It’s been the best thing about Murrieta since it opened.
Yet for more than two decades, the place was basically off limits to the general public.
Now it’s available and hallelujah!
After spending a day there luxuriating, the Murrieta Hot Springs Resort has me singing to the heavens once again.
Joining me was Murrieta City Councilmember Lori Stone, who moved to the area in 1976. Stone said she has “fond memories” of the resort. She toured the place before it reopened in early 2024 and said she’s “extremely happy to see they’ve preserved a lot of the original infrastructure.”
“So far I’ve heard nothing but wonderful comments,” she said. “The reopening for our city is a game changer as it provides jobs, unique spa uses and a wellness program like no other.”
The property was sold in 2022 for $50 million to Olympus Real Estate Group. About another $50 million has been spent on reconstruction and renovating. Serious money for a place that deserves it.
The resort’s website has a phrase, “Let the benefits soak in.” That’s the best place to start.
My daughter Julia and her husband Abel recently treated us to a day at the resort.
Turning off Murrieta Hot Springs Road (Now you know where one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares gets its name), we passed the guard station that now sits blissfully empty, no longer staffed by somebody restricting access. We parked, found our way to the check in, navigated that and entered a different world.
People, about 50 to 75 of all ages, strolled around in robes and swimsuits. The gorgeous grounds feature many ancient palms and other trees that towered over us, all strikingly manicured. There were various places to soak with names such as Sunset Social, Turtle Cove and Lulu’s Lookout – 33 in all.
We opted for Bombshell — the hottest one at more than 100 degrees. Stepping in and sitting, we looked out on the giant body of water in the center of the place, perhaps a lagoon. A giant bird bobbed and weaved in the water, fishing probably. A waitress came around and took drink orders, then delivered them, without us having to move.
We leaned back, closed our eyes and recalled our first visit.
It was summer 1989 and Julia was a couple months old. We bought passes for the summer, $50 a month, about what we could afford given that my wife Joanne had stopped working. We would come here almost every day after I worked. One of us would swim laps while the other watched our baby. Around us were mostly tourists, many Europeans, judging from the languages overheard.
It was hard to believe we were in Murrieta, which at the time had no more than 10,000 people and was not even a city.
The mobile homes that still sit on the hills above the resort were there, along with the ancient buildings.
At the time, the various bodies of water were the only public pools in Murrieta.
The history of the place is the stuff of local legend.
According to the 1995 history book “Murrieta, Old Town, New Town” by Mary Alice Rail Boyce, the famous hot waters are heated deep in the earth and pressed up through granite fissures in the Elsinore fault, surfacing on the nearby hillsides at about 140 degrees. They ran downhill to the ponds that were initially enjoyed by local Native Americans.
The first White men came to the hot springs in the late 1790s. About a century later, Alonza Horton camped there and upon his return to San Diego, proclaimed the waters “the fountain of youth,” and predicted the area would soon become a great resort.
Fritz Guenther made it happen in the early 1900s. His wonderful idea was to make it an affordable resort, not just a playground for the rich and famous. His delightful philosophy: “Cater to the masses, not the classes.”
And so the resort did, and hopefully will, once again.
Boyce’s book has an anonymous poem that was found in an old storage room after the Guenthers sold the property in 1969, initiating a series of sales of the property that culminated with Calvery Chapel buying it in 1995. The writing was hung on the office wall in the early 1970s.
“Dreamy Murrieta,” wrote the author. “Drenched in mountain sage. Healing mineral waters, Locked in rocky cage. Pepper tree a swaying, Tall and stately palm. You rest the tired body, And leave the spirit calm.”
To think locals once again have access to this ultimate of escapes is inspiring.
Reach Carl Love at carllove4@yahoo.com
