Hyatt Miraval Arizona Resort & Spa Review: Pros And Cons

Hyatt Miraval Arizona Resort and Spa is one of the premier properties in the Hyatt chain. One of the few all-inclusive resorts in the United States, this adult-only property is build to provide a getaway to checkout from the technology-centric world we live in.

My wife and I recently stayed for two nights over a warm Arizona winter. This was a property that we'd both had our eye on for several years, and the timing worked out to make it happen (adults-only resorts with kids requires coordination).

Overall, we enjoyed our stay. The food was phenomenal. The resort and surroundings were peaceful. However, we both said we'd only do it again on a points redemption or free night stay. The price point is extremely high, and the cash price doesn't seem worthwhile.

Overall Miraval Arizona Impressions

Miraval Arizona is an amazing resort. It's beautiful (if you appreciate the desert). The food is amazing - some of the best food we've ever had. There are tons of activities, both free and paid. And the spa is top-notch.

On the downside, this resort is expensive. Really expensive. Even if you're redeeming points, it's expensive (though you can get some awesome redemptions).

The high price point does make you question the value - there is no alcohol or mocktails included, some resort activities have an additional charge, and the room we stayed in had both maintenance issues and felt like it wasn't "finished". More on that below.

We would absolutely stay here again, but only if we had a good Hyatt point redemption opportunity.

Our Trip Background

We drove into Tucson and stayed between Christmas and New Year. We were able to stay two nights at 72,000 points per night (144,000 points total). This was for a Sunrise King room, and we didn't get any additional upgrades at check-in. 

The cash price for this room would have been $3,126 per night, or $6,252 total. This means our redemption was $0.043 per point - not too bad. But that cash price - whoa!

The rate also included a $175 per night activity credit per person (so $350/ea). 

From a Globalist perspective, the hotel didn't offer any upgrades to our room (they were full), and because everything is pretty much included, there aren't really any other benefits. They also didn't extend late checkout, but they did offer to store our bags while we enjoyed the resort for our last day.

About Miraval Arizona Resort And Spa

Miraval Resort and Spa is a wellness-focused retreat. It's a relatively small hotel, only having about 100 rooms. It's all-inclusive and adults-only, which does give it a very calm vibe.

The resort itself is located in Oro Valley, just north of Tuscon, Arizona. The resort provides complimentary transportation to and from the Tuscon airport. You get multiple reminders to schedule this in advance of your stay.

What's Included?

All of the essentials are included: food, non-alcoholic beverages, lots of resort activities, transportation to and from the resort, and many booking levels include a resort activity credit that you can redeem at the spa or for a paid activity.

Here's a quick summary of some of the key things included:

• Food: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are all included, along with a juice/snack bar that's open from 6am to 5pm. They also usually had food in the lounge area in the afternoons and evenings.
  
• Drinks: Non-alcoholic beverages, coffee, and smoothies.
  
• Activities: Each day there were 10-20 activities that were complimentary, including yoga sessions, guided hikes, pickleball lessons, and more.
  

It's important to note that you MUST make a reservation for activities (and dinner). Even free activities. Many of the more popular activities will book up well in advance of your stay.

Dinner also required a reservation, but honestly we would simply call up when we wanted to eat and somehow there was always a reservation ready (the restaurant never got more than half full any night we stayed, even though the resort was allegedly full).

Also, there is NO tipping. Seriously, no tipping.

What's Not Included?

• Alcohol and mocktails.
  
• About 50% of the daily activities were fee-based. This included things like the ropes course, archery, advanced pickelball lessons, and more.
  
• Spa services.
  

Our booking level allowed us to receive a $175 activity credit per-day, per-person. So this was $350 per person. We used ours in the spa, but you could apply this to a resort activity as well.

This credit does not go very far, and considering that many activities (and things like some drinks) do charge, it can feel like you're being nickel and dimed. This was a tough mental hurdle to overcome considering that the cash-price room would have been over $3,000 per night. You would think that something like the ropes course would be included, or at least "well drinks".

Resort Experience

The resort is beautiful and peaceful. They make a big effort to help you reconnect with yourself and exclude technology. However, the beauty of the desert, and great activities at the resort, make it an enjoyable experience overall.

Arrival

The arrival experience is very pleasant. We drove in, and we did have to stop at the gate and ring the bell. Once we provided our name, they let us in. We pulled into the motor court and were greeted with hot towels and a valet and bell hop.

I highly recommend utilizing the bell hop - the property is rather large, and it would not be fun to take your luggage yourself.

However, there's no real reason to valet - the self parking lot if free and right next to the lobby.

Front Desk

The check-in experience and front desk team were great at both arrival and departure. One thing that was very different from any other experience was that you are immediately given a waiver to sign that says you acknowledge the cell phone-free nature of the resort, and of course, a general waiver for the activities.

Shopping

There are two gift shops - one small one next to the lobby and a larger one located in the courtyard on the way to the parking lot.

One thing that stood out was that the main store had a bookstore area with a large selection of wellness and self help books.

Parking

Parking is very easy, though the parking lot does seem small. We had no issues and parking is included.

Gym

The gym was excellent and never crowded. There is also a lap pool that's kept at 85 degrees. We saw this being used once, and it also seems like this pool may be used for some activities.

Spa

The spa was also excellent. Inside the spa entry is a quiet area with an amazing view of the mountains.

Inside the locker rooms (both male and female), there is a hot tub, sauna, and steam room. The locker rooms provide robes and slippers, as well as a variety of amenities like shampoo, gel, combs, and more.

The spa amenities (hot tub, sauna, and steam room) are available to use throughout your stay.

Other

The resort is very big on being a technology-free area. There are only limited areas were using a cell phone is permitted - such as the parking lot, the lobby, or your room. And while nobody will tell you to stop, you might get looks if you pull out your phone in non-approved places.

Not going to lie, though, it does become a bit patronizing as you walk the resort and see these signs:

Room Impressions

We stayed in a Sunrise King room. This room was in the 600 villas, and was surprisingly far to get to. What was shocking is that these rooms were supposedly "handicap accessible" rooms, but there was no paved sidewalks. Our neighbors had a walker and they were consistently waiting for rides around the resort.

Furthermore, my wife and I were talking how terrible it would be to stay in these rooms if there was rain and everything was muddy.

Bedroom

The bedroom was a great size and well appointed. There was a king bed, table and chairs, along with a sofa area with table.

The bed was comfortable and had so many layers. The bedroom also had a mini fridge.

The room had an ice bucket, but the hotel doesn't provide ice. Even when we asked the front desk, they said to just ask for a cup of ice at the cafe or bar.

The room was clean, but we encountered maintenance issues with the fridge (the compressor was dying and noisy, and we unplugged it). The double-doors to the patio also couldn't be secured. The pins in the door were broken so they could never latch. Anyone could push/pull and open the doors. In this location, I wasn't concerned, but this would be a deal breaker at other properties.

Bathroom

The bathroom was spacious with a large sink (two faucets, one sink), water closet, and walk in shower.

There was also an outdoor shower - this would be amazing in the summer, but we weren't going to use it in the winter.

Again, design and maintenance issues were showing here. The sink outlet GFCI would consistently trip, and there was a significant gap in the outside wall where people walking outside could see in to the bathroom. You can see the photo below taken from our sink.

In some rooms the staff had placed a 2x4 to block the view, but we weren't so lucky. Such a bad architectural choice. It would require someone to be very intentional about looking in to see anything - still a bad feature though.

Other Areas

The room came with an amazing patio with a view. We loved sitting outside after breakfast and before dinner. The patio had two chairs, a side table, and a chaise lounger.

There was also a fire pit, but it didn't work.

This area also seemed "unfinished". The patio abruptly ends before the fire pit, and it's just mud. The result is that you can't really be bare foot on your patio or you'll get muddy. Seems like this area should have cement, or pavers, or something to finish the area. It would have been nice to enjoy the fire put at night.

Housekeeping

Housekeeping was doing a good job with cleanliness and restocking towels. The resort also has turn down service, so you can expect to have your bed re-made while you're at dinner.

It was nice to come back to a clean and restocked bathroom and made bedroom after dinner everyday.

On-Property Dining

The food here was amazing! I don't think we had anything we didn't enjoy.

We had breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the main restaurant each day, but we also had snacks in the lounge and stopped by the Cafe for coffee and smoothies.

The only thing that could be better was the coffee. It was a basic coffee machine you find in every Hyatt lounge.

Main Restaurant: Cactus Flower Restaurant

Breakfast was a combination of a typical Hyatt buffet and several menu items, including an omelette. Everything was enjoyable.

Lunch was also a combination of a menu with a couple items and a buffet. The buffet was great with a salad bar that had either chicken or salmon each day. The hot food was always several entrees, and a soup. There was also at least two dessert items.

Dinner was always a menu, with about 6 choices of entrees, several appetizers, and several dessert choices. They also had a wine and cocktail menu.

Dinner was phenomenal, everything was worth trying if you wanted.

Lounge: Cactus Flower Lounge

This is the bar area across from the restaurant. In the afternoon they serve snacks like veggies and ranch, or chips and salsa. Of course they have a full bar as well. In the evening you can order the same menu as the restaurant, but it's slightly less formal (though the Cactus Flower is not formal at all).

Juice/Coffee Bar: Palm Court Cafe

The juice bar is a great option in the morning or for lunch. Along with smoothies and coffee, they have snacks in the refrigerator case like pumpkin bread or oatmeal bars, and they have hot food options.

A popular choice while I was waiting in line for my smoothie was the breakfast burrito.

Resort Activities

Most of the resort activities revolve around wellness. There are many opportunities for yoga, meditation, mindfulness classes, reflection, and more.

For the more adventurous, there is the ropes course, which is a paid option. There are also archery classes, horseback riding, and longer guided hikes.

Alternatives

While Miraval Arizona Resort and Spa is an incredibly unique property and experience, one thing that continued to come to mind was whether it was worth it?

On points, yes. But if we were to actually pay $3,000 per night, is the value there? It's hard to say.

For comparison, the Ritz Carlton Dove Mountain is about 10 minutes away. It's a five star resort, with the same views, and many amenities that are comparable to Miraval. Of course, it doesn't have a ropes course or archery, but they'll drive you to horseback riding and they have great food on property as well.

And for the price? A similar king bedroom would cost $600 per night for our stay. You could then spend $500 on food and $500 on activities, and you'd still be about half the cost of Miraval.

The big perk of Miraval is all the self-reflection activities that you can do. If you're not into that and really just want to relax in the desert at a five star resort, you might be better served at a place like the Ritz Carlton or Amangiri. You'll also probably spend less money as well.

Final Thoughts

Miraval is a great property with amazing dining and fun experiences. There were a lot of great activities if things like yoga, meditation, and self-reflection are important to you.

Plus, walking the resort you get to enjoy the desert southwest. On our way to dinner we encountered this group of javelina just wandering the property.

However, the price of this resort is very high, and the resort itself just misses the standard I'd expect at that level. The room and property had issues (dirt paths, incomplete patio, broken fridge, no ice) - whether these were intentional or simply maintenance issues, who knows. But at $3,000 per night, I don't expect to get muddy and would like to enjoy my fire pit. 

I'd definitely consider this resort again, especially if I can snag a great point redemption. But I'd never pay the cash rate for this experience.