When visiting Palm Desert in mid-February, the concierge recommended the Legends & Icons tour with Five Star. We met up with Annette and her sprinter van which was packed to the gills! We got the very last seats in the back with our friends. It was an unseasonably cold day with pouring rain. PS gets 1-4" rain per year, and received 1" of that on the day of our tour! Annette said the heat was on (and I did feel it further upfront when disembarking), but I was freezing the entire time in the last set of seats. The tour itself was good - Annette was full of stories and very entertaining. We were glad we opted for a guided tour like this versus a self-guided walking tour. It lasted close to 2 hrs and costs $130/person. Note that the tour did NOT include the tour of the Rat Pack Hideway specifically listed on their website tour description spelled out below. The asterisk they added just lists the people who partied and played, and the elongated plus sign was probably meant to be a disclaimer that we may not see this property, but there is no such disclaimer or explanation of that symbol anywhere that I could find on their site. "The Rat Pack Hideaway: Tour the private property of The Rat Pack Hideaway, where Frank, Dino, and Sammy partied and played.*† ( We are the only company given access to exclusive movie star properties.)" Regardless, the tour was good with lots of info and recommendations for places to eat and explore further (although covered so quickly the none of us could recall specifics after we left!) It was hard to see much of some homes, hidden behind gates/landscaping. A tour of an actual home, such as the Rat Pack hangout, would have been awesome. read more

We have been coming to Palm Springs for several decades and finally decided to do a tour of it. Of course I didn't know of any so I went on Yelp. Found this one and another and according to the number of reviews, reviews themselves, and availability went with Five Star. The worst issue we had was finding them in downtown Palm Springs and that is because there isn't an actual building you are looking for. It's a pick up location. When I booked the tour I was told it was somewhat tricky to find them and boy they were not kidding. So if you are reading my review here is the tip, park in the parking structure located on the corner of Indian Canyon Drive and Baristo Road (in Palm Springs not Cathedral City) The Bank Dispensary is seeable from the structure. After parking, walk out of the structure onto Baristo Road and hang out on the Baristo Road by the parking structure and The Five Star black van will pull up and load all in. I tried calling about 5 times into the office because I was so lost and fearful I would be left behind. I was getting very flustered nobody was taking my call or returning it. "Why not?" I asked since they were giving a tour. However come to find out they only had one van operating with one tour guide since people just aren't going back to work these days after the pandemic so I needed to ease up on my frustration. Annette was our tour guide and she was very apologetic about it all. She was an amazing tour guide!!! So much information to share with us (8 of us total). We saw so many stars homes. She didn't lack on info or comedy. We loved her. She even had info on the land and the local Indian tribes which was fascinating in it self. The van fit all of us comfortably and it was nice and cool. One guest did sit in the front seat so that helped us three in the way back not feel so cramped. We made one stop at Frank Sinatra's house to get out and take a pic otherwise we were in the van the entire, maybe 2 hours. As we drove back to the pick up/drop off location, she pointed out all the yummy food restaurants which was great. She really knew her Palm Springs history and more. I'd go on this tour again with her. It was something well worth spending your money on especially with Annette. Make sure to get out and get a pic at Sinatra's house, you won't be disappointed because Annette will surprise you with a photo ((wink, wink)). read more

Five Star Adventures Tours - Frank Sinatra's Home on our tour. Amazing tour by Annette!! Filled with so much history and info. - Historical Tours Near Me - Palm Springs, California

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This was a little different from the tour we took several years ago. More people on this bus. Annette took us to several celebrity homes and different areas. She was very knowledgeable and shared upcoming projects going on in Palm Springs. It was a little more than the last time but that's to be expected. I would recommend this tour. read more

We had a really good time. We have been to Palm Springs 500 times over the last 30 years never done a tour. There is so much celebrity history right here in the downtown Palm Springs area. We learned a lot and we've already called a few people and told them to put this on their to do list. Our driver was awesome, I'm so sorry o can't remember her name but she was awesome!! read more

I recently took this tour with friends while visiting the Palm Spring area. I was in search of a tour featuring mid century modern architecture. The tours I had found myself through reviews online were already booked, so I asked our hotel concierge for a suggestion and he recommended Five Star Adventures Tours. He said it the one they recommend to all their guests. The tour was about 2 hours and a good 45 minutes of it just involved picking us up and dropping us off from our hotel in Rancho Mirage. We thought the tour would be describing the architecture and its history, but instead it was focused on the movie stars and other personalities who previously lived there. It was more a tour of who has lived in PS and the tour guide knew very little about the architecture itself We were in the tour minibus the entire time, and envisioned more walking involved. I would not recommend this tour if you are interested in learning more about mid century modern architecture read more

Five Star Adventures Tours - One if the houses on the tour - Historical Tours Near Me - Palm Springs, California

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Took the Palm Springs Adventures and Icons Tour of the homes and building. This exceeded any expectations. If you enjoy MCM you will want to take this. In normally don't make a bid deal of tour guides or waiters but Annette was extremely good. read more

I live about an hour away and my 2 friends were visiting from Canada. None of us are familiar with Palm Springs so we decided to book a Modernism Palm Springs Tour to get a better idea of the layout of the city, to see some amazing architecture, and to see some historic celebrity homes. We arrived at the meeting place and our driver and tour guide Don was there waiting for us. We drove around for 2 completely packed hours. The amount of knowledge Don has about Palm Springs is truly mind boggling. The tour wasn't dull for a moment -- it was interesting and informative with so much to see. Yes it's true that the walls are high on a lot of the properties and you can't see into many of the homes, but that's the nature of the architecture, celebrity homes, and Palm Springs. Even so, there was plenty to see. Don brought along bonus materials to give us additional insight -- showing the inside of many of the homes in the past and present, screenshots from movies that were shot on the properties, etc. He not only loves what he does, he also goes above and beyond the call of duty to share his passion for Palm Springs history with his guests. The icing on the cake was this. I had an image of a sign in Palm Springs that i've been trying to locate the source of for a work project. For the past many months I've contacted Palm Springs experts, filming location experts, you name it. Not one of them could identify the location of the photo. I showed it to Don and he drove us right to it, even though it has changed since the photo was taken. He clearly knows the city and its history like the back of his hand. A wonderful experience in every way. Highly recommend! read more

Beware: "Exclusive Look" means a glimpse of a gate from a tour bus Went on the Legends & Icons Tour, which provided next to nothing that was advertised. We saw many homes and neighborhoods from the bus, but never once stepped foot outside of the bus and onto any properties as advertised, making this tour incredibly overpriced for what was actually delivered. We booked this over the actual #1 tour in Palm Springs because of the promises of small groups and getting to explore actual properties, but it turned out we just paid extra for absolutely nothing. For example: The main attraction for us was the private tour of the Rat Pack Hideaway, something the company website lists as "exclusive" to them. ***DIDN'T HAPPEN. NO MENTION OF A CHANGE OR WHY AT BOOKING OR ON THE TOUR.*** Additionally, the "exclusive look at this private property where the movie 'Behind The Candelabra,' starring Michael Douglas and Matt Damon, was filmed?" ***THAT'S AN "EXCLUSIVE LOOK" FROM THE BUS AT THE STREET CORNER. (Not exactly "exclusive.")*** Tour was $105 per person. Was listed as lasting between 1.5-2.5 hrs. It lasted *maybe* 75 mins after departing a little late and sitting at a hotel for a little while to drop other passengers off. I attempted to resolve my complaints privately with this company via email, but after three days of back and forth emails and no offer to compensate us (other than an offer to retake the tour days after we were departing Palm Springs), the company advised me to go ahead and post a negative review. So here it is. read more

Normally, I don't go in for escorted tours -- usually because most are nowhere near as good as the Icons & Legends tour we took with Sean as our guide. He is not only personable, but he is a storehouse of knowledge about the Palm Springs area and the celebrities who've lived there over the years. Over a two hour period, I've decided to follow through with a film he recommended and maybe a book about the Rat Pack. By all means, take this tour -- and hope you get Sean as your guide! read more

No car? In a new area? Take a tour bus! We loaded into a comfy air conditioned bus (it was only 105 degrees that day) and toured the Palm Springs celebrity homes. The very best part was our tour guide - Annette - who not only knew which celebrity owned the home - and we saw dozens, she gave us juicy background details too. She also tuned us into the geology, plate tectonics, history and culture of the area. She was an A+ guide. We toured one house from the inside - Frank Sinatra's - could have been Homer Simpson's except that it was classic desert midcentury and if you love architecture - you'd love this tour. Funky neighborhoods, yard art, prices of homes and yah, you can rent a lot of them too. Average stay of a celeb in one of these beauties: about 60 days a year. That's leaves more for me and you! read more

What a wonderful way to spend our afternoon in Palm Springs! Our family (ranging in age from 17 to 86) took the Legends & Icons Tour. Annette, our guide, was so knowledgeable, friendly and downright fun! She really made the tour come alive with stories of all the celebrities that have called Palm Springs home. She went above and beyond to make sure we all had a great time and learned something too. And she gave us great suggestions on how to spend the rest of our time in the area. Definitely recommend this tour...and Annette! read more

This is the second time I have been on the Stars Home Tour. A wonderful tour and never a dull moment.

Absolute worst tour we have ever been on. It was the architecture tour but the knowledge of architecture was so lacking that it was laughable. And highly biased. A real quote from the tour: "I don't know what this is but it's a new structure and I call it box architecture because it is so boxy... and I don't like it at all". We didn't get out of the van and go inside a single home at all despite being promised this in advance of the tour. Tour guide treated us like kindergarteners which is ironic because that was the level of knowledge he had about architecture. Major major disappointment. Better to google houses yourself and read about them than go on this tour. read more

First the cost of the tour was high - $89 per head, Driving around pointing out homes behind tall wall fences, you will see very little. Lady had some good stories to share. BUT she was also very negative about Native American Indians - heck she was insulting them. I am not Native American Indian, but felt creeped out during the tour by her. Services provided from the tour are also very poor - no water or sodas were provided, For $89 a head, should of been handing out water and sodas. For as much as you actually see, this could of been done in a room with PowerPoint presentation- that would of been 200% better, to actually see the homes. Would I go again, heck no. read more

Please save your money, we paid 89$ per person for a 1.5 hour driving tour. We mostly saw some hedges and roofs of houses about 5 blocks from our hotel. Been on many tours as it's kind of a thing with my family and this was the most disappointing. read more

Went on the Icon and Legends tour, overpriced for a tour around to see the homes, which are all mostly secluded and hard to see. Didn't get into the "rat pack hideaway " as it was apparently closed. They also changed my reservation time which was a bit confusing. On the positive side, everyone at the company is very nice. read more

Annette, our tour guide, was friendly, informative, and has a great personality! She's also extremely knowledgable and fun! She even managed to walk us through the "Rat Pack Hideaway"! Like I said, fun and lotsa information, especially if you're into the mid-century homes. read more

Took the tour with Annette today and didn't know what to expect. Was pleasantly surprised! Informative, interesting and very entertaining. She did an outstanding job of educating us not only about the celebrity homes, but the history behind them regarding the stars. Also, while we didn't get to see Robert Stack's home, we did get to see another home - that of artist Kenny Irwin- which was outstanding! So glad we decided to take a chance and book this tour. read more

Perfect tour for me. I don't like long tours, so I took the Celebrity 360 tour. Free parking near downtown. Nice clean van arrived on time. Curtious, friendly, enthusiastic, very knowledgeable guide/driver. Saw more stars homes than a tour I took in Hollywood, all in 1 hour read more

While visiting Palm Desert, I took the Legends and Icons Tour and had a fantastic time. Annette the guide was wonderful and knowledgeable. I was picked up right at my hotel and because we had a little extra time, we stopped to see the gravesite of Frank Sinatra (just in time for the 100th anniversary of his birth.) I liked that Annette seemed to enjoy giving the tour as much as I enjoyed seeing the amazing mid-century homes and hearing the stories of old Hollywood in And around Palm Springs. read more

Five Star Adventures Tours - Rat Pack Hideaway - Historical Tours Near Me - Palm Springs, California

George picked us up right at front of our resort on time as promised for the 360 tour. We were not quite sure how the day was going to go, since it was another hot day for May in Palm Springs. Our driver was friendly and assured us that the AC in his tour bus was working great! We made another stop and waited a bit for a party of 5 that was a no show...George seemed a bit disappointed about that at first...but then he said it was going to be a "Personal Tour" for us!! We got excited...he took us various celebrity homes or former homes...told us the history behind them and the area...he really knew his stuff! We loved Elvis' former home and Honeymoon hideaway, Frank Sinatra's home and our favorite was the Casa of Monte Vista, where George knows the owner and even had a key to the front gate. We walked in and we were only supposed to stay a few minutes, but we were introduced to the owner and his wife who were doing some upgrades to the back patio area...we introduced ourselves as being from Texas and he asked what Julia my daughter was studying in college (Forensic Science) and then the "nerd talk" went on! Tony told us a bit about Lady Gaga's recent stay...a place we could certainly not afford...George made a hot day in PS an eventful one for us and our family! read more

Beyond misleading and expensive. If you want to sit in a van for over 3 hours without getting out to see any homes beyond an exterior gate, then this is the tour for you. Was hoping for a comprehensive overview of the Palm Springs architecture and modernism homes, and got an overview of actors homes (from an ex actor guide) combined with google print outs that were shown on the dashboard. I could have done a better job myself. The drivers are freelance and while very nice, its not the tour I signed up for. read more

We took Tour 1, The Legends & Icons Tour with Sean as our driver and guide. We had a great time and learned so much. Our tour was over two hours, with being picked up at the Marriott's Desert Springs Villas. So easy and Sean was wonderful, fun and so knowledgeable of the area and things you would never know about. Thank you Sean for a great afternoon. read more

Five Star Tours is the best tour company in Palm Springs. We do the celebrity tour each year and never tire of hearing the stories about the lives of the people who were the original owners. Yesterday our guide was George. He did a very good tour. We enjoyed the music and pictures. Annette has a fine employee! read more