Guests with a need for speed now have another reason to drive straight to California’s sunny Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley this fall and winter. On October 16-18, October 23-25, November 13-15, and December 4-6, La Quinta Resort & Club will host the 2015 Waldorf Astoria Driving Experience, which puts guests in the driver seat of Ferraris, McLarens and Porsches — under the guidance of world-class professional racecar driver and Belgian champion Didier Theys.
The Driving Experience delivers the ultimate high as guests strap into three of the world’s most powerful super cars from the most storied luxury performance brands: the technological tour-de-force Ferrari 458 Italia Spider the 592 horsepower McLaren MP4-12C, and unparalleled Porsche GT3.
Motorists will receive an introduction and tutorial about each vehicle by excursion leader before zooming off behind the wheels on a bespoke driving tour, rotating cars and drivers along the way. The pre-arranged course will take guests through some of the desert region’s most inspirational environments, traversing palm-studded dunes and mirage-inducing straightaways followed by an elevated stint through the pines with technical switchbacks. Guests can choose from three driving sessions per day, starting at 8:30 a.m. and culminating with a sunset return through the Anza-Borrego Desert followed by the ultimate cool down: a lap in one of La Quinta Resort’s 41 signature swimming pools.
“Being in a very nice hotel, driving very nice, very fast exotic cars is very enjoyable,” says champion racer Didier Theys, driving director of the Waldorf Astoria Driving Experience. “For someone who likes cars, this is what we expect to see. We are dealing with the crème de la crème of exotic cars, and the feeling of driving them – the acceleration, the braking, the turning, and the gripping the corners – is nothing like what you have with the everyday car. Combined with a night at the special Waldorf Astoria hotels, this is a package no one has presented before.”
Package elements include guestroom accommodations in a newly-renovated guest casita or suite and a two-and-a-half-hour Driving Experience for two. Personally, we at Pursuitist highly recommend you round out the getaway with the ultimate pit stop: Spa La Quinta‘s new High Performance Facial and Timeless Massage (100 minutes, $275) certain to shift guests into cruise control with a dual service at the award-winning 23,000 square foot sanctuary. The bucket list adventure starts at $1,218 based on double occupancy, plus taxes and resort fees. To book, visit www.waldorfastoria.com/drivingexperiences.
