Parker Palm Springs in Palm Springs

I’m compelled to leave a review following my recent experience at The Parker Palm Springs. This place is super cool - vintage, quirky, truly special. The room service is so attentive, it’s almost creepy. Yes, that’s a good thing. Generally speaking, they make you feel special there. I’m writing a mixed review though, so here we go… What, I must pose, is the objective of a 5-star resort? Presumably, it is to provide patrons with an extraordinary experience, and to make some money by doing so. The Parker accomplishes the former well. The latter, in my experience, was disconcertingly deceptive. I hold two doctorates. One of them is a PhD (auditory neuroscience). I’ve learned that when conducting research, it is imperative to obtain informed consent from every single participant. They must know what to expect. The appropriate information is intentionally made overt. During my checkout at the Parker, there was an unexpected $419 charge. I do realize for some people, that quantity of money is trivial. It is not trivial for me. I was NOT informed that there was a charge for laundry. There was no receipt or anything that I signed when they took my clothes, nor when they returned my clothes. No staff member spoke of any applicable fee-for-service. I expressed my concerns at the front desk during checkout. The receptionist was very polite. After speaking with his supervisor, they offered a discount on the service. Even a 50% discount was over $200. This was a small load of essential laundry we’re talking about (mostly socks and underwear). I would have gladly washed the clothes myself if I knew there was this charge… Anyway, just beware of this type of stuff when staying at The Parker. Do yourself a favor and ask if there is an extra charge FOR ANYTHING you wish to do, and ANY service they provide there. I hope this review helps people avoid the unfortunate experience I dealt with at the end.