Stayed here this past weekend -- Globalist on a cash rate + an extra night certificate.
The Good
- Grounds are absolutely beautiful, and very well kept. As one lady kept saying to her friend, this place is
so Arizona. They're clearly putting money into the property, almost everything was in good shape. I spent hours just wandering around looking at everything, over and over again.
- To a person, staff were extraordinarily friendly and genuine. I can't believe the number of people who went out of their way to be helpful on random requests. For example, when you asked 'Where's X', more often than not, whomever you were asking would offer to drop whatever they were doing and walk you there.
- Staff are on top of the various daily maintenance items -- sometimes impressively so. Pool towels being refreshed at 9p at night, long after everyone but me had left the pool. A midnight run by housekeeping to the BMC (a.k.a. the gym) to freshen things up. Etc. Not every hotel gets that right (
*cough* Alila Ventana Big Sur
*cough*)
- Classes were all tops. Of the dozen or so that my wife and I took, I don't think we had a single bad one. And often some very helpful, very insightful information, taught by people who actually seem to be really into the subject they're teaching. I'm not clear on how Miraval attracts these folks, but attract them they do.
The Mid
- Food was OK to good. I'd just come from a conference at the Fairmont Sonoma, and food there was definitely a cut above Miraval, so it's certainly possible for a hotel to produce good food. That said, it wasn't bad, and was definitely fresh and healthy. For breakfast and lunch, think along the lines of what you might see at a Hyatt in Asia. For dinner, an upper mid-tier restaurant.
- Globalist treatment was a little lacking. We didn't get an upgrade, and while I generally don't sweat that, I was disappointed that we were put in one of the worst rooms in the category that we'd booked. Not the absolute worst, but we had a north facing room that looked out at a concrete wall. Very dark, and no meaningful outdoor space. I don't ever expect an upgrade, but I do feel that top tier Hyatt status should at least get you one of the better rooms in your booked class.
- No late checkout either. I'd asked for 4pm at booking and was told to ask at checkin. I asked at checkin and was told to ask the next day. I asked the next day and got told 'no'; it's 11am. I asked if I could at least get noon, and in perhaps a bit of oversharing, the staff person told me that 'the next guest for your room is actually arriving at noon, so we need you out of there by 11am so we can get it ready for them.' That left a bad taste in my mouth -- I understand the late checkout is not a guaranteed benefit, but couldn't they at least give me noon (which would have been VERY helpful) and tell the arriving guest 'Welcome, please enjoy lunch; your room will be ready by 1pm'?
The Bad
- I had two of the worst night's sleep I've ever had in my life. Our mattress was very worn out -- I woke up about 3am on the first night in agonizing pain; the bed was way too soft and my back was arched badly. After tossing and turning and trying to find something comfortable, I ended up sleeping on the floor for the last hours until dawn. I let the staff know around lunchtime that day, and they promised they'd get me a new mattress or else we could switch rooms. By around 3:30pm, nothing had happened, so I called the front desk. The lady said she saw the request in the computer, but nobody had done anything on it, so she was going to personally make sure it got handled. They sent a housekeeping supervisor over about 20 mins later, who called engineering and told me I'd have a new mattress by 6pm. We went out, and around 8pm, I came back to my room to find the old mattress still there, but with plywood inserted underneath it (picture attached). That was the solve engineering had, and while it did help a little bit, a slightly firmer base for a worn out mattress doesn't do the trick. My wife and I ended up rotating the mattress ourselves, which helped a bit more, but it was still a second pretty rough night. For a resort that prides itself on wellness, sleeping on plywood isn't the fix I'm looking for. They should have either brought a new mattress or let us switch rooms.
The Interesting
- I haven't seen this mentioned elsewhere, but the clientele here is primarily middle aged women, along with quite a few mom/daughter pairs. Yes there are some couples, but most of it is groups of women who are coming for wellness.
- The spa is currently undergoing renovations. Supposedly set to open 'early November 2025', but the building is still missing at least one wall, so I'm not sure how realistic that timeline is. If you're planning to visit in the next month or two, be forewarned.
- If you're curious, October is a really good time to go. The summer heat has dissipated a bit, but its still warm enough you can wander around at night in short and a t-shirt. 'High season' for them doesn't really start until November or December.
This was my first visit, and all told I'd probably go back some day, but the issues with the mattress didn't feel right. It's not likely to be tomorrow.
Plywood under the mattress.