Pulling into the driveway of the Westin Mission Hills Resort & Spa, you get the idea it's going to be just another nice hotel.

The driveway isn't particularly long or ostentatious by modern resort standards. The waterfalls and shooting fountains are almost reserved and dignified (what's resort about that?).

Of course you couldn't know at that moment that whoever designed Westin Mission Hills likes to play as much as Tom Hanks' character in "Big."

The Palm Springs area complex is often advertised as a golf resort. Which is very true. If the golf was any closer, the 18th green of the Pete Dye Resort would play out in the living room of your golf casita.

Throw in a Gary Player Signature Course — that's no throw in — a quick courtesy van shuttle ride across the street and you're talking about being able to book your tee time for 9 a.m. and hitting the snooze till 8:45. If you so dare.

Who needs a warm-up that a 9:15 a.m. Budweiser couldn't cure?

As golf playgrounds go, Mission Hills is as convenient as a diner. Without the charming "Whatcha you want honey!" waitresses.

And for sheer volume of “fun stuff to do”, the Westin Mission Hills Resort could never be mistaken for a one-trick playpen.

Name the sport and this place has it. There are so many lighted tennis courts that you're liable to think you've stumbled upon a separate community center in an evening stroll around the grounds. The basketball courts actually have nets and not as many cracks as a broken car window (which if you ever stayed at a resort you know is no small feat for something you don't have to pay to play).

That's the beauty of Westin Mission Hills. It's an equal play opportunity resort. If you like to play golf and your spouse wants to take a long bike ride, you'll find the paths here. Even if exercise without a motorized vehicle may sound awfully foreign to most U.S. golfers.

Of course, if you want to spend as much on your other recreations as you do golf, there's the new spa that seems to be the prerequisite of every resort these days.