Alta, Utah or Palm Springs?

Neither place is anywhere near a swimmable shore, and the salty lakes near each are curiosities rather than places to bathe. The difference is in how much water matters to the stay. In Alta it means a hot tub or lodge pool after skiing. In Palm Springs nearly every hotel and rental house is built around a pool, and lounging beside it is half the point of going.

Palm Springs gives you far more choice at the table. You'll find shaded brunch patios and cocktail-hour restaurants along Palm Canyon Drive, date shakes from the groves around Indio, and honest taquerias further east in the valley. It isn't serious eating, but you can pick somewhere different every night.

In Alta, meals mostly come with the room: set dinners at communal lodge tables and cafeteria lunches on the mountain. Variety means a drive down the canyon to Salt Lake City, and that depends on the road being open.

Palm Springs has a real sight in its architecture. Albert Frey's houses, the Kaufmann House and the folded rooflines of Twin Palms make a satisfying day by bike or car. The art museum and the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum round it out.

Alta's history as a silver camp turned early ski area survives only as scattered mine remains on the slopes. For any museum, you have to go down to Salt Lake City.

Palm Springs has an actual evening scene. Arenas Road has a long-established run of LGBTQ bars with patios and drag nights, and retro cocktail lounges line Palm Canyon Drive. It's sociable rather than late, and real clubs are scarce. In Alta the night ends with an après-ski drink in a lodge bar, which suits regulars who want to be first on the lifts.

Alta is the stronger mountain destination. At around 2,600m it gets deep, dry powder, steep terrain and serious backcountry touring in avalanche country, and that draws skiers from far away. Summer brings the Albion Basin wildflowers, moose and mountain goats on the trails, and a short walk up to Cecret Lake. What it lacks is variety beyond the mountains, with no lakes for boating and no coast.

Palm Springs offers more contrast in a single day. The tramway climbs from the desert floor to pine forest on San Jacinto, the Indian and Tahquitz canyons hide palm oases and a waterfall, and the boulders of Joshua Tree are about an hour away. The catch is the summer heat, which limits hiking to the hour after dawn or the cooler slopes at the top of the mountain.

Both have a modest choice of outings, but they're very different in character. From Alta, the trips are to towns: Salt Lake City with Temple Square and the Capitol, or Park City's old Main Street. In winter each one depends on the canyon road staying open.

From Palm Springs, the outings are odder and smaller. There's Idyllwild in the pines, the lived-in film set of Pioneertown, and Salvation Mountain by the Salton Sea, and all of them need a car.

Palm Springs suits more kinds of family. The Living Desert zoo, the tramway up to winter snow and the Air Museum give children real outings between pool days, though many boutique hotels are adults-only and the bigger resorts down the valley work better.

Alta only makes sense for families who ski. It has a ski school and gentle beginner slopes, but nothing else is aimed at children. On top of that, the altitude and days stuck indoors during storms can be hard on young ones.

Alta is easier once you've arrived. Lodges sit at the foot of the lifts, many with ski-in, ski-out access, and shuttles cover both the village and the 50km run from Salt Lake City's airport. The weak point is the single canyon road, which jams on powder mornings and closes after storms.

Palm Springs has the handier airport, right on the edge of town, and a walkable downtown. Almost everything beyond it, from the canyons to Joshua Tree, means driving, and the valley buses are slow.

Palm Springs is a genuine shopping stop, especially for mid-century furniture, lighting and vintage clothes in the Uptown Design District. El Paseo in Palm Desert and the Cabazon outlets add mainstream choice. Alta has ski rental, tuning and outdoor gear shops and nothing else, so shoppers head to Park City or Salt Lake City.

Palm Springs is easier on a budget. Its winter and spring rates are resort-level, but simple motels exist all year and summer rooms drop sharply for anyone who can bear the heat.

Alta has only a handful of lodges, often with dinner built into the price, and almost nothing cheap up the canyon. Thrifty skiers sleep in the Salt Lake valley and ride the bus up each morning.

Palm Springs has an entertainment calendar and Alta does not. In town that means drag cabaret, piano bars and community theatre. Across the valley there are touring shows at the McCallum Theatre, big names at the casinos, and the Coachella and Stagecoach festivals at Indio each April. In Alta the evening entertainment is the lodge lounge, and any concert means a drive to Salt Lake City.

Palm Springs was built on a hot spring. You can soak in the Agua Caliente bathhouse downtown or in the mineral-fed pools of Desert Hot Springs, and resort spas are spread across the valley. Add the slow pool-and-sunset routine and switching off is easy.

Alta's version of relaxation is a steaming outdoor hot tub, a sauna and a deep silence after a hard day on the slopes. That's restful for a skier, but the spas are small and there's no thermal water.