On a recent trip to Palm Springs we indulged in lunch at The Barn, a restaurant at the hotel Sparrows Lodge. No matter where I found a review pop up for the Barn, it always got rave reviews. And I tell you that after having lunch there I can’t give it anything less. First of all the setting: I asked our server if the building we saw from our table (see below) was originally The Barn. And yes, she assured me, that was the original barn, there since 1952. But a barn by name only, as I later found out. Castle’s Red Barn was originally built as a resort to escape the rigors of Hollywood. The last restoration of the property was done in 2013. It included updates to the first buildings that were there.
Love that Old Barn:
A Palm Springs Lunch
We started our lunch with guacamole, chips and wine. I wanted to have as much unrushed time as we could get in our relaxed surroundings. My chicken with green salad, hearty and delicious, lived up to the promise of “uncomplicated, rustic American cuisine.” It was what I hoped for that afternoon. You could tell the ingredients were sourced fresh from the surrounding local farms of the Coachella Valley.
The Garden in the Back
We lingered awhile after finishing our wine. Directly behind the tables I spotted a little garden and some fruit trees. There were chairs for a garden escape.
The Rooms
We were invited in, also, to see one of the guest rooms in the back. It seems that they all have, as this room did, a private little patio beyond the bed and sliding glass doors. I peeked into the bathroom which had one of the bathtubs I had read about. They are converted horse troughs all bristle clean and ready for a total body immersion. Other bathrooms have rain showers. I was happy to see, but not too surprised, that Sparrows Lodge was named one of Travel and Leisure’s Top 500 Hotels of 2022. You can read about Sparrows Inn here: https://sparrowslodge.com/
And a Pool!
We passed through the Barn to exit to the other side and the pool. There are additional rooms on each side of the pool. It seemed like a lovely place to return to after busy days and evenings in Palm Springs. I might also mention here that they have special open table dinners on some evenings, reservations needed. But for this afternoon we were off to our next adventure: the Palm Springs Art Museum.
Check the post about our afternoon at the museum: https://roadtosuchness.compalm-springs-art-museum
