Patrons Drink To Sinatra At JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort

PALM DESERT, CA —In 1995, Frank Sinatra played his final live show in the ballroom at what is today the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa.

Recently, in addition to renaming its ballroom for Sinatra, the resort, located at 74-855 Country Club Drive, has started paying tribute to Ol' Blue Eyes —who died in 1998 — with its daily Sinatra Smash Happy Hour.

Each afternoon between 4:05 p.m. and 4:11 p.m. at Aquifer65, the lobby bar, the hotel plays two songs by Sinatra: "Come Fly With Me" and "The Best is Yet to Come."

The latter song was Sinatra's closer during that final performance on Feb. 25, 1995, which was at a private party for 1,200 select guests on the closing night of the Frank Sinatra Desert Classic golf tournament, according to The Current.org.

A Frank Sinatra poster at the JW Marriott.

The hotel also has invented a cocktail, The Sinatra Smash, in honor of the Chairman of the Board, who actually lived a few miles away in Rancho Mirage.

In fact, according to legend, when Sinatra was home, he would raise a flag atop a tall flagpole every afternoon, signaling to his friends and neighbors that it was time to come over for a Cocktail Hour.

The JW Marriott said it also pays tribute to this tradition by raising its own flag ahead of its daily Sinatra-themed happy hour.

What is in the Sinatra Smash?

• 1.5 ounces Jack Daniels Old No. 7
• 1.5 ounces sweet and sour
• 3/4 ounces Creme de Cassis
• 1/4 ounces vanilla- infused simple syrup
• 5 blackberries
• Garnished with 2 more blackberries and a sprig of mint

The drink sells for $17 at Aquifer65.