While it’s easy to believe that it’s sort of a happy accident, it turns out that Paso Robles has gone above and beyond regular “hospitality” since the mid 1800′s.
Long before Highways 101 and 46, or even the railroads, brought visitors here for our wine, Paso Robles was a visitor destination for our healing hot mineral springs and mud baths.
As far back as the 1850’s, visitors were arriving via stagecoach, buckboard, on horseback and even on foot to find cures for their ailments that the hot springs would reportedly cure. And to show their appreciation for visitors, the town rolled out the red carpet, Paso Robles style.

The Paso Robles Inn uncapped the old hot mineral springs wells in 1999 and now select guest rooms have spa tubs on their balconies
Right smack dab in the middle of town, where our Library and the Paso Robles Inn currently sit, was an underground hot spring (you may have heard of its resurgence, as it were, after our 2003 earthquake, but that’s another story for another day). In short order, guest cabins were built around the spring, as well as the first iteration of the soon-to-be-world-famous Paso Robles Hot Springs Hotel, which would eventually be replaced by a large, resplendent version that would attract the likes of celebrities such as Ignace Paderewski and The Pittsburgh Pirates, among others.
There was also a taxi service to get folks from their hotel to the hot springs and as demand increased, a horse-drawn trolley on rails was installed to get more people to the hot springs and mud baths more easily.
Pretty impressive, big-city service for a town of less than 500 people.
That spirit of hospitality is still alive and well today. Paso Robles residents are some of the warmest, most welcoming people you will ever meet, to friends and strangers alike. Our wineries, restaurants and hotels are happy to give visitors suggestions on making the most of their visit to Paso Robles, and there is a pretty good chance that if you walk around our downtown, more than one friendly stranger will give you a warm smile and greeting.
If you’d like to experience “taking the cure” in Paso Robles, there are three places to still experience hot mineral springs baths – the Paso Robles Inn, River Oaks Hot Springs Spa and Franklin Hot Springs.
And you don’t have to pitch a tent either, we have 20 hotels, numerous bed and breakfast inns and vacation rentals to choose from.
We’re good like that, our history is hospitality.
This sounds really interesting. This is quite an awesome destination. I would be checking this out.
Posted by: Marcel Uhlir | December 28, 2012 at 07:47 PM
very interesting, i like this article, thank you.
Posted by: john | December 28, 2012 at 05:20 AM