TRAVEL LOG

The Beat goes on in the desert

A long-shuttered midcentury hotel in Desert Hot Springs has been refurbished and reopened as the Beat Hotel, a tribute to the late William S. Burroughs and other Beat generation artists and writers.

Owner Steven Lowe, who said he worked with Burroughs on the author’s “Cities of the Red Night” (1981) novel and other projects, has put 1940s to 1960s furnishings in the hotel, along with memorabilia.

These include a draft of Burroughs’ “The Western Lands” (1987) novel, serigraphs that Burroughs created with artist Robert Rauschenberg and photos by Beat poet Allen Ginsberg.

“It’s like a living museum,” Lowe said.

The hotel, originally opened in the 1950s as the Monte Carlo, has eight guestrooms, a swimming pool and a spa fed by mineral hot springs.

Rates start at $150 per night, including breakfast. (760) 288-2280, www.dhsbeathotel.com.

The Beat Hotel shares a phone line with Lowe’s other lodging in the city, the four-room Desert Hot Springs Motel, in a 1947 structure designed by the late architect John Lautner, who was mentored by Frank Lloyd Wright. The motel, refurbished and reopened in 2001, has period furnishings. Rates begin at $150 per night, including breakfast. www.lautnermotel.com.

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A new wave

for park?

Winter Haven, Fla.

The new owner of Cypress Gardens, one of Florida’s oldest tourist attractions, is promising to rejuvenate the park of botanical gardens and water-ski shows by adding new thrill rides and a water park.

Kent Buescher, owner of Wild Adventures in Valdosta, Ga., acquired the 68-year-old property in a complex deal involving a nonprofit conservation group and state and local lawmakers.

The park, which closed in April after years of declining attendance, is being renamed Cypress Gardens Adventure Park.

Buescher said he would invest $35 million in a new water park and more than 30 rides, including several roller coasters.

He hopes to reopen the park by Memorial Day. For updates, visit www.cypressgardens.com.

Associated Press

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Checking out

checking in

After beta-testing its automated check-in kiosks at hotels in Chicago and New York, Hilton is so pleased with the results that more than two dozen of its full-service hotels may soon use those lean, mean check-in machines.

OK, maybe not so mean. The Hilton system is high tech and “high touch,” its developers say, which means a Hilton employee is standing by to greet and assist customers.

The system works much like airport kiosk check-in. You put in a credit card, get assigned a room and issued a key and you’re on your way. Check-in can take as little as 60 seconds.

The technology should be installed this year, although Hilton isn’t saying just yet which hotels will receive it.

-- Compiled by

Jane Engle