Jacumba Hot Springs Hotel

The story

Drive an hour east of San Diego along Historic Route Old Highway 80 until the pavement feels like it is running out of country. Jacumba Hot Springs sits almost directly on top of the US-Mexico border wall in a high-desert border town that time mostly bypassed. Natural geothermal springs here once pulled in health seekers and Hollywood figures back in the early-to-mid 20th century before the interstate bypassed the town, leaving the original motor lodge to sleep under the desert sun for decades.

A recent ground-up restoration turned the old 1950s motor lodge into a 20-room artisan retreat without scrubbing away the edge of its location. The property revolves around three mineral pools fed by the local hot springs: two broad outdoor pools—the Ritual Pool and the Solstice Pool—that sit at a mild 88 to 93 degrees, and the smaller, dark Echo Room hidden indoors where thermal water hits a warm 102°F.

Sitting poolside with a cold drink from the cabana bar while border security vehicles occasionally rattle past the nearby ridge line is a surreal contrast you won't find anywhere else in the county. You can spend the late afternoon floating in mineral water, walk a few hundred yards to look right at the rusted border fence, and finish the night on the patio at Long Shadow, the hotel's on-site restaurant.