The Miramonte Resort & Spa in Indian Wells

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One Palm-Springs-area hotel that I have long wanted to vacation at – not because it is a filming location, but because it is just simply beautiful – is the Miramonte Resort & Spa in Indian Wells.  The Grim Cheaper and I ate dinner at the resort once upon a time many years back and I have been enamored of the place ever since.  So for our recent Coachella Valley getaway two weekends ago, I begged the GC to book us a room there.  And even though the rates weren’t exactly inexpensive despite the intense summer heat, he readily agreed!  Shocking, I  know!  It was not until the very end of our stay, as we were checking out of the hotel, that I discovered, thanks to the super nice concierge on duty, that the resort was not only something of a celebrity hot-spot, but also a filming location!  They say that the more you think about something, the more you attract that thing to you and in this particular instance that was definitely the case.  It seems I always find myself stalking, even when I am not necessarily intending to.  Winking smile

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The Miramonte Resort & Spa, which has been awarded Four Diamond status from AAA, boasts 215 spacious guest rooms sprawled throughout an 11-acre piece of property that has been designed to resemble a Tuscan villa.  The well-manicured grounds include several flower and herb gardens, outdoor fireplaces and piazzas, meandering pathways, hammocks tucked away in shaded little spaces, sparkling fountains, 24-hour room service (LOVE it!), a two-story, 12,000-square-foot spa, which was named the “#1 Resort Spa in North America & Caribbean” by Conde Nast Traveler, two 18-hole championship golf courses, two pools, including an adults-only pool, and over 30,000 square feet of event and meeting space.  And while the resort is quite large and boasts countless amenities, it somehow manages to retain an intimate, secluded, and quiet ambiance.  Both the GC and I absolutely loved the place!

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Best of all, we somehow got upgraded to a 425-square-foot “Estate Room” during our stay, which featured a full marble bathroom, two queen-sized ‘Desert Dream Beds’, a sitting area, free wireless internet (which the GC was absolutely floored about), a 42-inch flat screen TV, and striking views of the Santa Rosa Mountains.

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The Miramonte’s SUPER-nice concierge, who spent about twenty minutes speaking with me about filming locations and my website, informed me that The Real Housewives of Orange County had once filmed at the hotel.  In the Season 6 episode titled “Body Shots”, Housewife Peggy Tanous and her husband, Micah, spent the weekend with their two daughters, Capri and London, in the Miramonte’s Presidential Suite.  It was while laying by the resort’s pool that baby Capri cut her finger and had to be rushed to the hospital – which was just a slight overreaction to the situation in my opinion, but I digress.

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The concierge also informed me that in the Season 1 episode of Flavor of Love titled “Flav’s Trippin’”, Flavor Flav took contestants Brooke Thompson, aka “Pumkin”, and Nicole Alexander, aka “Hoopz”, to the Miramonte for a spa getaway.  Just a few of the other celebrities who have been spotted at the resort include Larry King, three-time Olympic figure skating World Champion Peggy Fleming, Bernie Mac, George Lopez, Tony Bennett, Tommy Hilfiger, Chris Tucker, and Judy Sheindlin, aka “Judge Judy”.

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On a side note – while at my parents’ new house this past weekend, I came across a few celebrity autographs that I had compiled over the years, including the one pictured above from Miss Liza Minnelli.  And even though, because I have always been far more into photographs than autographs, there are not that many of them, I thought it might be fun to post a few on my site.  So I created a new page titled “Celebrity Guest Book”.  You can check it out here.  Enjoy!

And a very big HAPPY ANNIVERSARY goes out to my parents today, who are celebrating a whopping 37 years of marriage!  Congratulations, guys!  I love you!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The Miramonte Resort & Spa is located at 45000 Indian Wells Lane in Indian Wells.  You can visit the hotel’s official website here.

Kyle Richards’ Former Palm Springs House

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Last weekend, the Grim Cheaper and I once again headed out to Palm Springs for a little weekend getaway and while there I, of course, just had to drag him out to stalk the vacation home formerly belonging to Kyle Richards and her husband, Mauricio Umansky, which was featured in the Season 1 episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills titled “Chocolate Louboutins”.  I found this location thanks to a Real Housewives message board on the Survivor Sucks website and wrongly assumed that it was going to be quite the easy little stalk.  And I should mention here that I absolutely CANNOT stand Kyle Richards (I think the woman is just a big ol’ bully who completely manipulates her older sister, child star Kim Richards), but because I love the show, I was absolutely dying to stalk the residence.  So, the GC and I headed right on over there while killing time before grabbing dinner with his boss our first night in the Desert.  Things did not turn out quite as planned, though, as we arrived at our destination only to discover that it was located inside of the private and gated Indian Wells Country Club!  Yes, this particular stalk was a definite fail!

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As you can see in the above photographs, the only part of the neighborhood visible from the street is the guard shack.

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Sadly, not much can be see via aerial views, either.

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In the “Chocolate Louboutins” episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Kyle and Mauricio invite their friends Lisa Vanderpump and Ken Todd, as well as Kyle’s sister Kim and her four children to spend Easter Weekend at their family home in the Coachella Valley.  And while it is stated in the episode that Kyle’s house is located in Palm Desert, in actuality, the property is located just east of Palm Desert in the city of Indian Wells, directly behind the Indian Wells Resort Hotel, which, as it just so happens, was founded by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, but that is another story for another post.   Winking smile

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In the episode, Kyle says that the 3 bedroom, 2 bath house, which was built in 1985 and measures 1,503 square feet, originally belonged to her mother, but that it is now used as a family home.  There has been much speculation online, though, that it was possibly this residence that Kim was referring to in the Season 1 finale episode titled “Unforgivable” when she screamed at Kyle, “You stole my god-damn house!”  According to some of the gossip on several Real Housewives message boards (and please keep in mind that it is just that, gossip, and that I have no idea whatsoever if any of it is true), Kim at one time owned the Indian Wells house and that somehow Kyle got the rights to it after their mother passed away or possibly that Kim paid for property with her childhood earnings and then when the mother passed away, the home was divided up among all three Richards sisters.  Who knows what the actual story is, but let me tell you, I am absolutely DYING to know!  You can check out some of the message board gossip about the house here and here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Kyle Richard’s former vacation house, from the “Chocolate Louboutins” episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, is located at 45389 Club Drive in Indian Wells.  The home is located inside of the Indian Wells Country Club, which is a private, gated community, so please do not trespass.