what a mixed bag this place is! Truly in all my years as a hot springs fanatic all over California, i've never found waters more amazing. The high concentration of sulfur and minerals leaves the skin and temperment absolutely soft and blissful. I dream of their flumes of hot water when I'm not there. And even the area where you go from baths to sauna to swimming pools are beautiful. The surrounding land, too, is divine and perfect for hiking.
However, so surprisingly, the adjacent hotel is an overpriced hell-hole. Truly. The rooms have no sound insulation (building is ancient) so even a sneeze three rooms away is heard as if it's in your own bed. One night my friend and I paid $200 to stay in their "deluxe" room that had it's own kitchen. What a nightmare! It was located below the communal kitchen and every single sound poured into us for hours on end. Every cough, every conversation, every sizzling egg. Plus we could smell everything!
Harbin Hot Springs has somewhat similar issues with an old building with thin walls but they price their rooms accordingly ($60 for a single). And their rooms defnitely have better sound-proofing that Wilbur! Plus Harbin intentionally built a few extra rooms that are free-standing so noise is no problem in those higher-priced ones. Wilbur is unbelievably overpriced for what you receive in lodging. Go to Harbin instead.
Or,try these other options:
1) do what I do. Stay at Harbin for a couple days. But on one of your days take the hour drive up to Wilbur. Pay $40 to go in their divine baths. It's worth every penny. Then drive back down to Harbin and have another delicious night there.
2) go to Wilbur in the late spring/summer when you can camp in one of their spots with your tent. Granted they only have three spots I think! But they are beautiful and solve the problem of overpriced loud and stinky hotel hell.
