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Recently my wife I stayed at the Miraval Resort in Austin, Texas, a luxury wellness spa on the banks of Lake Travis just a short drive from downtown. This was an aspirational property for us and since it’s bookable with Hyatt points it was within reach given our stockpile of points that we’ve been sitting on due to limited international travel over the past year. We stayed for two nights in mid-October while celebrating my wife’s birthday and were blown away with the experience.

If you’re thinking about booking a stay here, here’s what you can expect.

Arrival

Inside Miraval Austin’s Arrival Center.

Miraval offers a complimentary shared shuttle from the Austin airport for all guests, or you may also self-drive and they will valet your car (also complimentary). We had a rental car so we drove in, and when arriving at the property you come up to a gate where you need to ring the front desk and tell them your name to gain access. You then proceed up a windy and hilly road until reaching the arrival area, where you are immediately met by a valet to take your bags and your car keys.

Upon entering the check-in area, reservation details were confirmed and we were presented with a printed itinerary of the activities we had booked during our stay. They allow guests to arrive as early as 11am on the day of check-in, though they don’t guarantee that your room will be ready until 3pm. In our case, the room was not ready but we were able to leave our bags and go explore the property. We had to sign liability waivers and were told that there was no doctor on site, then had “Miraval Mode” explained to us, which is that cell phone use is only permitted in designated areas. We were given a small cloth bag, known as the “cell phone sleeping bag” to use during the say which was a nice touch, as well as a Miraval tote bag with water bottle and printed guide with a map, descriptions of activities, and other information about the resort.

Sleep tight, digital one.

In the bag was also an envelope with a note and blank sheet of paper, where they invite you to write a letter to yourself and set an “intention” for your stay. Then, they ask you to drop the letter off to the front desk when you check out and they will mail it to you in three months so that you can reflect on your your stay at a later date. This was a great way to start a relaxing trip.

Miraval swag.

The Room

Dreamcatcher King Room.

We were booked into a King Dreamcatcher room in the Serenity building (#8), directly across from the spa. The room was well-appointed with a tremendous attention to detail including high-end furnishings, a mini fridge, meditation pillow, lounge area, large TV, and outdoor patio overlooking the valley.

Patio overlooking the valley.

Though I was a tad confused by the cheap Hamilton Beach coffee maker (which we didn’t even use since the coffee at the café was spectacular), everything else was as luxurious as one would expect – clean, functional, and simple.

Coffee maker and supplies.

The bed, especially, was an experience in and of itself. It comes with a plush mattress topper that feels like you are laying in a cloud. The duvet and pillows were fluffy yet had the perfect amount of firmness which can be a difficult balance to strike. If you have an extra $4,000 laying around you can even buy a set of their bedding to take home with you.

King Dreamcatcher room.

The shower was perfectly sized with excellent water pressure and included specialty cleansing products. I would have liked to see a bathtub here, but perhaps that’s reserved for the suites. In any event, it was the perfect place to wind down at the end of the day or do a wardrobe change for the next activity.

King Dreamcatcher bathroom.

Activities

Practicing my tomahawk throw. Watch out!

Several weeks ahead if arrival, we were sent an email with instructions on how to enter the “Miraval Portal” and sign up for activities to participate in during the stay. Each day is chock-full of interesting wellness courses and classes you can enroll in including yoga, meditation, cooking, fitness, and more. Some of the activities are free while others charge a fee of anywhere from $45 to $200+. Each guest is provided a daily resort credit of $175 per night (which can be rolled over from one night to the next) that can be applied to activities, spa treatments, and alcohol purchases. Some of the activities we signed up for were:

Yoga essentials – Free
Conquer the blade (knife skills) – $75
Relax massage – $210
Cocktails in the Kitchen – $75
Photography with your Phone – Free
Hatchet throwing – $45
Plant forward cooking – $75

Learning to make Cosmos the right way!

Our resort credits didn’t quite cover the full cost of these activities and services, so we paid a bit out of pocket at the end which was totally fine. Our overall impression with the activities is that they were wonderful – the instructors were professional, knowledgeable, courteous, and friendly. The instructors for our cooking and cocktail classes were all professional chefs and bartenders, and the hatchet throwing instructor was from a local Native American tribe.

With the exception of the photography class, which we didn’t get to do because the instructor didn’t show up, we had a great time with everything. There are activities nearly every hour of the day so it can be tempting to completely fill your schedule, but we tried to focus on just a few things we really wanted to try and were happy that we didn’t over-book. All the classes are limited in size so they never felt crowded. Note that sales tax is charged on all paid activities, so be sure to factor that in.

Yoga classes in the “barn”.

The Grounds

Front view of the yoga barn.

The property itself is expansive at over 220 acres, but is easily walkable from one end to the other. Thoughtfully designed with wellness in mind, there are crushed stone pathways connecting the gym, spa, and restaurant as well as fire pits and hammocks ensconced throughout to provide places of both gathering and peace depending on your desires.

Maze!

Only a few specific areas outside of your room are designated as digital device friendly, meaning you can walk around without overhearing conversations or notification dings.

Gentle reminder.

The maintenance and cleaning staff get around using electric golf carts and they were mindful to give way to pedestrians, control their speed, and store most items and tools out of view so as not to detract from the scenery. It’s obvious that a lot of care and thought is put in to maintaining a tranquil atmosphere all throughout the property and we very much appreciated it.

Peaceful sanctuaries abound.

The Spa

Welcome to the spa!

The spa is one of the best aspects of the entire resort. Though the treatments are very expensive ($200-$250 for 50-minute massages), the service was exemplary. The entire area is exquisitely and intentionally crafted. The locker rooms have separate whirlpools, saunas, showers, and quiet areas for men and women as well as a larger co-ed quiet space that overlooks one of the infinity pools and lake. I signed up for a 50-minute “grounding” massage which focused on the scalp, hands, and feet, and it was one of the best massages I’ve ever had. Everything about the service and environment was top-notch from start to finish and we were extremely pleased with our experience.

Spa entrance.

Aside from the spa building, there are two pool areas on the property – one adjacent to the gym and another connected to the spa. Both feature large infinity pools with expansive views of the valley and lake below. Both have a great variety of seating and lounge options, and both are digital-device-free areas, meaning nothing except for e-readers are allowed (I saw more than one person get asked to put their phone away in these areas).

Discovery pool near the Arrival Center.

Though the pool next to the spa has an outdoor hot tub, the downside to that location is that you can hear traffic noise from the road below which takes a bit away from the tranquility.

Serenity pool.

The Gym

The gym is open 24/7 and you do not need to be enrolled in an activity in order to visit. It is tastefully and practically laid out with high-quality machines but a distinct lack of freeweights and dumbbells that only go up to 50lbs.

Gym with Peleton bike.

Dumbbells up to 50lbs.

It’s perfectly adequate for cardio sessions and circuit training, though bodybuilders or powerlifters would likely be disappointed with the variety. I had a great workout there while killing some time between activities on my first evening.

Other side of the gym.

Food

All food and drink at the Miraval Austin is included (with the exception of alcohol), so there is no need to worry about pricing or quantities. All meals are served at the Hilltop Crossing Kitchen, though you can also pick up smoothies, hot and cold drinks, and grab-and-go items from The Nest, a café directly adjacent to the restaurant.

Smoothie and coffee selection at the Nest café.

Breakfast

Breakfast is served from 7:30am until 10:00am and consists of a buffet, a la cart menu, and one rotating daily special.

Breakfast menu.

We typically ordered the daily special and picked up a couple of side items from the buffet and paired with a latte or an Americano from the café.

The “Farmer’s Breakfast”.

Lunch

Lunch is served from 11:30am – 2:00pm and featured a buffet as well as two rotating specials. We were only told the specials verbally, as it appears that menus are not provided for lunch.

The “big” salad.

The lunch buffet features a grandiose salad bar with just about everything you could think of, all perfectly fresh.

Grab-and-go selection for those wishing to dine outside of regular lunch hours.

Dinner

Dinner is served from 5:00pm until 9:00pm and consists of a menu with several a la cart items that stay the same from day-to-day as well as a number of rotating daily specials in each course.

Enjoying the nightly special.

Dinner menu, which changed day-to-day.

They also offer a separate menu of wine, beer, spirits, and cocktails that you can order for an extra fee. They strongly recommend reservations for dinner to ensure quick service.

Paid drink menu.

We found the food at all three meals to be wholesome, nutritious, and delicious. Although we’re not vegetarian, we were surprised at both the variety and quality of the plant-based options and gravitated toward them often. The waitstaff was knowledgeable about the menu and exceptionally welcoming to any request. The food was a real highlight of the stay, and every dish we tried exceeded expectations. We were also very pleased with the café, The Nest, as they had a gregarious and skillful barista that was ready to whip up a latte or delicious smoothie at a moment’s notice. Food service at an all-inclusive is something that can often be lacking, but the Miraval Austin absolutely nailed it in all respects.

COVID-19 Protocols

Specially cleaned room.

During our stay, the state of Texas was not requiring masks to be worn for vaccinated individuals and Miraval followed suit by only requiring them for all guests when participating in spa services. All Miraval staff wore masks at all times, as did most of the guests, and tables in the dining areas were adequately spaced. Though we are vaccinated, we wore masks a majority of the time as well and felt totally satisfied and safe with the protocols in place by the resort which were handled very professionally.

Departure

The resort has a checkout time of 11am, but they invite you to stay on property until 3pm to participate in additional activities or services if desired. Our bags were picked up from the room at 10:30am and we stuck around for another couple of hours to have lunch and enjoy the area before making our way out at around 2pm. The checkout process is seamless, and within a few minutes of handing over the room key our car was waiting with luggage already in the trunk.

How We Booked

I booked this stay using Hyatt points earned from the World of Hyatt (Learn more) and Chase Sapphire Preferred(R) (Learn more) credit cards. The number of points required for double occupancy is 65,000 points per night – the highest of any property in the Hyatt portfolio. I transferred about 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to my Hyatt account (at 1:1) and combined them with 30,000 Hyatt points I already had in my account in order to come up with the required balance. I then booked over the phone by calling 866-792-3395, as the Berkshires location is the only one you can currently book online (more about that process below). Though it definitely hurt to burn that many points on a two-night stay, it was for a very special occasion and the cash rates made it worthwhile. Had we paid cash, it would have cost $5,434 meaning we got a redemption rate of over 4 cents per point which I am very happy with as it’s not something I would likely pay cash for.

Cash rate. Ouch!

Hyatt is currently running a buy-one-get-one promotion on all Miraval resorts from November 1 through January 31, 2022. The caveats are that the nights cannot be Friday or Saturday nights or the dates of December 24-31, 2021, but otherwise this is a fantastic deal. I certainly wished our dates aligned with the promotion, but nevertheless we were satisfied with the cost.

Dislikes

Overall, the experience at Miraval Austin was incredible. That being said, there were a few hiccups with the booking process and communication that are worth mentioning.

Booking: As of October 2021, only the Miraval Berkshires is bookable with Hyatt points online – the other two properties require that you call in to book. This ended up being a true test of patience as it took me FIVE attempts over two weeks to get the stay booked. On my first call, I waited over 30 minutes on hold before needing to hang up and tend to other things. I was given the option to leave a message with my information and receive a callback, but I didn’t think the hold times would be significant so I didn’t bother. On my second call, I left a message with my full name, desired dates, Hyatt member number, email address, and phone number. After two days, I hadn’t received a callback. For my third and fourth attempts, I went through the Hyatt Concierge on Twitter, which is usually fantastic at making reservations and changes for members. I gave them all the pertinent information and they said that they could not make a reservation at Miraval properties but that they could submit the request and the property would send an email confirmation once complete, citing it should take less than 24 hours. Three days later I had not received a confirmation, so I asked that they make the request once more. They confirmed that the request had been submitted, but once again I never received anything. I called one more time and accidentally hit the wrong number on the menu, which brought me to a reservation specialist almost immediately – but when I explained that I was trying to book with Hyatt points they transferred me back to the main menu and I had to select the option for making an award stay which put me in the hold queue again. I had more time this round, so I just waited it out and eventually got a hold of someone and was able to make the booking. I’ve never had this much difficulty booking a hotel stay before and it was an extremely frustrating process.
Itinerary changes: A lot of work is put in before arrival to ensure a smooth stay, but the communication fell short in several ways. First, they direct you to book your activities well in advance to ensure there is availability. You choose activities from their site via the “Miraval Portal”, add them to your itinerary, and then confirm them once you have everything set. However, there is no easy way to alter your itinerary once you book an activity – you need to call or email them to manually make the change for you. This is absurd. I needed to make one minor change to the itinerary and because we had several weeks until our stay, I decided to send an email rather than wait on hold forever like I had to when booking the stay. It took over a week to get a response indicating that the change had been made. There is no reason why guests shouldn’t be able to make changes to their itinerary up to a certain time period, say, a week, before their stay.
Special Requests. We were celebrating my wife’s birthday on this trip, and I wanted to make sure it was an extra special experience for her. In the weeks leading up to the trip, I had received several emails from Miraval staff confirming the reservation, reminding us of digital device policies, and asking for our arrival time. I responded to each email with the requested information and also informed them of the special occasion while asking if it would be possible to arrange a dessert to be delivered to the room on the night of her birthday. I never received a response or acknowledgement of any of these requests, despite sending a direct email to the front desk (e.g. not just a response to what might have been a no-reply mailbox) asking for this. It ended up not mattering because her sisters sent a gift separately, but I was really annoyed by the lack of response. We’ve celebrated lots of special occasions at hotels all over the world and made similar requests but have never been flat-out ignored. Had her sisters not sent something I would have called directly to make the request, but nevertheless a lack of response to this type of request is inexcusable.
No-show. Miraval makes a big deal out of financially punishing guests for not showing up to activities they have booked. I get it – they don’t want people recklessly signing up for everything with no intent of attending and then having instructors show up for empty classes. If the activity is paid, they will charge you the full amount if you don’t show. If it’s a free activity and you don’t show, they will charge you $45. On the day of our checkout, we had a (free) “photography with your phone” activity booked for 8:30am and the instructor didn’t show up. There were four of us in the class who waited around until almost 9am before taking off, and there was never a notice or acknowledgement that the instructor would not be coming. I mentioned this when checking out and was only offered a confirmation that I would not be charged a no-show fee. I completely understand that mistakes happen and schedules get confused, but it was certainly disappointing since we were looking forward to the class and were now unable to enroll in any other activities in that time slot.
No status benefits. As with many non-Hyatt brand partners, the Miraval does not provide special services to members with elite status. As Globalists we would normally be able to apply a room upgrade certificate or be automatically upgraded to a suite at check-in, neither of which were offered or possible. We were plenty happy with our Dreamcatcher room but also would not have turned down the opportunity to try out a suite! Thankfully our status made no difference in the food services since it’s all-inclusive. As such, this makes for a great property to stay at if you don’t have elite status since it doesn’t get you anywhere.

Final Thoughts

Miraval properties are truly in a class of their own when it comes to luxury wellness resorts. We have stayed at some fantastic hotels in places like Singapore, Thailand, and Mexico and this stay was up there with the best of them. There’s a reason this is the the choice product of Oprah and other celebrities when they want to wind down, and though there are some frustrations with the booking process and communication, once we were onsite the experience was exceptional. If you have some Hyatt or Ultimate Rewards points to burn or can take advantage of the BOGO promotion, I highly suggest you do.

Brandon Chase is a financially independent writer, endurance athlete, and travel hacking enthusiast originally from Maine. He is a former Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State and spent nearly a decade overseas serving at embassies in Cairo, Egypt, and Nicosia, Cyprus, and Islamabad, Pakistan. Since getting hooked on “the hobby” in 2013, he and his wife have accumulated and redeemed millions of points and miles for luxury travel, including a $35,000 trip around the world for 97% off retail which he wrote about on his blog Fit For Miles. In addition to travel, he loves to be outdoors and has summited Mt. Kilimanjaro, thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail, and completed ultramarathons at the 50k, 50-mile, and 100-mile distances. Brandon is thrilled to share his knowledge of credit cards, award travel, and optimization with the Go Curry Cracker readers and hopes to help people travel more and better than they ever thought possible.

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