Vacation rentals in Coachella, California

Coachella is the city the festival is named after, though the festival itself takes place a few miles west at the Empire Polo Club in Indio. What Coachella has is land. Its residential streets were built later and platted larger than the resort cities up-valley, which is why the seven- and eight-bedroom houses with room for a lazy river tend to sit here rather than in Palm Springs.

That has practical consequences for a group. You get more house per night than the same money buys in Palm Desert or La Quinta, you are a genuinely short drive from the festival grounds during Coachella and Stagecoach weekends, and you are close to the produce end of the valley — the farm stands and date shops on Highway 111 are worth the detour.

It is a working city rather than a resort one, so plan on driving for restaurants and nightlife; Old Town La Quinta and downtown Palm Springs are both an easy trip. For most groups that trade is the right one, because the house is where the trip actually happens.