Thompson Palm Springs Opening 2023 (Hopefully)

While there’s still not an official opening date, it’s looking likely that the planned Thompson Palm Springs will welcome its first guests in 2023. The hotel website is now up, and we also know what World of Hyatt category the property will be. Let’s start with a bit of background.

The abandoned Andaz Palm Springs project

Back in 2015 it was announced that an Andaz would be coming to Palm Springs. At the time the plan was for the 150-room hotel to open in 2016. For those of you not familiar with Andaz, this is Hyatt’s luxury(ish) lifestyle hotel brand, with properties in popular destinations around the world.

The reality is that this property was already in the pipeline long before it was announced that it would be branded as a Hyatt, as the four acre plot of land has been under development in some form for roughly a decade.

For years the development seemed to be cursed in just about every way imaginable, with endless allegations of breach of contract, lack of payment to contractors, etc. In mid-2020 the hotel landed in bankruptcy court, with the controlling entity selling its stake in the property.

Fortunately there has been some significant progress on this property recently, and there are still plans for it to be a Hyatt.

Basics of the planned Thompson Palm Springs

With the project under new ownership, the plan for the past 18 months or so has been for the property to become the Thompson Palm Springs. For those not familiar, Thompson is another one of Hyatt’s lifestyle brands, with a big emphasis on food & beverage outlets that are popular with locals.

We still don’t have an official opening date for the property, but everything I’ve heard suggests that the hotel should open in 2023, possibly as early as summer. The Thompson Palm Springs now has its own dedicated Hyatt website, and we know that this will be a Category 5 World of Hyatt property when it opens. The hotel isn’t yet accepting reservations, though I’ll be sure to post when that changes.

I imagine the design will change somewhat compared to the original project. Below are the few renderings we have of the Thompson Palm Springs, as opposed to the initial plans for the Andaz Palm Springs.

Another awesome California addition for Hyatt

A few general notes about this property specifically, and about Hyatt’s overall footprint in California. I like Palm Springs a lot, though it’s not a place I visit often, simply because I live in Florida. There are a few reasons I’m excited about this property:

• Personally I probably wouldn’t travel cross country to visit Palm Springs as a standalone trip, though what I love so much about California is the geographic diversity, so this would be great as part of a bigger trip to California; this will also be awesome for those in SoCal who are looking for a weekend getaway
• Palm Springs…