Harrison Hot Springs
17 Jan 2011 Leave a Comment
in Family, Travel Tags: harrison hot springs, memories, pictures
When I was a kid I was taken to visit Harrison Hot Springs at least once or twice, but I don’t remember too much from those trips. I remember walking a really long way along a lake and finding a stinky, sulphuric, hot spring behind a tall fence. It didn’t seem that big a deal to me, but it was a nice place to visit. Oh, and there was the public pool fed by the hot springs. Again, it didn’t seem like a big deal. All I remember about going there was getting to eat ketchup chips just after swimming (which were my favorite as a kid.. not so sure about them anymore.. lol!)
As an adult though, I can finally truly enjoy the beauty of Harrison Hot Springs. The misty lake, the surrounding hills, the snow-capped mountains. Gorgeous! And also, I got to finally experience hot springs how they should be: in a beautiful hot tub and outdoor pool.
In 2008 Ryan and I decided to take a random trip to Harrison and stayed at the Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa. It’s a truly beautiful place, and when you don’t go for all the extras it’s kinda affordable. They have the most wonderful, hot, outdoor pools as well as an indoor pool and luxury hot tub. The room we stayed in on this visit was in the “main” hotel, which means it’s one of the old rooms from the original hotel. It’s well-maintained, but it was supposed to have air conditioning and it didn’t. Minor thing, but it sure was hot!
After that trip I received an email from them asking me to fill out a survey. We had such a great time, I decided to go ahead and do that. I was perfectly honest in it – saying how good everything is and how helpful the staff was. I also mentioned the minor thing about the air conditioning. I mean, the website had specifically said we were booking an air conditioned room and then we found out it didn’t have air conditioning installed when we got there. Worth mentioning, I thought. I was right! We later got in the mail a travel voucher for a free stay at the resort! 
Later that same year my girlfriends and I decided to go to the same hotel for my bachelorette party! We got a mountain-side view in one of the newer towers, which was far better than the main building.
Next, in August 2009 Ryan and I decided to go back to celebrate our 1st Anniversary. This time we got a lake-side view in a tower with the bed & breakfast package. It was a perfect way to spend our first wedding anniversary. This was when we used our free stay from the survey, so I’d say it was well worth holding onto until then!
Now, you’d have thought that three visits over two years would have been plenty. But come on.. beautiful scenery and soaking in relaxing hot spring tubs? Who could get sick of that?? Ryan decided to really spoil me and booked us for another stay for a birthday present. We waited until we had time, then went in November. Crazy? Maybe. But Harrison in winter was just as wonderful as in the summer, but in different ways! It was so freaking cold outside.. but once you slipped into one of those outdoor pools, even in the icy rain.. it was heaven! And the way the mist and clouds hugged the ground and surrounding hills was so gorgeous…
In 2010 we had other plans and trips to concern ourselves with, so we didn’t really think we’d get to go back to Harrison. And while we didn’t stay at the resort again, we couldn’t resist spontaneously driving up there one night (in June), just to walk around! (of course, it was dark so the pictures didn’t really turn out well enough to post).
We’ve talked about doing another random drive up there recently, but it just hasn’t happened. Just the other day I was thinking how nice it would be to stay at the resort again… and when I asked Ryan tonight what we should do for Valentine’s Day he suggested a night in Harrison! Yay!! I couldn’t say no to that! So with a quick check of winter rates.. a few clicks later and we’re booked! We’ll being going up after I get off work on February 10th. Night swimming up there is very beautiful.. plus we learned last time we were there that after you check out in the morning, they’ll let you continue to use the pool. I can’t wait!
Oh, and don’t forget to click on the images above for the full albums! 
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