California's Historic Inn Offers A Romantic Getaway With Old-School European Charm

An unexpected, luxury gem tucked away in the Inland Empire of southern California, the Mission Inn Hotel & Spa is a storied hotel with deep roots in the city of Riverside. Ranked among the Historic Hotels of America 2025 list of the top 25 most romantic hotels, the Mission Inn is a sprawling resort getaway that's famous for its elevated dining and bar experiences, stunning holiday lights displays, and luxe amenities. What began as a humble, adobe boarding house in 1876 is now an elegant desert oasis centrally located in a bustling community. And much like its name suggests, the hotel's architecture and aesthetic harkens back to the Spanish colonial, mission-era of California's history.

Simultaneously a hub for culinary experiences with seven themed restaurants, bars, and cafes, as well as a gallery for historic artifacts dotted around the hotel, the Mission Inn exudes an Old World charm in its aesthetics, architecture, and decor. Subsequent expansions after the inn's initial founding built the hotel into a compound of Mediterranean-influenced, Spanish-colonial features with gorgeous outdoor arcades, castle-like towers, opulent domes, and arches outfitting the hotel. Today, these stunning facades house well-appointed rooms which range from $170 to $790 per night depending on the room, availability, and season.

If you're staying at the Mission Inn, their amenities are not be missed. The hotel's onsite restaurants offer a range of different cuisines from upscale Italian at Bella Trattoria to American steakhouse with Duane's Prime Steak and Seafood, while the Presidential Lounge has the perfect atmosphere for an artisanal cocktail. When you're ready to relax, you can kick back at Kelly's Spa, a Tuscan-villa themed retreat which offers tailored massage or facial treatments.

Stepping into the hotel's courtyard or beautifully outfitted lobby is like stepping back into a time of decadence and charm. The Mission Inn has historically counted many important guests among their celebrity clientele, illustrating an era when Riverside was a popular desert destination. A playground for the Hollywood elite and political movers and shakers, the hotel today exhibits some of that same elegant lifestyle, paying homage to its historic guests.

Several presidents have visited the inn, including President Richard Nixon who married his wife, Pat, at the hotel in June 1940. President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy also stayed at the inn for their honeymoon almost a decade later. The hotel even has some historic presidential memorabilia, like President Taft's chair, on display for guests to explore the building's history and illustrious past visitors. The Presidential Lounge, the aforementioned mood-setting bar adjacent to the hotel lobby, is even named in homage to the many political leaders who stayed there.

Hollywood royalty also graced the Mission Inn as well. Actress Bette Davis hired the beautiful hotel as the venue for her wedding reception in 1945, and today couples can still book the very entertainment hall she did for their own matrimonial celebrations. Other cinema elite, like Judy Garland, Clark Gable, Tom Hanks, and Barbara Streisand have also stayed with the Mission Inn, exhibiting the resort's allure across generations. Such is the prestige and legacy of the hotel that the Mission Inn was named an official Historic Hotel of America in 1996. It's also a National Historic Landmark as designated by the Secretary of the Interior. Visiting the Mission Inn is like taking one of the best Hollywood tours, filled with unexpected, yet glamorous history.

The Mission Inn is located in the historic center of Riverside, a city often overlooked for California's best known desert towns like Palm Springs or La Quinta. However, just a few blocks away from the Mission Inn, visitors can explore a thriving history and arts district, an area with a number of cultural institutions, like the Riverside Art Museum (RAM). Home to the new Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture, the RAM offers a wide variety of exhibitions that speak to both the local arts scene as well as national cultural movements ranging from contemporary art to photography.

For those who love to immerse themselves in history, downtown Riverside is home to a large, multi-level antique mall — the Mission Galleria Antiques Shoppe — filled with vendors that each have their own incredible cabinet of curiosities to show off. It's not uncommon to see a number of historic artifacts, like antique orange crates that harken to the city's illustrious past as the mecca of orange groves, or a number of Victorian pieces that reflect the town's settlement in the 19th century.

To fill your evenings, consider checking out the roster of events at the Fox Theater, a historic performing arts venue that began life as an old Hollywood movie theater. Famous for holding the first public screening of "Gone With The Wind," the theater was once at the center of movie glitz and glamor. Today, the theater puts on touring performances of Broadway musicals, hosts a number of musical performances, and invites comedians to perform. Exploring downtown Riverside, accompanied with the stay at the Mission Inn, is among one of the most underrated day trips from Los Angeles, Palm Springs, or San Diego, one filled with surprise history and art.