Spend more than a day at the historic Mission Inn Hotel & Spa and you will begin to think you are in Sevilla, not downtown Riverside in California’s Inland Empire. It wasn’t at all difficult for me, anyway, to forget about the election for a few days and settle into the seductively relaxed pace of the mazelike hotel. 

Frank Miller opened the first wing in 1903, with the Mission-Revival style architecture in mind. He added three more wings to the hotel by 1931, with an eclectic assortment of Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and Mediterranean influences.

Today it’s a hotspot for vacationers and meeting-goers alike, with 239 guest rooms—almost all completely unique—and 24,000 sq. ft. of indoor/outdoor meeting space. With such a romantic setting, it’s also no surprise that the hotel hosts about 400 weddings a year, with two chapels and several other beautiful venues. It was certainly good enough for Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart and Richard Nixon, who were all married here.

Had the on-site Kelly’s Spa been around, no doubt it would have well-pampered the 10 presidents who’ve been to the Mission Inn. It’s easy to feel like royalty at the new 12-room facility, which incorporates custom treatments by Kelly Roberts, wife of owner Duane Roberts. Kelly definitely knows relaxation, just as her husband knows steaks—Duane’s Steakhouse is the only Four-Diamond restaurant in Riverside.

Had I seen any ghosts, it could very well have been the perfect two-day getaway.