This was our first experience with a vacation club rental. It certainly will not be our last. For our short stay, the Marriott Desert Springs Villa II offered us the 2 bedrooms plus living space that we wanted while traveling with our adult son and his wife. We were fortunate to get a corner unit that afforded both privacy, lots of bright interior space, and two patios overlooking the golf course. The design is interesting. Upon entering the large entrance foyer, which is locked from the outside, you see two doors. The first interior door (locked or open at your preference) leads to the one bedroom suite, complete with full kitchen, dining area overlooking the golf course, a sunken living room with fireplace and TV, a large master bedroom with jacuzzi, and a fully appointed bath accessible from both the master bedroom and the living area. A lovely patio completed that section. The second door from the foyer opens into the second bedroom, which although smaller than the master, includes a mini kitchen, a beautiful bath with jacuzzi tub, and a separate patio. There is no direct access to the main suite from this second bedroom, however. If we had very small children, the design would not have worked for us - particularly with the second patio affording access to the outside. Doors could have been propped open into the foyer for easy access, which would have solved the problem with children of elementary age or older.

We made dinner one night in the kitchen. The area has convenient shopping so finding a supermarket was easy, and after a day in the sun, hiking in Joshua Tree National Park, we all enjoyed just relaxing in the pool, then later on the patio and still later in front of the fire (gas) and TV while preparing a simple dinner.

The staff is wonderfully helpful, as is typically the case with Marriott resorts, and the grounds of the Desert Springs Villa II are meticulously clean and pleasant. Palm Desert and surrounding areas are beautiful and offer tons of activities for non-golfers with other interests. Cons? The kitchen needs some maintenance. (Desert Springs Villas I was undergoing maintenance while we were there and I suspect that Villas II are scheduled for upgrades also.) Appliances are good, but the cabinets are well worn and one of the doors was loose. Also, the several pools scattered amongst the various "neighborhoods" are quite small, as are the hot tubs, and on two occasions, there were no towels. Normally, guests at the Villas have access to the beautiful pool at the JW Marriott hotel next door, so I would not expect this would be a problem at other times. During the week following Christmas, however, the JW Marriott's pool was closed for renovation and maintenance. All in all, this place is a winner and we would not hesitate to go back. 4.5 stars