VINCEROY INN SPORTS A DARING NEW LOOK.

Byline: Story and photos by Eric Noland Travel Editor

PALM SPRINGS - A former desert retreat for the 1930s movie crowd has a new name and a dramatically different look. It will be up to the prospective guest to decide if the makeover works.

The former Estrella Inn is now the Viceroy Palm Springs, a link in the Kor Hotel Group's small chain of stylish boutique properties (others are the Avalon and Maison 140 in Beverly Hills and the Viceroy in Santa Monica).

On many levels, the improvements, which have been ongoing over the last four years, are welcome and were desperately overdue. The Estrella, which opened in 1933, offered some distinctive cottage accommodations, but the rooms in its 1970s motel wings were nondescript. The place was crying out for an overhaul.

It certainly got it with the Viceroy people. An expansive spa was established, with massage cabana tents and a yoga terrace.

The soft goods in the rooms were upgraded, too. We found the bed, pillows, duvet and Frette linens to be of the highest quality.

The French-themed restaurant, Citron, is also exceptional, particularly if you opt for the candlelit patio for dinner. Steak frites is a specialty, but we were pleased with something a bit lighter on a broiling night in early fall - semolina-crusted lemon sole, garnished with legumes in a Provencal sauce. At breakfast, a granola parfait, with layers of fresh berries and yogurt, also provided a nice, light start on a hot day.

The mature citrus trees for which the Estrella was renowned remain on the grounds, and Citron incorporates fruit from the trees into many of its dishes (though the delicious fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice at breakfast was imported, according to the waiter).

Now as before, it's amusingly perilous to sit in the Jacuzzi in the evening, beneath an overhanging grapefruit tree, and wonder if any of those globular yellow missiles will come crashing down on you.

Everything else about the Viceroy is radically different from its predecessor, though, to the point of disorientation.

The designers opted for Hollywood Regency style, a look that became popular for Beverly Hills mansions in the 1960s. But the look of Palm Springs has always been either California hacienda or the dramatic angles and svelte lines of midcentury modern architecture.

In this case, Hollywood Regency has been grafted onto the former, and at times the styles conflict. Gone is the salmon stucco of the Estrella, replaced with white walls, black accents and bright-orange guest room doors. But the red-tile roofs and thick stands of red bougainvillea remain, which clash with this look.

Inside the villas, red-clay paving tiles and brick fireplace hearths have been painted white, and the vintage hardware has been replaced by chrome and clear acrylic.

We toured one of the 16 villas and found it to be wonderfully spacious, though it was disappointing to see all traces of the hotel's 1930s heritage removed. A former owner of the Estrella stumbled upon a box of guest records and discovered that Jean Harlow, Ginger Rogers and other silver-screen stars often specified a particular cottage, so villas were later named after them and decorated tastefully with their photos. That's all gone now.

Our standard room was comfortable, with a small window that opened to allow in some fresh air. (Balcony rooms have sliders, but for some reason there are no screens on them, just sheer curtains inside the room.)

The shower was claustrophobic (there was no tub), with a prefab plastic shell that stood in gauche contrast to the gleaming, white-marble floor. And although stylish acrylic was used for bathroom fixtures, there wasn't nearly enough of it - hooks rather than towel bars and absolutely no shelf space (I conscripted a fancy yellow chair out in the room for my toiletries). My wife also would have liked a full-length mirror.

The Viceroy's grounds, meanwhile, depart from a classic Palm Springs look of riotous shrubbery. The landscaping is as precisely manicured as a show poodle, with bushes clipped into multitiered topiaries, borders of white-painted gravel and dozens of white whippet statues.

Prospective guests should also be warned that the reconstruction isn't finished. The Kor Group also bought La Serena Villas on the north side of the hotel, and plans to renovate 16 guest rooms and also put in a meeting center, fitness building, yoga studio and lap pool. One evening we were serenaded by screeching power tools, work that continued with a vengeance all the next morning.

The new look of the Viceroy is sure to resonate with travelers familiar with this chain's brand, or with other chic urban hotels. But this is the desert, where life and leisure are slow and unadorned. It would appear the designers, in a quest to make this hotel something special, fussed with a look that didn't need any help.

--The Viceroy Palm Springs is at 415 S. Belardo Road. Room rates from $209 weekdays, $289 weekends. [phone] or [phone]; www.viceroypalmsprings.com.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) In the lobby of the Viceroy Palm Springs, guests find bold stripes of tile and a faux animal skin rug.

(2 -- 3) Hollywood Regency style distinguishes the villas of the Viceroy Palm Springs, top. The resort, formerly the Estrella Inn, once sported a hacienda look, but now clay tiles, mirrored surfaces and stylish furniture set the tone, above.

Eric Noland/Travel Editor