The Hartford CourantTravel Section: California, Las Vegas, and the Southwest Sunday, March 11, 2001
Retro Chic – An Oasis of ’50s Style in the Desert
By Greg Morago
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. – The dishes are turquoise and orange melmac plastic. The sofa is low and linear. The surface of the coffee table is a “Jetson’s” amoeba. The clock on the wall could have come from a Los Angeles coffee shop, circa 1950. The sound of the bossa nova floats across the pool and up through the palms and into the cool of the desert night. The only thing missing? Maybe Frank and Dino with highballs in hand. Certainly the Orbit In, the hottest new boutique hotel in Palm Springs, has the unmistakable look and vibe of the 1950s down pat. It’s so joyously accurate in its witty evocation of mid-century modernism that you half expect the Rat Pack to invade the exclusive 10 room property and cajole guests into a two-day bender of Smirnoff, Lucky Strikes and endless choruses of “Young at Heart”. “I’m waiting for Lucy and Ethel to walk in” said one guest, surveying the Orbit’s guest lounge, which indeed looks very much like the hotel the Ricardos and Mertzes stayed at in Hollywood. If you remember the look of the L.A. episodes, you’ll get a perfect feel for the Orbit’s architectural sensibilities. Retro? Oh, yes. Kitchy? Ummm, no. That’s because kitch, in its purest form, is shallow and mocking. The Orbit In, while paying homage to a time that is often depicted with iconic images of retro kitch, is serious about its celebration of American modernism. Every piece, from the ashtrays to the ice buckets, has been carefully chosen to enhance a specific design aesthetic. In a city that worships architecture of important lines and brash angles, the Orbit In is a mecca for mid-century design, a Lourdes for the revival of Desert Modernism. The Orbit In’s timing is as impeccable as its design. Only 3 weeks old when I visit, the Orbit’s debut coincides with the rediscovery of Palm Springs as an architectural gem. With the world’s greatest concentration of mid-century modern architecture, Palm Springs is suddenly in the pages of the top fashion and design magazines. Icons of modern design such as Albert Frey, Richard Neutra and Raymond Loewy have all left their mark on this desert oasis. The spotlight on Palm Springs as the country’s white-hot center of design fives the Orbit In a chance to show off. Ironically, for a city saturated with great examples of ’50s architecture, there are few hotels that champion the period in its design and furnishings. (Big, modern hotels with multiple pools and golf courses are the Palm Springs norm.) Not so the Orbit. The hotel, in the heart of the historic Tennis Club District, was designed in 1957 by Herbert W. Burns, who was responsible for several of the neighborhood’s classic mid-century inns. In 1999, the property was purchased by Stan Amy and Christy Eugenis, who immediately went to work to turn it into an Inn that reflects the design principles that architects and designers brought to the desert. The renovation was designed by Lance O’Donnell, a young Palm Springs architect, and filled with furnishings by leading designers of the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s, including Ray and Charles Eames, Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, George Nelson, and Isamu Noguchi. You don’t have to be a student of architecture and design to appreciate the Orbit In. Not when it has all the creature comforts of an upscale resort: pool, spa, bar, complimentary continental breakfast and afternoon cocktail hour, as well as guest rooms that feature pillow top beds, refrigerators, coffee makers, CD players, TV’s with VCR’s, Video library, in-room safes, blow dryers, ironing boards and, perhaps the most essential, data ports. The hotel has a fleet of groovy Cruiser bicycles guests may check out to ride around the neighborhood (although the hotel is only a 5 block walk from Palm Canyon Drive, the heart of the Palm Springs village, with a wealth of restaurants, boutiques, cafes and gift shops). My weekend at the Orbit coincides with a Raymond Loewy syumposium in town. The hotel, consequently, seems to be filled with ’50s-design devotees, people who would spend thousands for a chair, lamp or table with the right pedigree. No doubt, they are thrilled to be staying in room appointed with superstars of the design world. The Orbit has delighted its owners so much, they already have purchased another 10 room hotel down the street and soon will be cloning the inn. Let’s raise a martini glass to vintage modernism.