Christmas at the Mission Inn Hotel in Riverside, CA

If you find yourself in Southern California for the holidays this year, it is well worth your time to check out the light show at the Mission Inn Hotel in Riverside, CA. The address is: 3649 Mission Inn Ave., Riverside, CA 92501. If you exit the 91 freeway going west, use the Mission Inn exit and turn right. Exiting the 91 freeway traveling east, exit University Street and go north one block.

The Mission Inn Hotel has been around since the late 1800s, and for good reason! It really is a place to see, even if you can't make the light show during the holidays. Its rich history and beautiful architecture make it one of the coolest hotels in the world.

From November 28^th to January 4^th, the Mission Inn Hotel is absolutely covered in lights and decorations for Christmas. It takes an entire crew months to decorate the hotel, but the result is something out of this world. People travel from all over to see it, and nobody leaves disappointed.

During the holiday season, the Mission Inn Hotel has a giant Christmas Tree just inside the main entrance, near the front desk. When I say giant, I don't mean six or eight or even ten feet tall - it's twenty feet high if it's an inch. And each year, the thing is decorated from top to bottom with ornaments and garland.

The entire exterior of the Mission Inn Hotel is completely decorated and lit up each year at Christmas time. As you can see from the photo, they spare no expense when it comes to donning its canvas with the prettiest of holiday treats. The hotel spans an entire block, and it seems that just about every inch of it is covered in festive garb.

Carolers regularly visit the Mission Inn Hotel during the holiday season. They begin singing outside, and then move indoors so the people dining in the fine restaurants can be entertained, as well. The carolers are music students from the local community college, RCC.

Visitors can also take a super cool horse-driven carriage ride around the entire Mission Inn Hotel, as well. There is nothing like sitting close together on a mild winter night in Southern California, taking in the sites while the carriage rolls silently along. It comes highly recommended when visiting the Mission Inn Hotel for Christmas.

The hotel's website is http://www.missioninn.com/ if you would like to look into room rates and availability. The website also has an event calendar, a written history of the hotel, a list of its restaurants and other information.