I'm from Palm Springs and the best time to visit is in the winter. Its cheap in the summer but its hella hot like 120 degrees F.. The area is full of modern architecture from the 40s. The Living Desert is a zoo and botanical garden park that is nice the first time. There is some serious shopping to be done on El Paso which is almost like the Rodeo Drive of Beverly Hills. I reccomend visiting the tramway, its around 20 degrees cooler up the San Jacinto Mountains with snow in the winter. People who visit are weirded out by standing in the hot desert and seeing the snow capped mountains. If you're lucky you can see the big horn sheep coming down the mountains. The area is really beautiful with nice sunsets. The Joshua Tree national monument is close by and a lot of people like the rock climbing. You can also go camping there and the stargazing is amazing.