Desert Princess Hotel Makes Debut : Becomes Vital Part of Resort, Condominium Development

The 385-acre resort includes an 18-hole golf course, 10 lakes, 50 swimming pools, 10 tennis courts, two racquetball courts and a country club.

The $30-million Desert Princess Hotel opens this week at 28211 Desert Princess Drive in Cathedral City as a major element in the Desert Princess Country Club and Resort.

The four-story, 300-room hotel near Landau Boulevard and Vista Chino dominates the 385-acre resort and its more than 1,000 one-story, one- and two-bedroom condominiums and anchors a new destination resort close to the Date Palm Drive interchange of Interstate 10.

Built by a division of Watt Industries, Santa Monica, the hotel was designed by Gin Wong & Associates, AIA, Los Angeles, in sand-tone colors with a 75-foot-wide planter wall, a porte-cochere entrance and a waterfall cascading into an 80-foot-wide pool.

The U-shaped hotel affords views of the San Jacinto Mountain peaks to the west and the Santa Rosa Mountains to the south.

“This complete resort was designed to offer the ultimate in destination resort living with activities for both full-time residents and visitors,” according to developer Ray Watt.

The resort, featuring an 18-hole golf course designed by David Rainville, also features 10 lakes, 50 swimming pools, 10 tennis courts, two racquetball courts, pro shops, health clubs and a country club, according to Austin McReynolds, president of the Watt High Rise Division, builder of the hotel.

The general contractor of the hotel was Baldi Brothers, Beaumont. The firm, under the direction of Pascuale (Pat) Baldi, managed to keep ahead of schedule even when an additional 100 rooms were added, McReynolds said.

Interior designs of all the rooms and suites, the three restaurants and two ballrooms were created by Mario Botacchio of Cannell & Chaffin Interiors, Newport Beach. Six specially designed 12-foot chandeliers are used in the hotel’s grand ballroom and original or limited-edition art, ranging in value upward from $3,500 each, hang in most of the rooms.

More than 8,000 square feet of Italian marble covers the first floor from the lobby and vista lounge. The same marble borders corridor carpets and is used on the threshold of guest rooms and suites.

Landscaping by Ron Gregory of Palm Springs includes hundreds of palm trees and hundreds more specimen trees, along with flowering bushes and seasonal bedded plants.

The hotel is being operated by Princess Cruises Resorts and Hotels Inc., a division of Princess Cruises of television’s “Love Boat” fame. Hotel and condominium bookings have been reserved as far ahead as 1988, according to McReynolds.

Construction of the condominiums, priced from $97,900 to $149,900, is being handled by Robert L. Pippin, president of Watt Industries Palm Springs.

The condominiums are arranged in clusters along the fairways of the golf course and are being sold with an optional furniture package from Cannell & Chaffin, Pippin said. He was named president of Watt Industries Palm Springs last summer.

Next year, Princess Cruises--operators of the cruise ships Pacific Princess, Sun Princes and Royal Princess--will offer a combined travel and resort vacation package with a week or more at the resort and a sea voyage.