Visionary – Tim Ellis

General Manager, Palm Mountain Resort and Spa

Site Staff Vision

Photo by Ethan Kaminsky

 

Tim Ellis, the general manager for Palm Mountain Resort, came to the Coachella Valley 22 years ago “because I was looking to get into resort hotel management,” he says. “Before that, I was running hotels in suburban and city areas catering to businesspeople. When I came here, I began working and living in one of the world’s most spectacular places.

“My wife and I love to eat out and there are some really outstanding restaurants here. Being able to walk out in the evening and sit outside and enjoy the weather with the glass of wine and just look up in the stars is a very peaceful feeling.”

Palm Mountain Resort, he explains, “is a quiet, comfortable, good-value hotel in a great location, right in the heart of downtown Palm Springs.

“There are a lot of great high-end hotels here, and there are some budget hotels, and this hotel is right in the middle,” he says. “The word has spread, and people have gotten to know it throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. We get a tremendous amount of European travelers, especially in the summertime.”

Ellis looks forward to the addition of 20 rooms to his property this fall, and that will mean more hiring. “In this destination, the workforce is really good,” he notes. “If they find a job they like, they’re loyal. You don’t have to go through the whole training cycle every few months.”

He lauds the valley’s municipal and economic development agencies “because they help you rather than get in your way, and that’s very important to someone who’s trying to develop a business here.

“We’re extremely thankful for what the Greater Palm Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau does,” he says. “They’ve really taken a lead in not only improving our image but in telling the right story: It is a beautiful place; people know about it and they’re coming out here to work and to play. It’s quite a hip, fun, great place to come and visit, relocate, or buy a house in.”