Glen Ivy Hot Springs — Local services in Temescal Valley

Warning! Read this or your trip will be awful!

Don't let your hair touch the sulfur springs or the minerals will wreck your hair and you'll need multiple expensive keratin treatments to repair it but it will never be the same.

All body types, ages & incomes welcome. Nobody judges, everyone's friendly & happy for you getting some self care & relaxation.

Strap the locker key to your bra strap or wrist band then tuck it so nobody sees it (see pics), a lot of the 1 star ratings are from the wrist strap falling off.

Get $300 in e-gift cards when they're running a special like mother's or Valentine's Day to pay for admission for two, you'll save about $80 by buying gift cards. I highly recommend you add on the latest available grotto appointment and the evening admission when they have extended hours.

Call at 8 am to reserve months in advance, their website sucks and doesn't accept gift cards. If you call past 10:00 a.m. you will get a message saying they have accepted all the calls they can handle for the day, but if you call at 8:00 a.m. you will have to leave a message and they will call you back that evening or the next day. There is no way to get a hold of a live person right away. Their phone and website are the worst I've ever encountered, that's why this review is a very deserved one star until they fix that. So many horror stories about the website not working right, forcing you to add on a service to book unless you call, and they super don't care that their phone and website suck.

Bring your own unopened bottled water, their sulfur water tastes awful although it's drinkable with cucumber and lemon which they have throughout the property. At least bring an empty water container. Using their little cups when you pass a water cooler isn't enough, you'll overheat in the hot tubs. Sip all day is key to Glen Ivy.

Wear a UPF 50 hat, you will be in enough direct sun and hot tubs that it will be well worth it to produce your own shade.

-Wear a dark colored bathing suit because you will want to do the mud bath and it is going to stain your suit this reddish clay color unless your suit is dark, our navy and black suits are immune to the staining for some reason.

Only do the clay bath once, it's very strong, don't put it on your face or scalp if you have sensitive skin, apply a thin layer and let the clay air dry then exfoliate it off with the provided towel (as the signage says to do). The showers between the two clay piles are perfectly warm, the rest are icy cold.

Do the grotto after the clay baths and sulfur pools, not before so you can feel the effects on your skin last the rest of the night as you drive home.

Because of that, right before you leave is the best grotto time but those get booked way ahead of time.

The food is expensive but good, if you're unsatisfied tell them they will make it right. It's not a lot of food but you'll find that you don't want a lot of food. It should be a relaxing place of light lunch and a light buzz. You can have a filling dinner after you leave.

When they close, go into the hot tub inside the restroom. Nobody will bother you there as you get some extra spa time. When you're done take your long shower and be last to leave unless you had a late grotto time in which case you might opt to shower when you get home or in the morning to let the lotions work their magic longer.

It's paradise, a perfect day every single time. The staff, including the phone staff, are incredible! It's always a great temperature year round thanks to shade in summer and the hot tubs in winter.

It must be the effect of the mineral water on the body and mind because I can't believe that even this paradisaic haven can cause the mind to feel this relaxed, but you have this really good feeling after that lasts the rest of the night.

I'd say imagine what daily use would do but there have been people who use and have used these waters daily dating back to the indigenous peoples who first venerated these springs for that...

Do yourself a favor and just don’t go here lol. My friend and I stopped by on our way back from a Palm Springs girls trip and thought we were signing up for a wellness retreat at Glen Ivy. We paid for a night pass which was $54 with no extra treatments. We went on a Sunday night. We first grabbed a bite to eat at the restaurant inside the hotel springs. I was surprised that most of the food was unhealthy. I also thought it would be a nicer restaurant. Instead, it was more of a cafeteria. Food was pretty good though. We then headed to the locker rooms to change into our swim suits. Chaos. Women (like I swear probably a hundred women) were packed into the locker rooms like sardines, hair dryers were going, women were rushing around in dripping swimsuits. It was just chaotic and not at all a welcoming. It was off putting but we still had a positive mindset. Not for long though. Once we changed, we headed to the mud area. It was also packed! People packed into the small mud water, covered in mud, and all scooping mud from a communal mud pile. The water was warm, murky, and the mud grossed me out. Thinking of people digging their dirty fingers into the communal mud, applying it god knows where, and then dipping their fingers in for more. I can’t imagine they replace that mud every day. Nonetheless, I did it but I made the stank face the entire time. We then went to the wafa area which is a sauna to allow the mud to dry on us. The door handle was caked on with mud from people’s hand grabbing the handle. The sitting area inside the sauna had muddy butt prints where prior people had sat. It was just gross. There were so many god damn towel employees but I guess no employees to maintain overall cleanliness of the mud area between guests. We rinsed all the mud off after about 10 min. Then we proceeded to the mineral baths. We were shocked to see 4, two person mini jacuzzis packed with people. It smelled like rotten eggs which is expected because of the sulfur but beware if you don’t like that! Sulfur smells like eggs and obviously it’s a mineral bath. We decided to come back to the mineral baths once it got less busy (it never got less busy). We proceeded to a few of the other pools which were hardly pools. The saline “pool” was more a jacuzzi. It was also packed with people. We checked out the main pool which was a larger pool but only about 1 ft so it was more for sitting. Also packed. Pretty much every single pool and amenity was packed. The water doesn’t get recycled so you’re pretty much just sitting in everyone’s bath water. Mind you, we went later in the day so that water had been marinating with the germs of the day time guests already. There were more than a few times we would see strands of hair floating by. There were puddles of water everywhere which made me concerned I’d get a toe infection. In general, my takeaway is that if sitting in water with a ton of other people covered in their own sweat and sunblock doesn’t bother you then this place will be ok for you but it was gross to my friend and I. An attendant at the resort said they have about 1,200 guests a day. So that water had 1,200 people in it and they don’t clean the water throughout the day. Only once the park closes at night. That’s nasty to me. Germs, hair, sunblock residue, sweat, etc. No thanks. We bought a pass that gave us access from 4-9 pm and we were only there until 6:30. We got there at 4 and ate until about 5. So in all we only checked out the amenities for an hour and a half until we just got so grossed out and frustrated and decided to leave. I will never come here again nor will I recommend it to anyone. This place was not relaxing. It was stressful and disgusting. Don’t be fooled by the 4.5 stars on google. Check out Yelp for the bad reviews. Wish I did before going to this human petri dish. Thank god it was only $54 instead of the $109 they charge to day time people. I wouldn’t go if it was free. I’ll be expecting a UTI and/or toe...

Glen Ivy is very much overrated. I was surprised to experience such a lack of relaxation, a lack of service, lack of fulfillment at a place that gets such high reviews. I visited on a Wednesday in June. There were no available chairs at 10:07am everything was taken. The chairs that weren’t take were for sale at 11am. So they sat empty for an entire hour. Well about 20 minutes in, I finally found a chair upstairs that was available and saved my $35. The line for the mineral bath was absolutely absurd! 40 minutes before I could get in (yep, there was a line). I had to rush over to my 12:00 massage now.

I walked in to my massage appointment and found an old carpeted building full of people. All waiting for their massage therapist to pick them up. Not enough seating for all of us, Did I mention robes are for rent…so I arrived in a wet bathing suit clueless that I wouldn’t get a robe for my massage. I waited while dripping water onto the carpet, a carpet???? Why is this facility so outdated? My massage was so-so. I have had better at massage envy and that’s nothing to brag about. The therapist was a much older woman with very little strength. I left with knots in my neck.

At this point it’s 1:00 and I’m hungry. You guessed it, 1 hour in line at the restaurant! 1 hour!!!! The food was decent though so that’s a plus. The chairs are weaved so now my backside has weave pattern in my skin.

Now it’s 2:30 and my facial is scheduled for 4:00 so just enough time for me to complete that circuit. The card they handed me at the entrance with my schedule had marked “grotto” on my card. I have no clue what that is I figured it was something included with my weekday package. So a nice employee explained that I need to use the mineral bath detox , then mud exfoliant, followed by the grotto hydration. I have an hour to get this done …guess what!!! They made a mistake on my card and it turns out I didn’t have the “grotto” so I’ve chosen this circuit instead of the plunge circuit all because I thought I had grotto. Since it’s my first time I didn’t have a clue what this was. Well I get to the grotto and she tells me there was a mistake and she is booked for the day and can’t take me. Whaaaaat???? So I’m really bummed I kindly walk away shower and get ready for my 4:00 facial.

There is more carpet in the women’s locker room!!! So gross!! What is with this old carpet? Well they offer shampoo, soap, and conditioner and q-tips. That’s it! No face soap, no amenities….such a bummer.

Time for my facial, looks nice! The place must be remodeled! (Nope I found more carpet in the facial rooms). Another line!!! 5 women waiting for the restroom! Sadly, I must report the facial was horrid! The woman set up while I was in the room, she wasn’t ready for me so this took a few minutes (she apologized) but for the price I don’t want an apology, I want my time. As she’s working on my face she is plopping the items that she going to use next to my ear on the table. When she puts the mask on me, she said, “ok I’m going to clean up for a minute and then do your massage. Clean up???? I have my eyes covered and I’m hearing drawers open and close, zipping up content bags, washing/rinsing the bowls or whatever she used. I’m just laying there listening to all this…and her chair is bumping into my bun on my head which I had to speak up about because it was hurting me. But why is she cleaning up, shouldn’t she be working on me? About three minutes of this and finally she starts scratching my head…what is happening right now? Maybe she thinks I’m a puppy?

I don’t even want to review the restrooms because those get a 1 star. Needless to say, I’m extremely disappointed and I...