Dear eVisitors,
Welcome, and thank you for
visiting this virtual portal to beautiful Palm Springs,
California - my home for 20 of the past 23 years. It's a
great place to call home - and have a career. In
addition to being a longtime local resident - I've also
almost always been involved in the hospitality and tourism
industries. It's big out here you know...
It's not perfect - but I can't seem to
stay away... After a brief but life-changing three
year sojourn to enchanting Santa Fe, New Mexico
(from 1995-1998) I returned to Palm Springs and within a
few years managed (some would say miraculously...) to
became the General Manager of the infamous celebrity
spa enclave Two Bunch Palms in Desert Hot Springs - now
finally FINALLY under new ownership and
management. I was there for over four years. Another
life-changing experience - in a whole other
way... Then, briefly, I helped a small group
of local doctors and plastic surgeons develop
their new-fangled state-of-the-art luxury Medical Day Spa
facility. It was stunning...
After that I became the General
Manager of Palm Springs' premier mid-century modern
hip/cool little boutique hotels - the Orbit In / Oasis &
Hideaway, which
led to my eventual involvement in helping found
the still somewhat roguish grass-roots small hotel
group known as Small Hotels of Palm
Springs / An
Association of Owners & Managers - people in the biz refer
to it as SHoPS, its acronym - and now it's one of
the most influential travel industry associations in the
city of Palm Springs. It's also a highly cost-effective
virtual co-op marketing venue for Palm Springs' many small
hoteliers - finally making it much easier
for visitors to Palm Springs to find the best of the
best of all the "quaint little gems" that might
have otherwise escaped their notice.
Among other professional endeavors,
I have provided Sales, Marketing & Media Relations
Services for a number of client businesses, the
Pepper Tree Inn being one, as well as
again volunteering for the John Williams for Palm
Springs City Council Campaign. John is the owner
of INNdulge
Palm Springs and when he wins he will
be the first business owner with direct
hospitality and tourism industry experience to sit on our City
Council "in over 10 years." Imagine that - in a world renowned
tourist town...
It was my involvement (which remains
ongoing) with the Small Hotel
of Palm Springs
group that ultimately inspired me to strike out on my own
and create this "companion destination portal website" -
which is what I call a virtual co-op marketing venue. And
while it was my idea to create the Palm Springs Best Places Guide
brand as a framework for other Best
Places Guide destination portal websites - I've
remained so busy with this one - my first born - now
becoming known as just simply BestofPS.com - that I haven't yet
been able to even consider anything
elsewhere.
However, I have managed to squeeze in a
few other NEW projects - Bistros of Palm Springs
.com
- featuring a comprehensive listing of Palm Springs best
Cafes, Bistros and Restaurants that most often
recommended by small hotel owners, managers and their front
desk staffs, PLUS I am working with the Palm Springs
Hospitality Association's Restaurant Association with their
portal website Palm Springs
Restaurant Row
(also currently hosted here) as well as that
groups upcoming 1st Annual Palm
Springs Restaurant Week scheduled for June
2008...
It's worth mentioning that I
am not alone in my efforts to help bring visitors and
locals the best of the best of the hundreds of often
overlooked little businesses that populate Palm Springs -
and contribute so significantly to its unique
character. I have for years been accused of living
under a rock, and in some ways I suppose I still do, still
want to, and while I've been to all the best places listed and
linked here - I ALSO rely heavily on the objective (and
subjective) feedback, insights and opinions of my
ever-growing network of local resident and
hospitality/tourism industry friends and colleagues.
They help me to "thin the
herd" so to speak - "culling" we call it - so that
what would otherwise be a very large list of
visitor-related businesses is pared down to the
more manageable "browsing-friendly"
collections "BestofPS.com" presents
here.
As explained in more detail on the Home
Page I do have a point of view and do choose to
embrace some rather specific criteria for determining
who's included - and who's not - criteria that people
of certain bents, persuasions, proclivities, aptitudes
and/or predispositions seem to value...
You Can Decide If It Speaks To You...
So stay tuned, there's much more to
come, updates are made daily - and
remember...
...if I know a place, so then do
you...
Sincerely,
Jay Ramstead
Founder | Editor |
ePublisher
BestofPS.com &
OUTinsider.com
Palm Springs Best Places
Guide
Email | jay@iknowaplace.com
Also, I just wanted to let you know that
the new Homeland Security Bill has passed. Things will be
different now and Internet surfing will be tracked by what the
FBI calls a "non-intrusive method." The FBI says you will not
notice anything different. For a demonstration, click on the
link below…
Homeland Security
