[trip style = luxe + sun]

What
Hitting the Palm Springs hotel scene in the late ‘80s, Korakia Pensione is the darling of design bloggers who can’t help but snap its eye-catching vignettes. Two restored villas—next door neighbors in the 1930s—dressed in a Morocco and Mediterranean cues host 29 guest rooms at the base of the San Jacinto Mountains.

Korakia is more haven than hotel. Moroccan daybeds and fuchsia bougainvillea accessorize property, palms pop up in clusters and narrow pathways beg you to explore every corner of the 1.5-acre grounds. Knowing the original hoteliers were a model-photog duo, I understand why every glance looks like a magazine spread.

Rooms vary in size from petite perch to patio suite, each dressed in timeless touches such as stone floors, white walls, rustic antiques and exposed wood-beam ceilings. True to its retreat physique, board games replace in-room TVs and fireside chats sit in for a thumping hotel bar.

At breakfast—Korakia is a bed and breakfast—I sit beside a three-tiered fountain at a wooden table decorated with rustic place settings and a bowl of oranges. Completely taken by the scene, including the palate-cleansing scent, I look up and realize I’m in a citrus grove.

As the day progresses, I roam the grounds eating oranges and photographing every desert detail. While the property is a few blocks from downtown Palm Springs, I can’t tear myself away from the living magazine pages, and hold out for the sunset when the sky turns 50 shades of pink, the lanterns are lit and vintage movies play under a starry sky. At Korakia, staying in is the new going out. Trip Styler approved.

Trip Styler Tip: Ready for more boutique hotel bliss in Palm Springs? Check out my top five picks in an article I penned for the Expedia Viewfinder.

Where
Ten minutes from the Palm Springs Airport or two hours---three in traffic---from LAX.

When
Palm Springs receives 360 days of sun per year; there's no bad time to go. The winter months are a desert dichotomy of warm days and frosty nights, spring and fall are perfection and summer is desert-hot.

Who/Why
Palm Springs' health retreat beginnings bring out your inner vitamin D-loving bohemian {and desire to direct a DIY photoshoot}.

Cost
Winter rates start at $289/night and include breakfast, parking, nightly outdoor movie nights and WiFi. Summer rates hover around $180/night.

Photos