Mission Inn Hotel & Spa in Riverside was named to a 2016 top 10 list by readers of USA Today.
Orange County resident Duane Roberts owns the inn, which he bought in 1985 for $13.5 million, saving it from demolition. The renovated resort reopened in 1992.
Roberts is chairman and chief executive of Entrepreneurial Corporate Group in Newport Beach and is listed on the Business Journal’s OC’s Wealthiest list, with an estimated worth of $500 million.
His holdings are said to include more than 10,000 apartments and stakes in food companies, restaurants, a charter aircraft fleet, hotel-related companies, and other ventures.
He helped build and sell two companies—including one that may have created the frozen burrito.
The national newspaper’s readers chose properties in categories that included family resort, destination resort, health and wellness, eco-friendly, waterfront site, and hotels with the best pool, spa, restaurant or bar.
The National Historic Landmark, highly regarded for its architectural style, was named best historic hotel. It originally opened in 1876 as a 12-room boarding house and is now a AAA Four Diamond-rated hotel with 238 rooms.
— Paul Hughes
