Miraval Austin: Bottom Line Review

Miraval is Hyatt’s “wellness” brand, with three locations in the US and one in the Middle East. Each property has an extensive array of classes, ranging from pilates to yoga, axe-throwing to tarot card reading. Most of them are included in the room rate, whether booking with cash or points, as is all food and non-alcoholic beverages.

Miraval has some devoted fans who regularly visit despite cash rates that often exceed $2,000 per night for two people. While I hadn’t been terribly interested in the properties myself, I figured that my wife would love the experience. So, in 2025, I decided to earn a Miraval Extra Night Award through Hyatt Milestone Rewards to book a stay for our anniversary this year. Miraval Arizona was my first choice, but there was no availability using our certificate on the dates we wanted. As a result, we pivoted to Miraval Austin, the newest US location.

As I expected, my wife loved it. More surprisingly, so did I.

Miraval Austin Bottom Line Review

Unlike my wife, I don’t take part in wellness classes as part of my daily routine, so Miraval’s substantial cost seemed like it would be wasted on me. However, I was really, really surprised by how much I enjoyed the experience.

I wouldn’t recommend Miraval for someone just looking for a spa weekend. There are cheaper, snazzier places that would be better suited. It isn’t a perfect property by any means, and in places feels more like a corporate retreat center than I would prefer.

However, I had several marvelous meditation and stretching classes, and the digitally-detoxed rhythm of relaxation, body care, and good food added up to wonderful, restful three nights. Despite the resort being sold out for two out of three nights we were there, it never felt crowded in the least. I assumed this would be our only visit to a Miraval property, but we now plan to visit two more within the next year or two…and I’m looking forward to it. Thumbs up

• Price: Hyatt has a special award chart for Miraval Resorts, with rates ranging from 60k to 95k points per night for two people, depending on the season. We booked under Hyatt’s old award chart and applied a Miraval Extra Night award for a total cost of 144k points over three nights, or an average of 48k points/night.
• Value: The cash rate for the weekend we were there was ~$ 2,500/night for double occupancy. On a strict cents-per-point basis, it was an excellent value at more than 5 cents per point. Whether it’s considered a “value” at 60,000-95,000 points per night will be highly personal.
• Location: The point of Miraval is to get “away from it all,” and Miraval Austin’s location manages that, despite being ~20 minutes from downtown Austin and a long stone’s throw from the fairly busy eastern half of Lake Travis. It’s located on a hillside in the midst of the oak forest of the Balcones Canyonlands Reserve, combines good views with access to trails, and is just far enough from the access road to keep traffic noise at bay.
• Room: I booked a ~400 sq ft “Hill Country” standard room and used a Suite Upgrade Award to upgrade to a ~599 sq ft 1st floor Balcones Retreat “Balcony” Suite. The first-floor room was quite dark, as it was surrounded by trees and the hill behind. The only thing that differentiated this suite was a narrow room in between the door and the bedroom that housed a sleeper sofa. In my opinion, it didn’t offer enough added functional or aesthetic value to justify choosing it over a standard room on a more open, higher floor. Miraval Rooms are often reported to be something short of luxurious, and that’s certainly the case here. They’re well-maintained and clean, with an excellent in-room tea service, but more or less feel like a non-descript Marriott or something along those lines. The bed had an incredibly buoyant duvet and a pillow-top over a surprisingly mediocre mattress. The effect was noticeable: it felt like a cloud when jumping in initially, then developed a significant “sag” overnight. My wife and I both struggled with some back soreness, and we heard reports of the same thing from other guests. It’s a surprising oversight for a “wellness” resort.

• Parking: Free parking. Round-trip transportation from Austin-Bergstrom Airport is also included, so there’s no reason to rent a car if you’re flying in.
• Resort/Destination Fee: None.
• Internet: Miraval strongly encourages guests to unplug from electronic devices while at the resort, and most public spaces are “device-free.” That said, the internet was fine anywhere I accessed it throughout the property.
• Service: Overall, the service was very good, with excellent coordination among the various departments. Arrivals and departures are handled seamlessly from the airport to the room and back, with on-point luggage and transportation assistance. The class teachers were good to excellent, and the housekeeping staff was very good at refreshing rooms throughout the day when folks are gone and not disturbing guests when they are in the room. Our evening servers were engaging and very good at food and drink recommendations. The breakfast and lunch servers, less so.
• Turndown service: Nightly. No treats, but they are good about making sure that the water pitcher is filled.

• Dining:
  • Hilltop Crossings Kitchen: This is the main resort restaurant, serving breakfast daily from 7:30 am to 10 am, lunch from 11:30 am to 2 pm, and dinner from 5:30 pm to 9 pm (reservations required). Breakfast and lunch are buffets with 5-6 rotating items supplemented with non-rotating à la carte menus. Dinner is completely a la carte; ~2/3 of the menu changes daily, while the other 1/3 is set seasonally. The food is generally quite good, with a distinct focus on healthy, whole foods and modest calorie counts. For us, the highlight was dinner, where most of the starters and mains were excellent. An added bonus is that most dishes can be ordered in half portions if you want to try a few things. The low point was breakfast, primarily due to the lack of variety in the rotating hot dishes from day-to-day. All mocktails, juices, smoothies, and non-alcoholic beverages are included. The patio at the back of the restaurant is a delightful place to nosh, both morning and evening.
  • The Nest Cafe: Located in the same building as the restaurant, this is a coffee/smoothie bar during the morning and afternoon, then adds cocktails into the mix starting at 2 pm. Grab-and-go options are available throughout. The smoothies are delightful, as is the on-tap nitro cold brew. Open daily from 7 am – 10 pm.
  • Discovery Cafe: Poolside bar and cafe at the Discovery Pool. The food menu is very limited: snacks like chips and salsa, guacamole, and a couple of wraps. Open daily from 12 pm – 6 pm, weather permitting.
• Spa: As expected, there’s an extensive on-site spa with a full menu of treatments. You get $175 in credit per guest per night, not including any nights booked with an Extra Night Award. The credit is issued as a lump sum, so you can blow it all in one day or use it over the course of your stay. A 50-minute massage was $225 when we were there, so my wife and I each got one and had another $250 left over for other activities. The quality of the deep-tissue massages was good, but not great. Guests have continuous access to the spa’s amenities, including steam rooms, dry sauna, whirlpools, and a terrific relaxation room with a distant view of Lake Travis.
• Fitness Room: Given the focus on fitness classes, it’s not surprising that the exercise area is fairly modest. There’s a circuit’s worth of weight equipment, and a small array of cardio machines.
• Pool Areas: There are two pools on the property: the Discovery Pool, near the check-in building with a poolside cafe, and the Serenity Pool, part of the spa complex. We preferred the Serenity Pool during the day because it was less crowded and offered better views. The Discovery Pool has a tree-shaded lawn strung with lights that was quite lovely in the evening (it’s open 24 hours), as well as a nicer hot tub.

• Hyatt Globalist Benefits: 
  • Room Upgrade: I upgraded my room using a Suite Upgrade Award, and there was no additional upgrade. From what I can tell, the property is pretty good about upgrading Globalists based on availability, but some “upgrades” might be less desirable than a standard room with a good view.
  • Free Breakfast: Included for all guests.
  • Lounge: None.
  • Late Checkout: Not offered. All guests are expected to have their luggage ready for pickup at 11 am. That said, your luggage will be stored, and you can use all of the property amenities and book classes on your day of departure. Lunch is included on the day of arrival and departure. Dinner is an extra charge.
  • Welcome Amenity: One alcoholic beverage per person on the day of arrival during dinner at the restaurant.
  • Parking: Self-parking is free for all guests.
• Would I stay again?  We probably won’t rush back to Miraval Austin, simply because both my wife and I are more interested in trying the other two domestic properties in Arizona and Massachusetts. That said, we enjoyed the experience enough to have already made reservations at each of those properties.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• The extensive menu of classes and wellness activities included is quite good; we enjoyed almost all of them
• We found the food to be good to excellent, with the dinners a highlight
• The grounds have some lovely spots to hang out: oak-shaded, hillside hammocks; a beautiful, relaxing sensory garden; a well-executed labyrinth, and two enjoyable pool areas
• The $175 per person credit adds up to $700 over a two-night stay, which is enough to open a variety of spa treatments and paid classes
• The location is surprisingly quiet and peaceful, given the proximity to Austin
• Despite the hotel being sold out on the weekend nights that we were, it never felt crowded, and there was no wait for amenities or food.

Cons

• Breakfasts would benefit from a bit more day-to-day variety amongst the hot food items
• Given the price of the resort, the rooms aren’t going to blow anyone away with luxury
• If I could pick one thing to change about the resort, it would be the beds – they were surprisingly uncomfortable, and I heard multiple complaints about them
• There’s not much in the way of added value for Globalists

Image Gallery

Miraval Austin 1st Floor Balcony Studio Suite

Miraval Austin Restaurants, food and menus

Hilltop Crossings Restaurant and à la carte items

Restaurant menus

Nest Cafe

Miraval Austin pools and fitness center

Discovery Pool

Serenity Pool

Fitness center

Miraval Austin grounds and buildings

Yoga Barn

Sensory Garden

Solidago

Silver Trail

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