Family Tips for a Kern River Rafting and Glamping Trip

From spa treatments and blue zone-inspired wellness to pools, flamingos and family activities, here’s why this Palm Desert resort is worth the trip.

Until recently, I never understood the appeal of escaping to the desert for a summer vacation. Why swap a mild L.A. summer for a dry and brown furnace intent on sucking every drop of moisture out of your hair, skin and throat?

In the middle of L.A.’s “June gloom,” I left behind our 70-degree weather for a scorching high of 109 in Palm Desert, which averages about 300 days of sunshine per year.

On the drive, I consoled myself with imaginings of sparkling lagoons and spa tubs, crystal bowls and chimes and the feel of cool hotel-room air on my skin. This was, after all, a solo retreat to one of Palm Desert’s oases: JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa. 

I wanted to see how Spa Desert Springs incorporates treatments, wellness tech and practices inspired by those who live in the world’s blue zones — five regions across the globe where researchers have found people live exceptionally long, active lives.

Who doesn’t want to live to 100, especially if they can do so in reasonably good health? I hope to still be dancing, writing up a storm, making new friends of all ages and seeing new-to-me parts of the world well into my 10^th decade. 

A girl can dream. Especially when she’s on a solo retreat.

Best Desert Advice: Hydrate, Eat Light, Embrace the Night

I didn’t need to run the A/C for the first part of my drive, but I switched it on as my car floated into an invisible cave of heat that had me reaching for my water bottle. It was already warm. Luckily, I had stopped in Rowland Heights for two throat soothers: a jelly-lychee drink and coconut-pineapple juice, so I sipped on those until I pulled into the resort’s self-parking garage. 

I decided to leave my bags in the car and relax in my room with no agenda until the sun said its final goodbye. On the way to the checkout desk, I saw a table holding two large containers of ice water — one with orange slices and one with cucumbers. I drank a glass of each. 

The lobby was buzzing with activity. Folks were seated around the bar at Aquifer65 (which serves California cuisine, bar bites and sushi), watching the FIFA World Cup. A few families with children were waiting in line to board boats for the sunset cruise around the resort’s lakes. The boat rides are $5-$10, depending on the day and time. 

Set on 450 acres of desert gardens, lakes and mountain views, the hotel is Palm Desert’s largest resort, with 884 guest rooms.

From my 7^th-floor room balcony, the sun was casting a pink light across the jagged edges of the San Jacinto Mountains. I could see couples and families dining on Rockwood Grill’s patio to my left, lit-up boats sailing across the wide lake in front of me and people soaking in the cool waters of the three Oasis pools tucked in the center of the lake. 

The sound of water runs throughout the resort, a soundtrack that seems to cool things off. A little.

Once the sun was nowhere to be found, I slipped out of my room and descended to the walking path surrounding the lake, familiarizing myself with the location of the restaurants and my main reason for being here: the spa. Before I left, I stashed my water bottle and the hotel’s courtesy waters in my room’s fridge — treats to look forward to after my daring venture into the hot, hot night. 

I took at peek inside Mikado Japanese Steakhouse, which offers a classic teppanyaki experience where the entertainment is as much a part of the main course as the food. Guests sat around a sizzling grill while chefs put on a lively, family-friendly show. The menu features steak, chicken and seafood cooked right in front of you, along with sushi options if you want something lighter. I backed out, deciding to save this bit of theater for a return visit with family. 

After locating the spa, I circled back to the hotel to check out a popular family venue: JW Entertainment Zone, a 12,000-square-foot space that just so happens to be California’s largest resort arcade. You’ll find Pac-Man, Skee-Ball, duckpin bowling, simulators, racing games and many more machines lighting up the space. There’s also a movie lounge with beanbags to stretch out on. The film of the night was “A Goofy Movie.” I smiled at a little girl tugging on her father’s hand. “Let’s watch the movie,” she said, and he followed her lead without protest. 

Like most of us parents when we get to treat ourselves to some me-time, I thought of my own son. Even at 19, he’d love it here, heading straight for what he considered “vintage” games.  

By the time I retrieved my bags and returned to my room, the temperature had tiptoed to 86 degrees. I ran my bubble bath in the deep oval tub flanked by shutters exposing it to the room. Under this additional sound of water, I sipped my refrigerated H20 and nibbled on a yellowtail roll I picked up from Aquifer65. 

It was a perfect bath and dinner. In fact, Japanese cuisine, seafood and salad turned out to my only nutritional sources during my entire stay. Light, tasty, satisfying and, most importantly, cool.

It’s Spa Time

Like many people around the world, I was mesmerized by Netflix’s “Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones.” In the early 2000s, National Geographic explorer Dan Buettner set out to decode the secrets of longevity. His expeditions unveiled the world’s five “blue zones” — Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Ikaria, Greece; Nicoya, Costa Rica and Loma Linda, Calif. — areas with the highest rates of living centenarians.

Buettner dubbed the habits and characteristics these regions share as the “Power 9” — from natural movement to having a strong purpose to being part of the “right tribe” for you.

After bingeing the docuseries, I was determined to increase my practice of these habits. First, I scoured grocery stores looking for the “magic” purple Japanese yam featured in the series. And while I’m a bonafide gym rat, I push myself to walk in nature, including a weekly walk with a big, all-ages neighborhood group. We stop to point at flowers, coo over a gaggle of front-yard roosters, eat mulberries from Dan’s wild “sidewalk farm” in our dense urban neighborhood.

Still, I’m always on the hunt to find additional ways to effectively reduce my stress levels, and lying face-down for a treatment at Spa Desert Springs is an activity I would gladly do daily. Each experience blends local tradition, natural elements and longevity-focused practices inspired by the blue zones, Spa Director Dawn Ferraro told me during our tour.

Palm Desert’s largest spa, it spans 38,000 square feet and includes a shop and Spa Bistro, which serves light and refreshing meals representing the culinary culture of each blue zone.

 “Live to 100” highlighted how Okinawa has long been nicknamed “Land of the Immortals.” Feeling inspired, I signed up for the Okinawa treatment, a nourishing body wrap that blends hand-harvested rice, clay, seaweed and botanicals to hydrate, brighten and smooth skin while reducing dullness and signs of aging. 

My appointment was set for late afternoon. Early that morning, I ate a salad for breakfast on Rockwood Grill’s patio, watching the black swans glide across the lake. My son FaceTimed me, and I was not annoyed in the least to share my time with him. I pointed the phone toward the lake. “That’s beautiful, Mom,” he said. “I’m so happy for you.”

At lunchtime, I sauntered over to Spa Bistro, choosing the Okinawa Bowl (sweet potato glass noodles, shaved carrots, cilantro, miso-honey vinaigrette and chili crunch topped with a hot-smoked salmon fillet) and a blackberry cocktail, remembering not to overeat. My taste buds were tingly and satiated, a foreshadowing of my treatment.

In the candlelit, calm music-filled Couple’s Spa Suite featuring two plush massage tables and a massive tub, Miranda worked miracles on my sore body, gently wrapping it in the rice mixture that included uplifting scents of peppermint, lime and eucalyptus. “Any problem areas I should know about?” she asked, and I told her I’d recently been to the doctor for foot pain. My podiatrist, in fact, was suggesting the impossible: That I take at least a monthlong break from my beloved Zumba classes. 

As Miranda massaged away the hurt, the prospect of cutting back my seven-day-a-week workout schedule seemed a little less anxiety producing. Why have I so doggedly worked out past these chronic pains? I thought. And why don’t I reward my muscles, joints and bones more with recovery? 

The 90-minute treatment included a cooling rice bath and, to my delight, a rubber ducky! Who knew a childhood toy could be a meditative device? As I pushed the ducky towards my feet and watched it float back toward me, I was entranced. Deep in a zone that maybe, just maybe, was blue.

The spa also has gender-separate and co-ed relaxation lounges, a spa wardrobe, an aromatic hammam, Finnish sauna and a Turkish steam room. After my treatment, I had about an hour until closing time. I chose to spend it in the spa’s first interactive co-ed wellness lounge, which integrates wellness with technology and features 15 state-of-the-art lounge chairs designed for relaxation and rejuvenation. 

While I’ll never submit to a robot giving me a body treatment, I sank happily into the MindSync Chair, reclined and donned headphones. Ferraro chose the “emotional reset” option on the screen. The music, designed to synchronize brainwaves, made me feel as though I was simultaneously flying and grounded. After the first session stopped, I hit “soul soak” and had no idea I’d fallen asleep until an employee woke me. 

The spa was closing. It was time to go.

“Oh my goodness! So sorry,” I yelped.

 “Don’t be embarrassed,” Ferraro said. “It just means you needed the rest, and Miranda did a great job.” 

I asked her what I should check out in town, and she launched into how beautiful the Shops at El Paseo are at night. Mid-sentence, though, she changed her recommendation. “You know, the best thing might be for you to go to your room, order room service and rest for the rest of the night.”

She was right. I don’t even remember how I got into bed. 

Rising with the Desert Sun

I rose just before dawn the next day and went to sit out on the balcony. It was only 83 degrees, and the breeze did not yet feel like invisible fire. I sat down on the chair, then gasped when I looked across the table to discover that I was not alone. 

A mourning dove was perched on the chair opposite me, her head bowed, her chest inflated like a balloon. She side-eyed me. I left her alone. We watched the sun begin to wake up the mountains.

As the light grew stronger, the dove began to move. Fluffing her feathers to wake them up, to get herself ready for the day. Your tai chi, I thought. 

When she finally flew away, I stood and did a few stretches of my own, then went down to visit the Chilean flamingos, a delightful draw for early risers like me and the families with children who would make their way down later, perhaps after a breakfast of pancakes and sausage.

While my purpose in the desert was to find respite through the resort’s innovative wellness offerings, I appreciated that the property also creates meaningful ways for people of all ages to connect.

The promise of blue zones, Buettner says in “Live to 100,” is “to get every good year we can get out of this body of ours.” And that includes purposeful time alone and with our right tribes.

 Family Fun on the Resort 

• Families can enjoy 5 pools at JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa. 
• Play golf on 2 Ted Robinson-designed championship golf courses.
• The Desert Springs Tennis Club has 8 pickleball courts. 
• Guests have complimentary access to the 18-hole mini championship putting course, with clubs available for all ages.
• Take electric boat rides across the resort’s lakes and waterways. These set sail from the lobby. The resort’s lakes are home to swans, flamingos and other aquatic wildlife cared for by the on-site conservation team. 
• The 12,000-square-foot JW Entertainment Zone is California’s largest resort arcade, featuring Pac-Man, Skee-Ball, duckpin bowling, simulators, racing games and more. 
• The JW Family Passport program offers activities for all ages, including nature walks, family yoga, flamingo feedings, scavenger hunts, trivia nights and ice cream socials, with prizes for participation.
• The resort’s Hot Shoppe serves nostalgic treats including root beer floats and ice cream.
• The hotel’s “Paws & Pamper” program for VIPs (Very Important Pets) offers dog-friendly in-room amenities and pet spa items such as lavender blankets and CBD treats for four-legged guests.
• Access to bike rentals, fish feeding and group fitness (18 and up).
• To view and book resort activities, visit JW Marriott Desert Springs activities calendar.

Cassandra Lane is a mom, author and editor-in-chief of L.A. Parent.