Here’s How to Spend 24 Hours at Murrieta Hot Springs Resort

Did you know that there’s a full-on healing hot springs resort less than 2 hours from Los Angeles? Indigenous people of California have known about the springs since the 16th century and have used the mud and waters for healing. By 1902, a man named Fritz Guenther bought the land to develop a health retreat, and while it’s changed hands in the last several decades (including time as a bible college), by 2024 it became the gorgeous resort you see today. Walking the grounds, you can see the imprint of the various tenants that came before. While you can secure a day pass to enjoy the hot springs and its many amenities, I’ll show you why an overnight stay more than pays for itself with exclusive experiences and dining options. Here’s how to spend 24 hours at Murrieta Hot Springs Resort.

*EatDrinkLA was a guest of the Murrieta Hot Springs Resort, but the honest opinions belong solely to the author. There is one affiliate link present; thank you for considering the click.

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Arrive Early for a Guided Vitality Plunge

Even though check-in isn’t until 4 p.m., Murrieta Hot Springs Resort more than welcomes arriving early and staying late – meaning you can start using the property amenities before and after your technical room occupancy. A great way to begin your trip is with a Guided Vitality Plunge, held multiple times a day, including 10 a.m. There are over 25 geothermal pools on the property where you get to bathe in alkaline water steeped in minerals like potassium, boron, calcium, and lithium – all with healing modalities such as antioxidants, bone support, and blood pressure reduction.

Soaking in a warming hot spring is the easy part of this process, though. At Murrieta Hot Springs, they suggest you “contrast bathe,” which means alternating between the hot springs, a cold plunge, and a mild soak or outdoor sunbathe. The heat increases circulation and endorphins, while the cold plunge supports immune function, tissue repair, and a boosted metabolic rate. Both hot and cold help with lymphatic detox. While the hot springs can reach temperatures as high as 104°F, the cold plunge is about 53°F, and it’s difficult to take for even one second! Joining the guided journey will help you push yourself to your personal max. I have to admit, the tingly feeling gets almost addictive, and by the end of my stay I had done the cold plunge four different times.

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Take a Mud Bath

Clay Cove is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and it’s where you can rub mineral-rich water and bentonite clay from the Mojave Desert all over your body to draw out impurities. Let the clay dry on your skin, then wash it off in their outdoor shower, which features geothermal waters. The Clay Cove is located right next to one of my favorite spots to take in the waters: The Contrast Terrace. All these pools are 100% geothermal, unlike the Vitality Plunge, which does have some chlorine. Wellness experts on the property recommend that after you take a dip in the chlorine water, it’s nice to follow that up in the natural stone tubs.

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Enjoy a Healthy Lunch at Cafe Azul

Murrieta Hot Springs has five different dining options on the property, but when you’re already wet, you’ll want to stay that way, so a pool-adjacent lunch is preferred.

Cafe Azuli has everything from a Hydrating Fruit Bowl to a Blackened Chicken Sandwich. Alcoholic Beverages are also available, along with “indulgences” like Loaded French Fries and Nachos.

Prices range from $12 to $21 for food items and $10 to $12 for drinks.

Alternatively, you can enjoy poolside food and beverage service at the adults-only Oasis Pool or The Tortoise Shell Bar.

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Visit The Bathhouse

The adults-only Bathhouse and Bathhall offer Indoor Contrast Bathing, a Kneipp Walk, plus a Steamroom, Sauna, and Sundeck.

As you enter the Bathhouse, you can ease into the treatment with the Kneipp Walk, which includes a reflexology path in warm, shallow water and an opposing one in freezing cold. This centuries-old hydrotherapy process was founded by Father Sebastian Kneipp.

Next, you can enjoy Indoor Contrasting Bathing, self-guided, so you can stay as long as you want in each pool. You can also do a Steam instead of the Hot Bathing if you’d prefer. Repetition is key.

Head upstairs to the Panorama Sauna, where four times a day there is a special Aromatherapy Session to complement the sweet orange metabolism booster already present in the air. The view makes it easy to sit for longer.

Follow that up with a relaxing nap on the Cedar Sundeck before treating yourself to a Spa Treatment.

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Bliss out at The Spa

The Spa Treatments at Murrieta Hot Springs are truly imaginative and include a Free Day Pass if you’re not staying overnight (a $109 value or $59 for locals). The spa is right across from the Bathhouse and also gives you access to a terrace of geothermal tubs. Why is this necessary? As the day goes on and more day-pass users arrive, you might have to wait for a tub in the other areas. The spa terrace never gets full.

Treatments range from an Energizing Herbal Renewal wrap to a Magnesium Muscle Melt Body scrub. The Magnesium Muscle Melt Body Scrub is a head-to-toe scrub that leaves you soft and relaxed at the finish. Aromatherapy Massages and Sleep Glow Facials also offer invigorating experiences. Sleep is a big part of the Murrieta Hot Springs mindset, so keep your eye out for ways to enhance it while you are on site.

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Take a Wellness Class

At 3 p.m. daily, you can pre-reserve a spot in a class at the wellness studio. This can range from Restorative Yoga to Roll & Recover, or Restful Recharge with singing bowls. The Wellness Studio is right next to the Clay Cove and attached to the massive Fitness Center, where you’re also invited to work out.

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Attend a Gratitude Ceremony

Just outside the spa gates is a spot marked for a Gratitude Ceremony. I came in expecting to gather in a circle and say out loud what I was grateful for (of course, being here :)). What I got was something much more extraordinary. One of the wellness experts on site led a group of us through a guided meditation under the swaying trees, with the sound of the seasons changing above our heads. We were asked to think of a word to describe our feeling, write it on rice paper, and insert it into glass jars. Water from the hot springs was then poured over the words, melding them with the water, and offering something to take as a reminder of your feeling of this place. I can’t recommend this free experience enough.

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Check In!

Have you been having so much fun that you forgot that you had a hotel room to enjoy? The property features six buildings with accommodations ranging from historic rooms and suites to luxurious cabins. If you’re traveling with your family, there are even bunk-bed-style rooms. Something like the Hillside King Soaking Suite offers ultimate privacy as you sit atop the resort and can watch the sun set or rise from your private outdoor soaking tub on the patio.

The Hillside King Suite also includes an additional living room space to stretch out in.

All rooms include a Sleep Tray to help you drift off to sleep with step-by-step Instructions, Earplugs, Aromatherapy, and a Sleep Sack for your cellphone.

The accomodations offer so much variety that after your first stay you’ll know the buildings by name and can try out a new room on your next visit.

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Pick your Perfect Happy Hour

Beginning at 4 p.m., Guenther’s Lounge kicks off its traditional happy hour with a wide variety of cocktails, including an Old Fashioned, Margarita, or Wine and Beer, at $5 or more off. You can also hit them up between 9 and 10 p.m. for happy hour part deux.

As this is a health spa, however, perhaps you’d like to attend Wellness Happy Hour from 5 to 7 p.m. instead? Taking place on the rooftop of the bathhouse, it’s an absolute party with bumping Music, wellness Elixirs, and Colorful Clay Body Painting! The cost is $23 and includes a drink and a palette of clay colors to help reset, soften, and revive your skin. Even if you come in timid without that liquid courage, I promise by the end you’ll be shaking your clay-colored booty in the setting sun.

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Dinner at Talia Kitchen

Talia Kitchen is the resort’s signature restaurant, helmed by Executive Chef Matt Steffan. The idea is that “health food” can still be indulgent and delicious, and the menu is guided by source ingredients that move with the seasons. If you visit on a Wednesday or Thursday night, you can enjoy the 3-course prix fixe for $59, with an option to add a 4-course wine pairing for $39. There is also a non-alcoholic beverage pairing for $30. If you do imbibe, the wine pairing often features wines you’d usually have to order by the bottle, so it’s an added bonus.

Before your meal even begins, you’re served a glass of bubbles, alcoholic or just sparkling, such as a Wycliff Sparkling White.

Depending on the season, your first course could be House Focaccia and whipped fresh Ricotta or a Baby Gem Wedge with apple Dijon vinaigrette, pork belly, blue cheese mousse, roasted heirloom tomato, and cipollini onion. My meal was paired with a Gewürztraminer, which was memorably flavorful.

Main course favorites include the Braised Brandt Beef Prime Short Rib with Stokes purple yam puree and the Wild King Salmon with summer pea puree, lemon Syracuse potatoes, radish, chicory, roasted asparagus, and grilled stonefruit. The wine pairing for this one was a Chenin Blanc.

For dessert, recommendations were a Lemon Posset, which is like a panna cotta, and the irresistible house-made Ricotta Doughnuts served with a passionfruit gelato that had me gasping out loud (alone :)). The pairing was a Honeymoon 2024 from Martha Stoumen’s natural wines.

You don’t have to be a hotel guest to enjoy Talia Kitchen, but a short walk back to your room after a meal is quite refreshing.

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Live Jazz

If you’re visiting on a Wednesday or a Sunday night, then head to Guenther’s for Live Jazz at 6:30 p.m. It makes this woodsy lodge even cozier. Just like Talia Kitchen, you don’t need to be a hotel guest to visit.

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Pre-Sleep Soak

The daypass crowd melts away by 10 p.m., but you still have 24-hour soak access as a hotel guest. Take advantage either in your private tub or one of the dozens of pools. It will help you sleep and may even burn off some of the beverages you enjoyed that evening.

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8 AM Aqua Yoga

While fitness classes start as early as 7:15 a.m., Aqua Yoga at 8 a.m. is a perfectly doable activity that lets you wake up naturally with the sun. In-room coffee and tea can help you get moving too. If you have time, pop into Brew 1902 for some artisanal Coffee or a Smoothie.

I’m no stranger to yoga, but this was something I’d never done, and the water let me push myself in ways I might not on the ground. The resort is also immensely calm at this time, as this activity is reserved for overnight guests only.

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Conclude your Trip with an Aqua Sound Bath

There’s no better way to cap off 24 hours at Murrieta Hot Springs Resort than with an Aqua Sound Bath in the Roman Spa. The water helps the sound vibrate at a deeper level, and when the floating bowls come in front of you, it’s like you’re entering another realm. This experience can also be booked privately or with a small group if you so choose. The 30-minute morning session ends by 9:45 a.m., which is just enough time to get your bags and check out – unless you’re making it a 30-hour stay (wink).

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Insider Booking Tips for Murrieta Hot Springs Resort

I suggest a mid-week Wednesday night stay if you can. You will maximize your time with activities and enjoy fewer crowds than on weekends. Book directly on their website for great rates or on sites like Expedia, which let you see all the room categories on the same page with their building designations.

Murrieta Hot Springs Resort is located at 39405 Murrieta Hot Springs Rd, Murrieta, CA 92563. It’s only an hour and a half away from Los Angeles, but you’ll feel like you’re in another world.