Grand Hyatt Indian Wells on Points!
Dreaming of a luxury getaway to Grand Hyatt Indian Wells in Palm Springs California without the price tag? With Hyatt points, you can book this family-friendly resort—complete with a water park, lazy river, and golf course—for free. In this post, I’ll show you exactly how to maximize your points for a free stay!
After visiting Disneyland in Anaheim, California we made the drive to Palm Springs to stay at the Grand Hyatt Indian Wells. This was much needed after the business of Disney. This part of our vacation was the “chill out” zone!
The Grand Hyatt Indian Wells Resort & Villas is a dream destination for families looking for both relaxation and adventure. The best part it was completely renovated in 2024 and is beautiful!
With its onsite water park, featuring dueling water slides, a lazy river, and a splash pad, kids will be entertained for hours while parents unwind by the pool or enjoy the serene desert views. The resort also offers spacious rooms and villas, perfect for families needing extra space, plus multiple dining options that cater to all tastes.
Beyond the water fun, families can enjoy kid-friendly activities, free bike rentals, and even golf, pickleball or tennis for older kids and parents. There's also a lawn area with outdoor games, bon fires at dusk and more!
The resort’s prime location near Palm Springs means easy access to local attractions like The Living Desert Zoo, the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, and Joshua Tree National Park for outdoor adventures. Whether you’re seeking relaxation or excitement, this resort is the perfect points-friendly getaway for an unforgettable family vacation.
How to get to Palm Springs
There is an airport right in Palm Springs that is small and so easy to navigate. It is serviced by 13 airlines and has nonstop routes to 30 airports. A few of the major players there are Alaska, American Airlines, Delta, Southwest, United and more.
We had booked Delta on a nonstop flight from MSP on points and it was super reasonable, but ended up cancelling because we had a credit to use on Sun Country Airlines (regional carrier for us!) before it expired.
If you are from Minnesota like me I would recommend grabbing a Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card to start earning points for free flights, plus you will get a free checked bag with this card! Remember American Express Membership Rewards points are the only flexible points that can be transferred to Delta so the American Express® Gold Card is another great option here!
Another great option with Southwest being the major player here is one of Southwest credit cards and possibly even earn that companion pass that offers you buy one get one free flights with a companion!
This airport is so easy to navigate and cool. There's an outdoor area after security with a playground!! Amazing!
Grand Hyatt Indian Wells on Points!
This resort is a world-class destination packed with family-friendly fun—from a thrilling water park with dueling slides to a relaxing lazy river, plus a golf course and spa for a touch of indulgence.
The best part? You can book your stay entirely on points and that's what we did!
We stayed at the end of February and had above average temperatures, so we did a lot of hanging out at the pool per the requests of my kids. After visiting Disneyland for three days they were tired and ready to chill. Totally fine by this Mom!
We stayed for four nights which was a good amount, but if you wanted to take in more things I would extend it to five nights.
This resort is going up to a category 6 in 2025 which means the lowest points required for a free night will be 21,000 in off peak and 29,000 per night in peak season.
One bummer about this resort is a standard room only sleeps 4, which provides a problem for us as a family of 5. We ended up booking two rooms, a King and a two Queen room on points.
Due to my globalist status we were upgraded to a Double King Room attached to a Grand Suite and it was very, very nice. I want to note that the Grand Suite says it has a kitchen, but it's very limited. It wasn't stocked with any plates, silverware etc. I think we had 4 forks and a few knives, cups etc. If you are looking at this type of room don't have to high of expectations with the kitchen. Another note is our double King room comes with a ‘cooler' not a mini refrigerator so you can't store anything other than beverages in it. I always find this odd because at more budget hotels you get a mini fridge usually!
Resort Activities
- Water Slides – They have a two dueling 30 foot water slides that we had a ton of fun on. Even Mom went down them multiple times. They have a smaller slide for younger kids that is separate too.
- Lazy River – You could find us here a lot too. This 450 ft lazy river was awesome, but they ran out of tubes a lot and it wasn't even that busy when we were there.
- Pools – There are 8 outdoor pools and 2 whirlpools. There is a section for adults only which has one of the pools and whirlpools. We never had any trouble finding lounge chairs around the pools, but we were not there during a super busy time.
- Agua Serena Spa – Offers facials, massages and body treatments, a yoga studio and classes, wellness consultations and a 24-hour fitness studio.
- Bike Rentals – Are available at the pool area from 8am-4pm
- Frisbee Golf – Can be found on the backside of the pool area from 8am-4pm
- Cozy Cinema – Every Friday and Saturday night at 7 pm they show a family move at Hibiscus, which is on the backside of the pool area.
- Smore's – There are firepits by the outdoor game area and they have S'mores at sunset every night. You can purchase the S'mores kit in Camino Springs Market.
- Tennis & Pickleball Courts – Open Daily 7am-10pm
- Outdoor Game Area – There's a small area with turf behind the pool area with ping pong, bean bags, Jenga and more. You are free to enjoy this whenever you'd like.
Onsite Dining
Grand Hyatt Indian Wells has many on-site dining options. Their two main restaurants are Tía Carmen and Carmocha. We only ate Tía Carmen for breakfast each morning, which we received complimentary because of my Globalist status. If you use a Guest of Honor award you would also receive this perk. The first morning we were there we had a menu we could order off of. The other two mornings there was a buffet. Every time we had breakfast it was delicious. The kids loved the pastries and go to order hot chocolate with whipped cream so they were in heaven!
I was disappointed there was no Globalist option for breakfast before 7 am, so when we had an early flight out on Sunday morning we did not get a credit to use at the Market or for room service before the restaurant opened.
If you want more grab and go type of food you can stop at Camino Springs Market. This also has a Starbucks for quick coffees and treats. Remember you will be paying resort prices. The market is also a great place to grab things you might have forgot when you were packing. We grabbed something for supper from here the first night and it was very average. One tip is skip the cupcakes no matter how good they look!
While at the pool we had drinks and food from Vista Square Kitchen plus a food trailer with pizzas and both of these options were great.
Things to do in Palm Springs
There are tons of different things to do in Palm Springs! We choose to lay low and relax, but if the weather would have been cooler or we would have wanted to be more active there were many options. The only thing we did was the first morning we went to Palm Springs Aerial Tramway!
- Palm Springs Aerial Tramway – The biggest tip I have is to reserve your time slot ahead of time or you end up in a line and it was long when we went. Try to reserve a time slot and not just a day because if you don't have an actual time slot you have to stand in line to get a time assigned to you. This we really cool and we enjoyed it. My kids just wanted to go swim so we did not spend as much time as I would have liked. We did dine at the top of the Tramway in the restaurant Peaks which is their sit down, fine dining restaurant. The food was amazing, quite possibly the best food we ate the entire trip! There can be a wait so I would go put your name down for a table then walk around and explore while you wait. The Pines Cafe which is cafeteria style actually looked great too.
- The Living Desert Zoo – Had my kids been a bit younger we would have taken this in or if it would have been a little colder out and we couldn't sit our butts by the pool!
- Joshua Tree National Park – This was on my list to do, but my kids turned their nose up and voted for the pool. My Type A check the box personality was put aside and I enjoyed the pool with them. Still on my bucket list to visit!
There is so much more to do and see depending on what you enjoy. Palm Springs has a ton of amazing golf courses, El Paseo Shopping District is known for its upscale retail and dining options, El Paseo Shopping District is known for its upscale retail and dining options, Palm Springs Air Museum provides a fascinating insight into aviation history, particularly from World War II, Coachella Valley Preserve is a natural oasis featuring diverse desert landscapes and unique wildlife and much more!
Credit Cards to Open to Travel for Almost Free!
Wondering how I covered our hotel rooms for FREE? Or how to cover your flights for almost free? Here are the cards I would open.
Points for Grand Hyatt Indian Wells
If you do not have our FAVE beginner card make sure you have the first!
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is our #1 card and the perfect card for beginners just getting started on their points-and-miles journey. Check out our full review of this card!
If you open this card you'd have enough to cover at least two nights. If you have a Player 2 that doesn't not have this card I would recommend referring them to this card. They would get 60,000 bonus points after they met the spend of $4,000 in the first 3 months and you'd get a bonus from the referral giving you enough points for 4-5 nights for free.
Already have that card? I would recommend the Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card. Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. Another option is Ink Business Cash® Credit Card which currently has an offer of 35,000 bonus points when you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months and an additional 40,000 when you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first six months after account opening. This card is marketed as a cash-back card, but you’ll actually earn Ultimate Rewards® points. Pair it with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card to open up the transfer partners. Wondering if you qualify for a business card we have an entire post about it!
These are flexible points that can be transferred from Chase to Hyatt and that makes them so valuable. Another option would be to open up a The World of Hyatt Credit Card with a welcome offer of 30,000 Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. Plus, up to 30,000 more Bonus Points by earning 2 Bonus Points total per $1 spent in the first 6 months from account opening on purchases that normally earn 1 Bonus Point, on up to $15,000 spent.
Learn how to Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards in to Hyatt in this article!
Points for Flights to Palm Springs
If you are from Minnesota like me, Delta does provide a non-stop flight from MSP to PSP. I would recommend grabbing a Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card to start earning points for free flights, plus you will get a free checked bag with this card! Remember American Express Membership Rewards points are the only flexible points that can be transferred to Delta so the American Express® Gold Card is another great option here!
Another great option with Southwest being the major player here is one of Southwest credit cards and possibly even earn that companion pass that offers you buy one get one free flights with a companion!
Remember to see all of our best credit card offers currently to click here. Research the flight you want to take and earn that type of mile from a credit card!
Rental Car
We would recommend getting a rental car for this trip if you are flying in. Car rentals are hard to cover with points unless you book directly in a credit card travel portal.
Another option is to reimburse yourself for the car rental by charging it to your Capital One Rewards Credit Card and reimbursing yourself for the charge with miles. Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is a great option if you want to do this!
We have the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card which has a yearly $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Travel so we booked through Capital One Travel and used this credit.
All information about Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Ink Business Cash® Credit Card, The World of Hyatt Credit Card has been collected independently by Plan Pack Go. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
The Wrap Up
We had a wonderful stay at Grand Hyatt Indian Wells and it's perfect for families or a couple that wants to get away for a bit! The newly renovated resort is gorgeous, has great amenities and is the perfect place to relax.
Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
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