Three's not a crowd:
Treatment rooms here are spacious.
Photo: Desert Springs JW Marriott Resort

Every May, Condé Nast Traveler releases its Hot List, a collection of the best new hotels, spas, restaurants, and nightspots. Check the Daily Traveler every day for a new post from this year's list.

The 21-year-old Desert Springs JW Marriott Resort, a monolithic 800-plus-room Coachella Valley property built around a lake and a golf course, has added a spa, providing watery relief for sun-parched active types. The standard sauna, steam room, and whirlpool have been supplemented by a hammam; just outside, a bin of refreshing herbal-soaked washcloths awaits. The Desert Journey body treatment ($190) is more than an hour of being rubbed in citrus body butter, scrubbed with brown sugar, and prodded with basalt river rocks (with a bit of foot paraffin masking and scalp rubbing thrown in). The only thing missing is an in-room rinse, so guests are left to find the shower in their post-massage narcotized state (massages, $130-$140).

Further reading:
* The resort's Web site
* Hot List 2008
* The Palm Springs Guide
* Hot List on the Daily Traveler