More than 60 years ago, the Purple Room Supper Club opened its doors. It quickly became a favorite of Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack, and enjoyed a rich history for decades before ultimately closing to the public.
In 2013, Michael Holmes bought the club after a renovation that honored the ’60s and the Rat Pack era. The Purple Room then ushered in a new era of top-notch Palm Springs entertainment and nightlife—and it’s therefore appropriate that Independent readers have selected the Purple Room as the winner in the Best Bar Ambiance category of the Best of the Coachella Valley readers’ poll.
During a recent interview with Holmes, he talked about making the jump from full-time performer to business owner more than a decade ago.
“I lived here (in Palm Springs), but I was also touring quite a bit, and the opportunity came up to take over the Purple Room the first year it opened,” Holmes said. “I was performing here, and I decided to take the leap, and link it into a little blast from the past.”
Holmes said the Purple Room was a perfect fit for his experience.
“I’m in the entertainment business, and I grew up in the restaurant business,” Holmes said. “At one time, I managed all the restaurants at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago, so I had that background, so it just seemed like the reasonable marriage of the two.”
Stepping into the Purple Room is like stepping into a time capsule. The beautiful curtains and light fixtures, the setup of a supper club, the nostalgic photographs and the style of performers all contribute to a vibe that honors the rich history of our desert.
“It’s a throwback to a nostalgic period, a romantic period, the heyday of Palm Springs,” Holmes said. “The club was built in 1960, and we brought it back similar to the style of what that was, with live entertainment every night. There aren’t a lot of places that do that anymore—not only here, but anywhere in the country.”
Every night at the Purple Room is an occasion, whether the performer is a touring weekend headliner, or a resident talent taking the stage on weeknights.
“The Purple Room is an experience,” Holmes said. “It’s not just dinner; it’s not just music; it’s not just a great ambience. It’s all three together. So when you come here, it’s an event, even if your event is called ‘Wednesday.’”
Attaching his name to the Purple Room didn’t mean Holmes had to stop performing; you can catch him most Sundays as Judy Garland and a host of other characters in The Judy Show, and on Wednesdays celebrating jazz and the Rat Pack.
“(The Judy Show) is a tongue-in-cheek parody of The Judy Garland Show from 1963 to 1964, so I play Judy and all of her guests, including Betty Davis, Carol Channing, Pearl Bailey, Mae West, Tallulah Bankhead and Katharine Hepburn,” Holmes said. “They all pop in, and I do quick changes and come back as different characters, and it’s a lot of improv. There’s a base of the show that I’ve written, and then it’s just playing with the audience. The audience really makes the show. On Wednesdays, we do Rat Pack-era jazz, which is the Great American Songbook, with myself, Charles Herrera and Darci Daniels, and we’ve been great friends for many, many years. My rule here at the Purple Room is, if it isn’t fun, we’re not going to do it.”
Even though the vibes, nostalgia and performers often cater to older audiences, Holmes said younger crowds have been finding the Purple Room.
“It’s an interesting mix of people,” he said. “Some nights, it’s older; it just kind of depends on how it lands. There are nights where we have a lot of people under 40 and under 30.”
Holmes said the Purple Room’s fantastic food and badass bourbon collection keep guests coming back for more.
“Aaron Pond is my bar manager, and he’s worked here with me for 10 years, and he has curated one of the largest collections of rare bourbon in Southern California,” Holmes said. “We have well over 200 bourbons in our bar. Frank Sinatra drank bourbon, and that’s where that idea came from, but (Pond) is also a bourbon lover. We have bourbon tastings here often, with the business names and the makers. He’s spent years building this collection, and I think it’s a well-kept secret, in a way.
“Chef Luis Mondragon has been here since day one. He was a sous chef and has moved up to chef, and he’s created a menu that I think is very, very good, especially when you’re serving 120 people within an hour. Everything is custom-made to order, so he’s really developed that. Heather Gutierrez is our general manager, and she’s worked here for eight years; she’s been a server, a bartender, a manager and now the general manager. These people all know this particular business inside and out.”
The Palm Springs haunt rounds out nostalgia, food and drink with intimate performances from Broadway legends and cabaret stars.
“It’s a throwback to a nostalgic age, and entertainment is the focus,” Holmes said. “It’s just fun. It’s a joyful experience, and that’s the intent. The great thing about the Purple Room is you can see some of the biggest stars of our age in a very small, intimate setting, rather than a large arena or big, 800 seat theater, and I think that people—the performers and the audience—really enjoy that.”
Michael Holmes’ Purple Room is located at 1900 E. Palm Canyon Drive, inside Club Trinidad. Learn more at purpleroompalmsprings.com.
The Purple Room is a real treasure, and we are so lucky that Michael Holmes is not only a great businessman and talent himself, but a visionary who knew exactly what we needed in Palm Springs. The Purple Room wouldn’t succeed everywhere, but it’s a gem for us that has gained a national reputation. Thank your Michael!
Top notch entertainment, food, and bar cocktails at a competitive price. A blast from the past that is world renowned for quality entertainment. Thank you Michael Holmes for your great work, sacrifice and business knowledge to maintain this establishment.