Trip Report: Miraval Arizona during COVID-19

e* here. I just returned from a brief stay at Miraval Arizona, where I went with my husband, a close friend, and fellow miles & points blogger Miles For Two. It’s been on my bucket list for a while as many in our miles & points community have been there in recent years. Thanks to the BOGO + credit card rebate promotion, we were able to book a trip to the recently reopened resort and get away from the polluted air that we’ve been dealing with in California for the past month or two. Since we haven’t been able to safely travel internationally for a long time, this was a great way to ease back into safely traveling with the new normal.

Travel Planning

This would be our first time flying and traveling since the end of February when California started to shelter in place. For 6 months, we’d been staying at home, working from home, going out with masks only for essential errands, getting things delivered as much as possible, and not meeting any friends or family in person. As more information about COVID-19 became known, and as safety protocols started being implemented everywhere to minimize risk of transmission, by September I felt comfortable enough to make this short trip. Tucson is a short 1 hr 45 min non-stop flight from San Francisco, so I was confident I could avoid using the lavatory, which was complicit in a few airline transmission cases.

We are usually fast-paced travelers that don’t spend more than 2-3 nights in any location, but I didn’t think 2 nights would be worth the travel risk and also would not maximize all the resort had to offer. So I booked 4 nights at Miraval Arizona with the BOGO promotion (by the way, bookings with points have to be made with Miraval directly, and not through Hyatt; I saw some confusion in the comments on blog posts around this). Due to the late evening arrival of the non-stop United SFO-TUS flight, I booked one night at the Hyatt Place Tucson Airport hotel to arrive the night before our Miraval check-in.

Miraval’s complimentary airport shuttle runs at the top of the hour and must be booked in advance, with the last departure possible for 2 pm. I scheduled the shuttle pickup for 8 am the day after the Hyatt Place reservation, and the departure flight was at a reasonable time in the afternoon, so I scheduled the 12 pm Miraval shuttle back to the airport.

I highly recommend reviewing Miraval’s “Before You Go” page as well for general recommendations.

Travel Experience

The day we flew, we decided to use airport parking via Spothero so we could drive our own car instead of using Uber (for a short stay like this, the cost is equivalent anyways). TSA checkpoints were completely empty so I didn’t mourn the loss of my CLEAR membership at all. The officer had us pull down our masks for identification but we whizzed through in seconds.

Once inside the airport, all the lounges (Centurion, Yankee Pier, and Giants Club) were closed, but many other restaurants and shops were open. The United Club was open too, but I didn’t feel it was worth using my passes during this time. The airport was bustling with many travelers airside. I wouldn’t have known there was a pandemic other than that everyone was wearing masks. Travelers were good at socially distancing when sitting or walking.

We parked ourselves in front of the gate and waited for our flight. We had a small plane, but we each got a row to ourselves. I originally planned to wear an N95 + double mask, but with good mask compliance, I didn’t feel it was necessary. We had drink service, but I saved my drink and didn’t use the lavatory nor take off my mask for the entire flight.

Hyatt Place picked us up in their hotel shuttle (masks required) and we stayed there overnight. The check-in desk had spit guards up. I didn’t feel any safety issues there and other guests remained masked in all public places. The hotel was actually nearly sold out (sounded like a wedding?). Breakfast was grab-and-go and mostly pre-packaged. Checkout was just dropping the keys into the box, no human interaction.

The Miraval driver picked us up the next morning at TUS baggage claim. We were the only ones at the airport at that time, and we were the only passengers. The driver tagged our bags and gave us tote bags and water for the ride. Masks were required for the entire drive, and the trip took about 50 min.

Upon arrival, we checked in at the front desk (spit guards up, and staff handled everything we touched with disposable gloves), scanned a QR code on our phones, and signed the waiver on our phones. Our rooms were sealed after sanitization, so they told us to call for the bags once we broke the seals ourselves and entered the room and inspected everything.

However, we had arrived early, so our rooms weren’t ready yet. We went to breakfast first, then came back for a quick golf cart tour of the property, then headed to our first activity, the Equine Experience.

Miraval’s COVID-19 protocols

I was really quite impressed with Miraval’s dedication to safety. They provided free masks in many places so you could change your mask anytime. They also provided a personal bottle of hand sanitizer upon check-in and had sanitizer stations everywhere. They limited class sizes, required masks in all buildings, required masks during activities (even outdoors, even during cardio; this is why we needed the supply of masks to change frequently!), spaced chairs more than 6 ft apart in indoor lectures, and spaced yoga mats more than 6 ft apart both indoors and outdoors. Staff were constantly sanitizing everything and marking which tables had been sanitized already. They used disposable gloves for touching anything and immediately threw them out after use.

While COVID-19 has not been shown to have significant spread via contact surfaces, this is good flu-avoidance practice anyways and gives guests peace of mind. There are probably even more things they did. In the bathrooms, signs were posted at every sink to repeat a positive self-love mantra 3 times while washing your hands (I would always read it once and then my mind would wander off for the rest of the 20 second wash).

The spa personnel told me they were only told to come in when there were specific appointments, otherwise to stay home. They still got full health benefits, they said Hyatt was really taking good care of them. Apparently now is the time to be working for large stable companies! Hyatt acquired Miraval about 3 years ago.

Due to class size limitations to minimize risk of spreading COVID-19, Miraval also required that all activities be booked in advance. Activity schedule is announced on the website approximately one month ahead of time. Prior to the pandemic, only paid activities needed reservations, but you could just show up for complimentary activities on a whim. The activities cycle every few days or week. I must’ve spent hours across multiple days trying to pick and plan my activities, which was difficult since there are a TON of activities and the only way to schedule was to call or email, but email turnaround time was fairly slow, only to find out that a class was full already. A couple weeks ago, they unveiled a new website where you could book the activities yourself using your folio number to log in, but it has a terrible UI/UX where you have to make multiple clicks just to book one activity, and you can’t remove activities once you’ve enrolled. I accidentally swapped all of mine and my husband’s classes and had to email the Experience Planners to swap it to the right person.

The Room

We got a Sunrise King in the 600s, which the front desk told us is the highest allowable complimentary upgrade for Globalists. This wasn’t exactly true as fellow blogger Miles For Two who stayed the same dates as us was upgraded to a Catalina Suite in the 600s as well, and previous Globalist friends have been upgraded to other suites such as a Solace King (which has a private jacuzzi). I’m sure Miles For Two will post a trip report soon, which I’ll link here once it’s live, but it sounded like the main difference was they had an extra indoor fireplace.

Overall, our room was more modern and had a larger interior than the Solace King, which we also had the opportunity to view. The Solace King had a lot of damage and was an extremely narrow and small room. Both room types have an indoor and outdoor shower, as well as an outdoor fireplace.

Even though our Sunrise King room was fairly new-looking, the quality was somewhat disappointing. The indoor shower leaked, had poor water pressure, and the tub leaked as you filled it up (had to put towels all over the floor) and had very poor water pressure as well. The outdoor shower was pretty good overall, but at night there were a lot of bugs hanging out there too. Nice to have the outdoor shower option, but not something I personally felt comfortable with while nekkid. The sink plumbing made an annoying clunking sound every 10 seconds all day and night. Our friends in the Catalina Suite said that they heard random knocking that would wake them up in the middle of the night too.

The shampoo/conditioner/body wash were full size bottles attached to a mount screwed into the wall, but you could easily unscrew them and take them out of the mount. They also provided some travel-sized amenities to use with the bathtub and outdoor shower.

Housekeeping was generally suspended during the stay, but you could request full housekeeping 24 hours in advance, and choose a 4-hour window of time you wouldn’t be in the room. You could also call and request for anything you need replenished.

The bathrobes were the most plush and fluffiest I’ve ever worn!! As you might imagine though, they can get pretty hot. Some people wore the bathrobes out and about, and we saw a lot of people wear them to meals. We did that once, but it was way too hot. Speaking of hot…

Weather

It was generally between 75-100 degrees F every day we were there, but it actually didn’t feel too bad since it was so dry. Certainly better than 90 degrees in SF. The hottest time of day was between 1-5 pm, so most of our outdoor activities were scheduled for the morning.

There were large bottles of COOLA (great brand) SPF 30 sunblock in the restrooms at the gym and at the pools. By the way, the gym locker rooms were closed due to COVID.

Sunsets were gorgeous. The temperature felt great and it was the best time of day to walk around and take pictures. Don’t miss golden hour!

Mosquitoes

I wish I had known there would be mosquitoes here. It wasn’t as bad as Andaz Mayakoba, but I got one leg bitten up the wazoo with about 10 bites over 2 nights. Interestingly, the other leg only got 1 bite on the ankle. As a result, we tried to eat indoors at night whenever possible. A lot of people were able to sit and eat outside for dinner no problem, but I was just unlucky, and I didn’t bring any repellent.

Activities

For 4 nights, we had $350 of credit per person ($175 per paid night) to spend. I also had some Spafinder gift cards saved up, and Miraval takes those at the front desk (maximum of $500 per guest).

Here are some brief reviews of the activities we did:

Miraval Equine Experience ($95)	The description in the booklet was extremely vague. I thought we would have more interaction with the horse, and possibly even ride one. Unfortunately, due to the shutdown, the horses were not prepared for guests to be riding on them, so those activities were currently not available. This particular activity involved lifting the horse’s leg to clean his hoof with a pick. Your ability (or not) to signal to the horse to lift his leg was the main lesson/analysis of this exercise. We had a class size of 4 for this activity and we all got something different out of it. There were a lot of good metaphors to real life, but I didn’t think it was worth $95, and probably wouldn’t do it again. I heard the experience where you paint the side of the horse was similar, so I would probably try that or try to get a different type of experience next time.
Shoulders Set Free	This class was super awesome. I learned that you should never do pushups bending your elbows past 90 degrees. We did a bunch of great shoulder exercises. I would’ve done this one more than once if I could. The instructor was fun as well.
Conscious Cooking ($35)	I was the only one who showed up, so I got to work with Chef Gabe 1:1. Private cooking lesson! It was a really fun lesson and we went over knife skills and how to use all ingredients without waste. We made a leek and potato soup with leftover ingredients from the day, which he kindly saved for dinner and brought it out to my party. My group thought my soup tasted better than the actual soup featured on the menu! 🙂
Skincare Secrets	This was a lecture. It didn’t really cover anything I didn’t know already from spending way too much time on r/skincareaddiction, but it was a good reminder. It was not a sales pitch and no brands were ever mentioned. The recommendations were science-based.
Rise and Shine Yoga	I did this pretty much every day, even though it was so early (6:30 am). It was really a great way to start each day, and was fairly popular.
Slackline 101	This was a lot of fun. It was outdoors, but we still had to wear our masks. We learned and practiced the basics of slacklining on both a trainer slackline on the ground and a real slackline attached to the trees.
Foam Rolling	This class was great as well. Same instructor as Shoulders Set Free, and it felt amazing. I wish I could’ve done this one multiple times as well.
Seven Diet Strategies for Giving Your Immune System the Upper Hand	This lecture was taught by Nancy Teeter, a registered dietician who was very good at explaining things and everything was based on science. I knew a lot of the things already since I am an optometrist (nutrition is important for the eyes!) and had majored in biochemistry, but I really enjoyed it and had some great takeaways. I highly recommend any of Nancy Teeter’s classes.
Balance	This class was really helpful in teaching better balance, which is important in preventing falls. Within just one 45 minute session we all had remarkably improved balance.
Trust Love Compassion (TLC) Yoga // Celestial Yoga	This was the night-time yoga out on the [fake] lawn in front of the property. It was really nice to end each night this way.
Ride and Release	This was an indoor cycling class (masks required, bikes spaced apart, I think only 6 guests in our class). It really got my heart rate up quite a bit. Cycling is not really my thing though and I only signed up for the exercise, so I didn’t particularly enjoy or find this one that memorable. The “Release” part of the title refers to the 20 min of foam rolling we did at the end — that felt great, of course.
Food Combinations for Ultimate Health	This was a lecture taught by Nancy Teeter, and was awesome as well. Did you know adding lemon to green tea amplifies the effects of the antioxidants? I really enjoyed this science-based lecture and learned a lot more than I even did in the other course with her.
Desert Sky Zipline ($150)	This was awesome! It was different from other ziplining I’ve done, which usually involve cruising on 4-6 lines. This was just one line. First we had to climb a 45 foot wooden pole to get to the platform, which was also not something I’d done before for ziplining. Then we did some exercises on the platform to push us out of our comfort zone, such as stepping off the edge and swinging. Finally, we hooked up to the zipline and jumped off the platform to fly. It was a really enjoyable ride. We had a debrief session afterwards to talk about how it felt and any fears. I thought I would’ve been a lot more scared especially due to the climbing and heights, but it wasn’t bad at all.
Plant Based Cooking ($50)	I wasn’t going to sign up for this class, but I had credits to spare. I’m glad I did, since this turned out to be one of my favorite classes and I took it together with Miles For Two. The class was taught by Chef Warren, and there were 5 of us (spaced 6 ft apart). We made the MOST DELICIOUS enchiladas I’ve ever had, entirely plant-based. I’m definitely making this at home! It was so good that I packed up the leftovers to share with my husband and friend, who did not attend the class. They said they enjoyed it too. Highly recommended!
Deborah Lippman Signature Pedicure and Manicure ($95, $80)	I was trying to decide between a massage or mani/pedi, and decided to go with the latter. I booked them back to back and it took about 1 hour and 45 min to complete everything since it included a scrub massage as well. It felt good, but I can tell my nails aren’t going to last very long. I heard the massages are really nice as well from other friends.
Breathwork	This was a nice class, but I probably wouldn’t go out of my way for it again. I actually fell asleep, lol. But breathing mindfully is a very helpful skill to have in managing the mind and body.
HiiT with Props	I was the only one signed up for this class, so I basically got my butt kicked by a personal trainer session for 45 min. It was fun though! Really got my heart rate up, and since it was at 7 am, it definitely woke me up. I couldn’t slack!
BOGA Bootcamp	I highly recommend anything with BOGA! This is basically a large boogie-board type thing (like half of a SUP) in the pool that you get on and do exercises with to challenge your balancing skills. Bootcamp was a lot of jumping around on the board, rolling off and getting back on, etc. Got my heart rate up again and was a ton of fun. It says to wear yoga attire, but definitely wear a swimsuit since you will be soaked.
BOGA Yoga	This one was more about balancing and trying not to fall in the water while doing balancing poses on the board. Highly recommended as well! My husband joined me for this one and he fell off the board at least 3x lol.
Pilates Fusion	I went to this dripping wet directly from BOGA Bootcamp, but it was great. A change of pace from all the yoga I’d been doing and I recommend it.
Mastering Your Makeup	I was one of only two guests that showed up, so I ended up being the model for the makeup. Since I don’t wear much makeup normally, it was really helpful to learn makeup application skills, especially around the eye area.
Advanced Flow Yoga	My husband and I were the only two people who signed up for this class, which was weird given how many yogis go to Miraval. The instructor said she often gets a lot of requests to do more “advanced” classes, but when it’s on the schedule, nobody comes. Weird. Anyways, since we aren’t actually advanced, she led a session to our level, but also showed us some cool advanced stuff that I can’t do yet.
Out on a Limb	This was a challenge course activity my husband and friends did, but I didn’t. Basically, you climb up a pole about 25 ft, then you walk out on another skinny pole and cross it to the other side. One friend really loved this one so much that he almost did it again when it was on the schedule a couple days later.
Desert Tightrope	Again, I didn’t do this challenge course activity that the others did, but from their reviews, it was a great activity as well. They said it required more sheer strength rather than balance or fearlessness like the others. It involved climbing a 35 ft pole and then traversing a tightrope to the other side while also hanging on to dangling pieces of rope.
Quantum Leap	Another one the others did, but it sounded pretty scary. They climbed a 25 ft pole and stood on top of it (no platform, literally just balanced and stood on top of the pole), and then jumped off. Yikes. No thanks. Sounds like everyone enjoyed it though!

Overall, I really enjoyed all the fitness/challenge activities, nutrition lectures, and culinary classes the most and would recommend any of them. The lectures were based on science, never sale-sy, and they never pushed any brands or products (I’ve attended way too many cruise ship “informational” lectures that ended up being sales pitches and/or based on fake science). The psychic and spiritual stuff were not really my cup of tea, but there are a lot of those activities for people who do benefit from that. It’s really nice that Miraval has something for everyone!

There were some activities that weren’t offered during our stay or that we waitlisted for and never got in, so I hope to have a chance to do those someday — beekeeping, honey tasting, mountain biking, happy hips, water fitness. I heard the beekeeping and mountain biking activities were particularly awesome!! Saw some people come back with cactus scrapes though, so be aware of that.

Miles For Two used some of their resort credit on “Just Cook For Me” which sounded really amazing and included wine pairings. It’s not something I was originally interested in (why use credit on a meal that is already included in your package?), but I think I would do that next time as well. Be sure to head over to their blog to get more of their perspective!

Cancellation policy is 4 hours prior to any activity, otherwise a $35 fee is charged for free activities, or the entire fee is forfeited for a paid activity/spa appointment.

Meals

Meals are all-inclusive. If you ask previous Miraval visitors what the most memorable things about the resort were, food is probably one of the first things they will rave about. While there were a couple misses, overall it was really great and there were some real gems.

Most notably, and I drool as a type this, was the salmon. It’s a simple side that can be added to any dish for lunch and dinner, so it’s not something you might’ve normally ordered. But I’m glad I found out about it early, because it is the most incredibly delicious salmon I’ve ever had. I’m usually not a big fan of salmon, and I had this twice a day. Their preparation was impeccable and consistent; the salmon was fresh, crispy on the outside, and melt-in-your-mouth tender on the inside. I’ve gotta practice preparing my salmon this way.

A lot of the food is very healthy, colorful, and packed with antioxidants and whole food nutrients. Most importantly, almost everything I tasted was delicious. I think the only things I didn’t really care for were some of the desserts.

There was a smoothie bar that had amazing smoothies made from great nutritious ingredients. I really enjoyed almost all of them, but my favorites were the blended mint lemonade (not even on the menu, but is amazing!), coconut horchata, berries n’ things, blended golden milk, and blended ginger lemon. I heard the blended iced coffee was great too but I never got around to trying it. The smoothie bar also had little cold snack bites like banana bread, zucchini bread, scones, small sandwiches, yogurt parfaits, and fruit or veggie cups. You could also order a quesadilla or burrito.

The menu is always the same for breakfast and mid-day snack (at the lounge) every day, and some of the dishes are the same at lunch and dinner, but the entrees and specials change daily on a 3-day rotation. However, if you liked something from yesterday, they could probably still make it for you. They were always very happy to customize and add/remove stuff for you. Portions are fairly small, so you can easily order more things and get to try everything rather than be committed to one thing. But if you really like something, you could order a second portion of it!

Also, if there was anything you really liked and wanted the recipe for, you can email and ask for it.

Alcohol is not included with the package and would be an extra charge, and we never ordered it.

Breakfast – I usually ordered an avocado toast, an omelet or huevos rancheros (they use amazing corn tortillas from a local family down the street), and sometimes steel-cut oatmeal with toppings. My friend loved the pecan pancakes.

Lunch – I sometimes ordered the soup of the day and salad, usually ordered the chef’s creation, and a side of salmon and quinoa. My friend loved the moon burger!

Snack @ Lounge – I loved the black sesame somen!! My husband liked the shishito peppers as well, but I was not as much a fan.

Dinner – I sometimes ordered the soup of the day and usually ordered the chef’s creation, along with another salmon and quinoa, because it was really just that good. My husband usually got the butcher’s cut too, which was always amazing (lamb chops, top sirloin, and strip steak while we were there). We would usually order one of every item from the dessert menu and share it too.

They have in-room dining, but charge $15 for delivery each time.

Wild Animals

The resort was shut down in March and there were fires in August in the mountains (resort staff told me the mountains are usually green, but as you can see in my photos, they’re all dry and brown now). As a result, all the animals moved into the resort, especially since there was water there. A family of 4 deer frequently watched our nighttime outdoor yoga, and I saw a family of boars, some rabbits, raccoons, roadrunners, and vultures.

Summary / Tips

Overall, it was a jam-packed trip for me, just the way I like it. I felt really fulfilled and healthy while I was there, and mentally felt great. COVID-19 certainly made some things less convenient, but we’ve mostly gotten used to this “new normal,” so it wasn’t too difficult to adapt to.

One more thing I wanted to mention is the punctuality. Pretty much everyone and everything ran exactly on time. This definitely wasn’t Hawaii where things run on “island time”…the airport pickup was exactly on time, the activities and classes started and ended on time (and they do take roll), and overall pretty much everything happened when they said it would.

I’d highly recommend this trip to others. It has something for everyone.

Here are my tips:

• Try not to procrastinate. Book your activities as soon as the schedule opens. Some activities fill up really fast. Some of the more popular activities include happy hips, yoga, mountain biking, beekeeping, and equine activities.
• Be open-minded when choosing the activities. Some of the ones I didn’t intend to do ended up being the most memorable, while some where I went in with a certain expectation (i.e. the equine experience) ended up not being a highlight. I’d actually recommend not reading my activity reviews before choosing. My descriptions may sound boring, scary, or lame, but may end up being one of your favorites.
• Even if you’re waitlisted for an activity, if you really want to do it, just show up anyways. Oftentimes someone doesn’t show up, so you can take their place. If it’s an outdoor activity, they might be able to take one more safely and without affecting everyone else’s experience too much.
• Don’t forget to leave time in your schedule for breakfast, lunch, and dinner…I had to rush my meals sometimes since I wanted to do everything!
• Bring mosquito repellent!
• You get a free tote bag and water bottle upon arrival, so you don’t have to bring your own.
• There is free sunblock, hand sanitizer, and masks, so you technically don’t have to bring your own, but it might be convenient to have your own sunblock so you can apply it in your room.
• If you exceed the amount of resort credit you have in your package, consider getting discounted Spafinder gift cards to pay the overage! If you do this, the last day might feel a bit hectic, so bring the gift cards to the front desk the night before to have them applied to your account.
• Resort credit is non-transferrable, and each individual has their own folio. So if you have $50 left of credit you didn’t use, you can’t give it to your partner if they go over, and vice versa.
• Review Miraval’s “Before You Go” page
• Order the salmon at least once 🙂

Enjoy your trip and hope you find what your mind and body need at Miraval!