NEW YORK (Money Magazine) - When friends speak of a vacation in Palm Springs, chances are they really mean Rancho Mirage or one of the other suburban resorts that have spread rapidly across the Coachella Valley.

Palm Springs: 110 golf courses, one national park and more than 50 spas await you in this California desert retreat. Play video (Real or Windows Media)

But long before celebrity golf championships and improbable green vistas appeared, Hollywood found refuge in bungalows and hideaways at the foot of the San Jacinto mountains.

And now that Palm Springs -- the Palm Springs of Cary Grant, Clark Gable and Lucille Ball -- thrives again. Young entrepreneurs and designers have transformed hotels, homes and villas from the '30s to the '60s into small, idiosyncratic inns that keep faith with the past yet offer up-to-date amenities.

They're typically less expensive than the brand-name resorts down valley too.

Many of these places line a handful of quiet palm-fringed lanes just off Palm Canyon Drive, the Springs' main shopping street. The Tennis Club District, as it's called, contains so much noteworthy architecture that it merits a walking tour.

The Estrella Resort is the "it" hotel of the moment; even the smallest rooms are big by boutique hotel standards, with flat-screen TVs and DVD players (doubles from $209; 800-237-3687; estrellapalmsprings.com).

The Coachella Valley resorts proudly boast of some 110 golf courses in the area, but only about 40 are open to the public, so plan ahead.

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Half a dozen tee-time booking services can make reservations up to 90 days in advance at these public courses; you'll find slightly lower greens fees ($5 to $10 below posted rates) at Golf a la Carte (877-887-6900; palmspringsteetimes.com).

Stand-By Golf (866- 224-2665) offers discounts of up to 50% for next-day tee times; call at 5 p.m.

What about the 70 or so clubs that are truly private? It's an open secret that many of them will let an outsider on the links, provided he knows the right people and has $300.

A good person to know is Steve Jacobson, who books people at about half a dozen private clubs through Advance Golf (760-835-7274).

The valley's resorts were first known for their hot springs, and you can take the cure at more than 50 spas in the area.

You'll appreciate such creature comforts after a morning hike among the twisted rocks and twisted trees of Joshua Tree National Park, an hour's drive from Palm Springs. It's a remarkable landscape, especially in dawn's early light -- the desert as nature intended it.

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Though some of Palm Springs' historic hotels appear on hotel-booking engines on the Web, they are too small to work with tour wholesalers. So you're on your own.

Deals: Many of the small hotels do make special arrangements with the website PalmSprings.com. Mention the PalmSprings.com rate when you call the hotel, and you can take between 10% and 20% off.

At Estrella this fall, the discount was $16 to $20.

At L'Horizon, a '50s-flavored hotel in the former winter retreat of Lassie producer Jack Wrather, the discount is 25% -- bringing the lowest room rate down to just $101 (800-377-7855; lhorizonhotel.com).

For more: Contact the Palm Springs Desert Resorts Convention and Visitors Authority (800-417-3529; PalmSpringsUSA.com) for info about the valley; for the city of Palm Springs, call 800-347-7746 or visit palm-springs.org.