We spent the weekend with 12 family members ages 5-80 (one handicapped and in motorized wheelchair) and one dog. Although the rooms are run down, the resort is beyond phenomenal. The lodge offers a hot spring fed pool, spa, equestrian center, trails, pool, ping pong,shuffle board, tennis, basketball, sauna, lodge, cantina and restaurant. I am sure there is more, we just did not get to it all! This was a slow time, so there were not many organized activities but we found plenty to do. One night we took our dinner to the main lodge, set up tables and ate fireside. We also ate at the restaurant-very good simple fare. We also utilized the game room to catch up on football ( rooms have no tv). the older kids went on a trail ride, the younger rode bikes around property or went for a pony ride. No phones but
verizon and AT&T work here) The staff is super friendly and very accommodating. No request was denied. There is also a quaint Catholic church adjacent to the property, mass at 1130 Sundays. One of our group was in wheelchair and was able to get around the property without much trouble. New pet policy in place so make sure you know the rules on that. All in all, just a fantastic place to create family memories.

We went for an afternoon relaxation. There were only about a dozen people there,it was quiet ,beautiful and the water incredible, soothing music gently played... the hot pool on this chilly Nov. day was just the ticket.... until we went into the locker room to dress and leave. My daughter-in-law's boots had been stolen ! Another lady discovered that her blouse was missing! We told the person in charge and he, wasn't surprised ,and commented that theft was common. I guess we should have brought our own locks/or left clothing etc by the pool side.. To say the least it was upsetting and marred our afternoon. We felt sorry for anyone who would do this disturbing act of disregard.

Even as I write this, the sale of the Warner Springs Ranch property (hotel, spa, golf course, etc.) is moving forward. The Pala Indian tribe is in escrow to purchase the entire facility, but the sale is going slowly. In the 1980's, the Ranch was sold to 1200 separate owners in what amounts to a cooperative. Over the years many of those owners have defaulted or gone into arrears on maintenance or other fees, so that the current status of the various property claims is rather murky. There is also a lawsuit filed by some owners who simply don't want to sell. The best guess of various Ranch employees as to when the sale will be final varies from a few more weeks to 6 or 8 months. No one really knows, but the Pala tribe will almost certainly be the owner in the near future. Apparently, they intend to fix up the property (probably raising the prices a bit) and run it pretty much as it has been run. There will be no casino, at least not for the next decade or so. The Pala tribe already has a very successful casino about 45 minutes away.

The Pala occupied the Warner Springs area until they were ousted about 100 years ago and packed off to their designated reservation on the nearby slopes of Mount Palomar. Thus, they are now reclaiming (for $20 million) part of their ancestral lands.

For now, the place is still up and running and is a very nice retreat from the nearby urban sprawl.

Accommodations: there are the old rooms and the new rooms, almost all of them contained is two unit casitas. We stayed in a new room so I can't speak to the condition of the old. Our room was large, clean, and Spartan. No television. No phone. No radio. The bed was pretty comfortable, but the sofa and easy chair were only passable. The fireplace was a very nice touch (be careful to follow the directions lest you end up with a whole bunch of smoke in the room.) The bathroom was small and the shower was only adequate.

Food: the main dining room is only open for dinner Thursday through Saturday nights, so the only dining option the rest of the week is the Cantina. The food is quite good, but the menu is very limited. The house dressing is especially good. Breakfast and lunch are served across the street at the golf course and, again, are good, but with a limited selection.

Golf: I wrote a separate review of the golf course a couple of years ago and it still is accurate. The guy in the shop said he was pretty sure the Pala tribe was going to put some money into the course and pave the cart paths as well as redo some of the irrigation system. Those would be good investments.

Trail riding: my wife and I are not particularly avid horse-people, but we have probably done 8 or 9 trail rides in the last 15 years. This is the best we have ever encountered. Alberto took us into some wild areas, well off the bigger, more heavily used trails. It is probably because there were only the two of us, but it was a real treat. Be sure and let them know a full day ahead of time if you want to book a ride.

Pool: the two huge pools are the centerpiece of the Ranch. The hot pool was 104F both days we were there and the fresh water pool was 80F. If you can get past the sulfur smell that permeates the area, it is a very pleasant way to spend a couple of hours after a round of golf or a trail ride.

I would certainly recommend the Ranch, though I would remind you that this is not a fancy, Palm Springs type resort. It is very basic. As for the new owners, I would watch the internet for news of a temporary closing (while they refurbish) followed by a grand reopening.

We have visited this place twice now, once in cloudy and once in sunny weather, and loved both times very much. I always tell people: don't expect the glitter and glam that the title "resort" usually brings to mind, but do expect nice looking casita's and surroundings, lots of room, a main lodge with free fresh, piping hot, delicious coffee in the morning, with reading rooms (fireplaces!), TV rooms and play rooms (ping pong), and two really big, very clean pools, one with the hot mineral water directly from the spring ( a nice little walk up a slight hill brings you to the source) and the other with lovely fresh swimming water. Expect the mineral pool to smell like sulfur (the rotten egg kind), but it has never bothered us much. The high point for our kids is the one and a half hour horse ride they offer; very calm and sweet, well kept horses bring you into the beautiful nature surrounding Warner Springs Ranch. We'll come back for sure.

ps. We were in room 207 with a family of four and grandpa; it has a seperate lower part for one person, which worked great for us!!