Discover Miraval Arizona, a Health & Wellness Mecca in the Tucson Desert

It was my first trip to Miraval; my well-traveled sister’s third. Insisting her experience at Miraval topped our visits together to both The Golden Door and Rancho La Puerta, she counseled me to bring only workout clothes. I’m glad I listened. Miraval is ultracasual. It is not uncommon to see people in spa robes eating dinner at Cactus Rose, the resort’s one full-service restaurant.

The sprawling 500-acre campus includes structures that range from meditation yurts to open-air massage tents. We visited in June, and although it was hot (105° during the day), many of the shrubs and trees still had blossoms.

The most appealing aspect of Miraval is its wide-ranging variety of classes, scheduled throughout the day. I’m not a morning person; for me, nothing is more frustrating than going to a resort that only has yoga available at 7 or 8 a.m. At Miraval, multiple classes and activity choices are available from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., and most are included in your room rate. I loved the body-area-specific exercise classes. For example, I took a Glutes & Abs and a Happy Hips class. The resort also offers dozens of seminars on everything from maximizing your metabolism (who knew that the antioxidant properties of green tea were best absorbed when sipped hot and combined with lemon?) to getting better sleep.

Numerous group and private, fee-based activities and sessions are also available. (A typical guest package includes a $175 a night credit that can go toward them or spa services.) Choices include Better Sleep in Menopause & Beyond, Optimize Your Sex Life, The Power of Self-Compassion. The Spirit & Soul category gets pretty woo-woo: Discover Your Soul Mission, Dream Circle, Dharma: Find & Follow Your Life Purpose, and a hands-on Crystal Oil Infusions workshop. I enjoyed a class on upping your cooking game with plant-based combinations; my sister loved her private session with a clairvoyant.

Those with an adventurous streak can opt for the Desert Tightrope, where you walk on a tightrope 25 feet in the air—clinging to a series of ropes for support—while protected by a harness and tether. Or the Quantum Leap, which begins with a climb up a 35-foot pole. At the top you reach a small platform from which you step off—while tethered—and swing midair. My sister loved this activity. Unfortunately, I was recovering from foot surgery and couldn’t partake. But I did enjoy some firsts. I tried a barre class—taught by a former ballet dancer—and I attended a class on the bells and whistles of iPhone photography. Most of the teachers and instructors I had over a three-day period filled with back-to-back classes were enthusiastic, personable and informative.

The most appealing aspect of Miraval is its wide-ranging variety of classes, scheduled throughout the day. 

The basic rooms are scattered across the resort in U-shaped structures, numbered in the 100s through the 400s. Our room was small and dark, with tired towels and dated furnishings. An older model air conditioner blasted icy gusts through a large ceiling vent above my bed—and it roared on and off all night. My suggestion: Pay more for a room in the 500s or 600s. They are larger and have outdoor patios, showers and firepits. For multiple bedrooms, guests can opt for a villa or the newer villas, called “retreats.” Built just six years ago, they offer updated amenities, furnishings and decor.  Some even have pools.

All meals are included in the room rate and can be enjoyed at the Cactus Flower Restaurant. Lunch is a colorful, expansive buffet with all kinds of farm-fresh salads, healthy soups and sandwiches. Guests can also order from a small menu with a couple of daily entrees like a meat burger or a burger that is beet-based. For dinner, a handful of rotating entrees are available, with options such as halibut on a bed of peas and wild mushrooms, and short ribs atop mashed potatoes and pearl onions—our two favorites. The focus is on healthy ingredients and controlled portions, yet we were always completely satiated. Also in the main hub: a café and a bar, which each night is the spot for a lively happy hour. Cocktails and an interesting array of California varietals can be ordered by the glass (alcohol is not included in the room rate). One of the things I loved about Miraval—no matter where we were eating or drinking, the staff never made us feel rushed. We never felt any pressure from them to turn a table or vacate a bar stool. Can’t remember the last time I felt like that in LA.

The resort has four pools, including one filled with saltwater. Despite the heat, guests could be seen throughout the day, lounging on chairs with glasses of wine, frozen grapes, popsicles—all available at the poolside bar.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Miraval, but, to be candid, it needs an update—from decor to landscaping. The resort was acquired from a private equity group by Hyatt Hotels & Resorts in 2017, and it is surprising that the corporation hasn’t given it any (visible) love. Many of the concrete pathways—particularly near the older rooms—are stained and in sore need of a power wash.  From the body scrubs to the massages, the spa services are top-notch but the facility itself is not. The old-school sauna and the steam room, which dripped very hot water from the ceiling, felt subpar. The absence of an infrared sauna, considered a must-have nowadays for upscale wellness, is another negative.

Sustainability is another area where Miraval needs to improve. The resort provides refillable water bottles upon check-in, but plastic cups and straws abound. And for a place with so many insightful classes on nutrition—emphasizing the need to avoid processed, packaged foods—the presence of Coffee-Mate by the in-room coffee maker seems off. Why not place a tiny container of milk or cream in the mini fridge like so many resorts do? To the sophisticated spa consumer, these have become basics. Miraval, with its entry-level price point of $1,675 per person per night in June (the offseason), can and should do better.

Who goes to Miraval? Mostly women. Mothers with daughters. Pairs and groups of friends. Women recently divorced, or empty-nesters looking for a new path. We did see a few men, most of them there with wives—a few of whom were pregnant. I couldn’t help but think: What a fabulous thing to do with your partner before your life as a couple is upended by a precious new life. Despite the resort’s flaws, most of the guests had been to Miraval before and were planning on coming back again—a testament to a unique form of magic that Miraval has created as an oasis in the middle of the Arizona desert.