Glen Ivy Hot Springs celebrates 150th anniversary with spa deals
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The waters at Glen Ivy Hot Springs have beckoned Southern California day-trippers since President Lincoln was in office. Beginning Jan. 1, the day spa in Corona is celebrating 150 years since its founding. Before Burke Williams and others populated Southern California shopping centers, residents flocked to this Riverside County destination to rejuvenate and recoup in Glen Ivy’s natural mineral springs.
On July 27, 1860, John J. Skinker ran an advertisement in the Los Angeles Star for the Temescal Sulfur Springs located 55 miles east of the city. The ad proclaims that Temescal -- renamed Glen Ivy in 1890 -- waters feature ‘medicinal qualities . . . equal to those of the most celebrated springs in other parts of the world.’ Glen Ivy morphed throughout the years: At one time, an adobe inn was built and a barn covered the mineral pool (both are no longer in existence; the barn burned down in the 1900s). In 1977, John Gray, who established Glen Ivy’s present incarnation, began renovating the 17-acre property into what it is today -- a day resort with 19 pools, 72 treatment rooms, a restaurant and a granite ‘grotto.’
Glen Ivy’s Jim Root, chief executive and president, believes the spa’s attention to the basics -- it was never ultra-luxurious -- is the reason for its longevity. ‘Spas are a $12-billion industry that lost sight of timeless, basic values, connecting people, nature, good food, moving body through space and the healing power of touch,’ he says. ‘You don’t have to get fussy with a bathrobe, and cucumber on your eyes.’
Gray, 62, believes that if there’s a hot spring, they will come. ‘Naturally thermal water has a beneficial effect on people, and mineral springs have something extra,’ he says. ‘A real spa, based around water, will continue to nurture well-being.’
Glen Ivy is running 150th-anniversary specials, including $18.60 admission every Wednesday in January. There’s also a Club 1860 membership ($395) that offers unlimited admission to the Corona spring and 10% off spa services for a year. The Holiday Detox package is $145, which includes a sugar scrub, eucalyptus body wrap, 30-minute Swedish massage and Grotto body moisturizing experience. There’s also a $150 Weekday Getaway package featuring spa treatments plus lunch at Café Sole Mondays through Thursdays.
25000 Glen Ivy Road,Corona. (888) 453-6489. 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. www.glenivy.com -- Max Padilla
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