Packing for a hot springs weekend is less obvious than it looks. The climate is mild, the property provides most of what you need, and the whole point is to relax and not need much. Yet most first-time guests arrive with the wrong swimsuit, no second one, and jewelry they will regret wearing.

Mineral water behaves differently than pool water. It is warmer, it carries dissolved minerals that interact with fabrics and metals, and you will be in and out of it far more often across two days than you would be at a hotel pool.

This guide will explain what actually matters over a weekend, and what you can likely leave at home.

The Essentials

What Mineral Water Does to Your Things

This is the part nobody mentions until it has already happened.

• Light swimsuits. Mineral content can discolor white and pastel fabrics over repeated soaks. Bring darker suits for a weekend, and save the light ones for the pool at home.
• Jewelry. Leave it in the room. Minerals can dull silver and loosen settings, and wet hands make it easy to lose a ring at the edge of a pool.
• Hair. Mineral water can leave hair feeling coated, particularly if it is color-treated. A leave-in conditioner before you soak and a good rinse after makes a noticeable difference.
• Skin. Most guests find their skin feels softer afterward, but the combination of heat, minerals, and dry air is drying over two days. A richer moisturizer than you normally use is worth packing.
• Delicate fabrics. Silk and fine knits do not belong anywhere near a soaking deck. Pack things you can throw in a bag damp.

Worth Bringing

• A lightweight robe or cover-up. Useful for walking between pools and for the gap between a soak and lunch. Robes are often available to rent on property, but bringing your own is cheaper over two days.
• A dry bag or wet bag. You will finish the weekend with multiple damp swimsuits and nowhere good to put them.
• Waterproof phone pouch. If you want photos poolside without setting a phone down on a wet ledge.
• Lip balm. Heat and dry air do more to your lips than you expect.
• A book. You will have more unstructured quiet time than almost any other kind of trip produces.
• Layers for evening. Southern California evenings cool off sharply, especially inland, and you will be walking back from a pool wet.
• Slides for the room. Separate from your pool sandals, so you are not putting wet shoes back on.

What the Resort Usually Provides

Check before you pack duplicates. At Murrieta Hot Springs Resort, for example, lockers and robes are available to rent for the day, and both are included when you book a spa treatment along with day pass access to the pools and the adults-only Serenity Garden. Towels are typically provided for overnight guests.

What is worth confirming at any property:

• Whether towels are provided for day visitors or only overnight guests
• Whether lockers are included or rented separately
• Whether robes are available and at what cost
• Whether hairdryers are in the rooms or in the locker area
• Whether there are refill stations, so you know how much water to carry

Packing by Season

What to Leave Behind

• Your laptop. A working soak is not a soak, and pool decks and electronics do not mix.
• Glass containers. Prohibited at essentially every property for obvious reasons.
• Loud speakers. Most hot springs properties have quiet expectations, and some enforce them formally.
• Heavy makeup. It comes off in the water regardless, and most guests stop bothering by the second soak.
• A packed itinerary. The most common regret among first-time guests is scheduling too much around the water rather than in it.

A Weekend Packing Checklist

• Two to three swimsuits, darker colors
• Pool sandals plus room slides
• Robe or cover-up
• Refillable water bottle
• Sunscreen, lip balm, and a rich moisturizer
• Hair tie, wide-tooth comb, leave-in conditioner
• Dry bag for wet suits
• Loose clothes for between soaks, plus evening layers
• A book, and nothing that needs charging

To plan a hot springs weekend at Murrieta Hot Springs Resort, visit murrieta-hotsprings.com

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you wear jewelry in hot springs?

It is better not to. Dissolved minerals can dull silver and other metals over repeated exposure, and wet hands make small items easy to lose near a pool edge.

Does mineral water damage swimsuits?

It can discolor light-colored fabrics over time, particularly whites and pastels. Darker suits hold up better, and rinsing suits in fresh water after each soak extends their life considerably.

What should you wear between soaks?

A robe or cover-up and sandals. Most guests spend the day moving between pools rather than changing in and out of street clothes, which is why a second layer you can throw on over a wet suit is the most useful thing in the bag.

Do you need to bring towels?

Usually not for overnight stays, where towels are provided. Day visitors should confirm with the property, since towel and locker policies vary and some properties rent rather than include them.