort, like the Omni, the Grand Hyatt or La Quinta Resort, if the pool is the trip and you'd rather not drive between swims.
Are Palm Springs hotels adults only?
A lot of the small boutique ones are, so check each hotel's own site. The big hotels downtown and the resorts down the valley on this page take kids.
Which Palm Springs hotels have suites for kids?
The Hyatt Palm Springs is all suites, and its ground-floor cabana suites open toward the pool. The Renaissance Esmeralda has rooms that sleep four and more than a hundred suites, and the Grand Hyatt Indian Wells has suites and two-bedroom villas.
Which Palm Springs hotel is closest to The Living Desert zoo?
The JW Marriott Desert Springs in Palm Desert is about twenty minutes from the zoo, by the hotel's own count. The valley resorts are all closer to it than downtown Palm Springs is.
Photos
Hyatt Palm Springs: Farragutful (CC BY-SA 4.0) · La Quinta Resort & Club, Curio Collection by Hilton: Coolcaesar (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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