The Desert Retreat: Spa Resort Casino/Palm Springs

Making an appointment at Palm Springs’ Spa Resort Casino is easy. I dial the number listed on the website, and after I am on hold about 90 seconds, a live person schedules a 50-minute “signature facial” for the following day. The fee ($120) includes access to a fitness center and a series of saunas, plus the “taking of the waters.”

Getting to the spa proves slightly more challenging. The website lists the address in downtown Palm Springs as 401 E. Amado Road, but that’s the location of the casino. It turns out the spa and pool and hotel are about a block away on North Calle Encilia.

The good news? Valet parking at the spa (and hotel) entrance is free.

All of the Spa Resort Casino attractions sit on land owned by the Agua Caliente band of Cahuilla Indians (who seem to own about half of Palm Springs), and the property houses a handful of quiet reminders of Cahuilla heritage.

Those reminders, however, may be lost on many of the guests, who are perhaps more attracted to the gods of sun and fun.

To get to the spa, I walk through a hotel lobby and past a couple of pools and an outdoor bar. How loud can the live DJ play Lady Gaga? How many cocktails can be consumed by one man before sundown? How many attempted pickups will be consummated in the course of an hour? (Your guess is as good as mine.)

But a mural at the entrance to the spa hints at a different kind of spiritual experience: It depicts Native Americans holding pots and constructing huts. And a nearby sign acknowledges the site’s pre-resort heritage.

It reads: “Dream of the blue frog / Explore the history and lore of the Agua Caliente hot spring … from ancient times to present day use. Wahaatukicnikic (blue frog) is one of the many nukatem (spiritual beings) residing in the hot spring from which shamans obtained knowledge and power.”

Step into the spa and the mood changes. The entrance doubles as the gift shop so it smells, well, as it should, and the waiting lounge is equipped with comfortable couches, water, tea, ice and fruit. There are 88 half-size lockers with the standard robes, rubber slippers and locker keys worn on a plastic coil around the wrist. The facility includes several showers and toilets as well as blow-drying stations. The staff members are helpful but unobtrusive.

The treatment rooms appear pretty typical for a day spa — which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Dim lighting and New Age music emanating from some undetectable source make for an appropriate atmosphere.

The aesthetician asks if I have any allergies or skin issues. (Only the sad ravages of time.) She suggests an extra ($20) collagen treatment, which would have ordinarily prompted a quick no, but her demeanor is so gentle that I immediately acquiesce. And she maintains the congenial manner throughout our time together. She is conversational, not chatty; thorough, not aggressive. During one of the masques, she massages my feet and ankles and arms and hands, and when she works on my palms and the joints in my fingers, I think briefly of leaving my husband — but the thought passes. And so does the time. Fifty minutes flies by too quickly.

According to the spa’s printed literature, prices range from $5 and up for a French upgrade at the nail salon to $350 for a Palm Springs Getaway, which includes a scrub, massage, mini facial and pedicure. A guest looking for a new hairstyle might do some damage as well; a cut and styling for women’s long hair is $55 and up; full foil highlights are $115 and up.

The spa’s signature service is the “taking of the waters,” a process that I explore after the facial. There are four steps to the process, which is supposed to “clear the body and mind of toxins” (and I’ve acquired plenty). The first is a wet sauna, and steam, as it turns out, is not my thing; I exit after about a minute, convinced I have lost the ability to breathe. The dry sauna is more my style; the third room, dedicated to eucalyptus inhalation, is equally pleasant (and dry). After I sweat, I soak in a sunken tub of hot mineral water that is pumped from a natural hot spring (hence the name Agua Caliente).

Ten minutes later, I am led to the Tranquility Room where an attendant places a clean sheet over my robed and bedraggled body and icy cold cotton pads on my eyes. All brain activity ceases — for a while.

Two and a half hours after I start, I make my way to the valet, truly believing I can achieve world peace … until I enter the traffic on nearby Palm Canyon Drive.

Spa Resort Casino/Palm Springs, 401 E. Amado Road, Palm Springs. (760) 778-1772. Open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. https://www.sparesortcasino.com/spa.html