It’s a pretty wonderful life at California’s La Quinta during the holidays
Don’t expect to see George Bailey sloshing through the snow – or his family beside the tree – but the holiday season at the Coachella Valley’s La Quinta Resort will still have the air of Bedford Falls.
Of course, La Quinta – it’s a town and a resort of the same name about 130 miles east of Los Angeles - is warmer in December than Bedford Falls in “It’s A Wonderful Life,†but La Quinta Resort & Club does its best to take on a Capra-esque feel for holidays.
This is where the legendary director and screenwriter Frank Capra traveled when he needed to get away from hectic Hollywood. He repeatedly booked the San Anselmo casita.
A plaque on the lawn says Capra wrote “It Happened One Night,†here. The movie, starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, won five Oscars, including best picture (and actor and actress), in 1935.
Ten years later, Capra may have worked on a draft of the Christmas classic “It’s A Wonderful Life†in the same cottage.
“May,†however, is the operative word. The resort’s Thomas Soule told me that accounts of the legendary director toiling on the screenplay there are “largely anecdotal.â€
The cottage, now known as the Capra Suite, is still available for nightly stays. In it, guests will discover a vintage manual typewriter atop an ornate wooden desk.
The festive season at La Quinta begins Nov. 28 with a tree-lighting ceremony starting at 4:30 p.m. A 48-foot-tall white fir will be surrounded by thousands of potted poinsettias.
Each Friday beginning Dec. 4, the resort will serve roasted chestnuts in the lobby from 5:30-6:30 p.m. At 8 p.m. each Friday, “It’s A Wonderful Life†will be screened on an outdoor wall, but without sound. Not everyone, it would seem, may be in the holiday spirit.
Christmas Day brings wake-up calls from Santa, breakfast with both Mr. and Mrs. Claus and, later, a three-course holiday dinner at Morgan’s in the Desert, prepared by Executive Chef Jimmy Schmidt, a three-time James Beard award winner.
Seasonal room rates start at $199, double occupancy.
Info and reservations: La Quinta, (760) 564-4111.
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