Come to the sun

Learn from award-winning faculty at five 10-day, in-person writing residencies at the Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa near sunny Palm Springs, California.

Your resort stay is included in your tuition and fees.

Breakfast each morning and a full lunch buffet each afternoon are both included. You will receive generous discounts on food, amenities, and services across the property.

The resort is located just steps away from The River entertainment complex, which features over a dozen restaurants and shops.

When are the residencies?

The in-person residencies begin on the first Friday in June and the first Friday in December. They last 10 days. You must attend all five residencies.

Make industry connections

Each residency is filled with a number of guest lectures and readings, along with regular scheduled courses. At each residency, you’ll meet agents, editors, producers, and showrunners. At your final residency, they’ll read your work. Past guests include editors from every major New York publishing house; Academy Award- and Emmy Award-winning writers, producers and showrunners; plus studio executives from Amazon, Netflix, Warner Brothers, Paramount, Disney, and some of the top indie voices in the business.

General Residency Information

Location:

Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa

41-000 Bob Hope Drive
Rancho Mirage, CA 92270
Phone: (760) 568-2727
Concierge: (760) 862-4518

Driving Directions:

• From the Palm Springs International Airport (11 Miles) Depart from the airport, turn left on El Cielo (.5 miles). Turn left on Ramon Road (5.5 miles). Turn right on Bob Hope Drive (5 miles). Turn left into the resort.
• From I-10 East (Los Angeles) From I-10 East, exit on Bob Hope Drive and turn right (5 miles). Turn left into the resort.
• From I-10 West (Phoenix)From I-10 West, exit on Bob Hope and turn left (5 miles). Turn left into the resort.

Nearby Airports:

• Palm Springs International Airport (PSP) 11 miles with a transfer time of about 15 minutes.
• Ontario International Airport (ONT) 81 miles with a transfer time of about 1 hour, 20 minutes.
• Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) 140 miles with a transfer time of about 2.5 hours.

General Information:

• Check-in at the Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort is at 3 p.m. Check-out is at noon. Please come to the convention center office (located in Desert Suite 1) after checking in to receive your welcome packet and to get information regarding the evening reception. Directions to the resort are here.
• You will be given a wristband to wear in order to receive discounted prices throughout the hotel for meals, drinks, and services.
• New student orientation is Friday night at 5 p.m. If you’re a new student, you need to be there.
• Our welcome party begins promptly at 6 p.m. in the RBar.
• All evening events will take place in Salon 6.
• All graduate lectures will take place in Salon 5.
• Morning and afternoon lectures will be conducted in Salons 3, 4 and 6.
• All meals will take place in Salon 4 in the convention center.
• Free coffee, water, and snacks will be in the office located in Desert Suit 1, at the end of the convention hall, from breakfast until the evening readings.
• There will be a computers and printers available all day in the office. If you have any questions or needs, UCR staff members will be there to assist you.
• Please check the whiteboard and message boxes in the office for any venue changes and messages.
• If you need multiple copies made of a document (more than what could just be printed off easily on a computer) please email your requests to Agam (agam.patel@ucr.edu) 48 hours prior to your copy needs.
• There will be sign-up sheets located in the office for one-on-one meetings with visitors as well as meetings with Tod (all new students must meet with Tod).
• Remember: While you are staying at a resort, you are also in school. This means all of the regular rules and regulations of being a University of California student apply.
• The resort locks the conference center doors at 11 p.m. each night. Please visit or call the front desk if you have any concerns or problems.

See frequently asked questions

View a Sample Residency Schedule.