In April, I published “Best Hyatt resorts for domestic US summer travel.” One of the resorts I was most excited about was the brand new Miraval Berkshires Resort in Massachusetts. I lamented, though, that the resort was very expensive whether booked with cash or points. Recently, thanks to two stacked Hyatt offers, it was briefly possible to book the resort at a huge discount. And following a recent change in my vacation plans, I tried to take advantage of these stacked deals… but I failed. For now, the Miraval Berkshires will remain on my someday bucket list. If you’re considering staying there on points in the near future, it is possible, but it’s not as easy as you’d think. Read on for details.
About Miraval
There are three Miraval resorts: Miraval Arizona, Miraval Austin, and Miraval Berkshires. Miraval properties are all-inclusive wellness resorts, and they’re part of the World of Hyatt program. The good news is that you can book Miraval resorts with Hyatt points. The bad news is that Hyatt has special (read expensive) award pricing for Miraval properties: 45,000 points per night for one person or 65,000 points for two. Compared to other all-inclusive resorts in Hyatt’s line-up, Miraval costs way more. Here are some alternatives:
- Ventana Big Sur: 30,000 points per night. See: Now All-Inclusive! Ventana Big Sur Hyatt. Bottom Line Review: Awesome
- Hyatt Ziva and Zilara resorts in Cancun, Cap Cana, and Rose Hall: 25,000 points per night
- Hyatt Ziva and Zilara resorts in Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta: 20,000 points per night. See: Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos: Six things to know.
As you can see above, most Hyatt all-inclusive properties cost less than half the number of points as Miraval when booked for two. Miraval, though, includes more complementary activities (at least, more than Ventana — I’m not sure about the others) and includes a $175 per day resort credit for each guest. So, for example, on a four day stay, each guest would have $700 to spend on paid activities (not all are free), spa services, chef’s table dining, etc. One nice thing too is that the credit can be used anytime during your stay. This contrasts with many resort destination fees that include property credits that are “use it or lose it” each day.
Despite the added resort credits, I still consider Miraval to be a very expensive award redemption. Don’t get me wrong: it may be worth it, but it’s expensive.
Miraval’s Buy One Get One (BOGO) deal changes it up
For stays through December 31, 2020, Miraval is offering two award nights for the price of one. You only get resort credits for the paid nights, but still that chops the up-front cost of an even-numbered-days stay in half. Even better, if you check out by October 8th, you’ll get additional points back! This is thanks to the current World of Hyatt promotion that offers a 15% rebate on award stays for all members or a 25% rebate on award stays for World of Hyatt credit card holders that are completed by October 8th, 2020.
Problems booking the Miraval Berkshires Resort
You can’t book online
Well, you can book online, but you can’t get what you really want. The Berkshires property is the only Miraval property that allows online point bookings. And it works — I tried it. But it doesn’t apply the BOGO offer. And there’s no way to add a second guest. It only works if you put a single guest into the search criteria.
Long phone waits
When you call Miraval, you get asked to press 1, 2, or 3 for the property of your choice. 3 is for the Miraval Berkshires. Pressing 3 also leads you to an interminable wait to talk with a person. When I’ve called other times for the other Miraval properties I got right through.
Limited BOGO availability
I tried to book a last minute 4 night stay at the Miraval Berkshires for the last full week of August. There was plenty of availability online for 1 person, so I didn’t think it would be a problem. I was wrong. When I finally talked with a rep, he told me that they had been slammed with BOGO reservations and so they changed the policy. At the Berkshires resort, they were only accepting a limited number of BOGO reservations (and no more were available in August). Plus, they were limiting the reservations to those that were 6 nights or longer. In other words, the shortest BOGO stay you could do was to buy 3, get 3. He said that the 6 night restriction would ease up later in the fall (I think he said mid October but I’m not sure).
A few days after my call to Miraval, reader Darin was told that they are no longer accepting any BOGO reservations until October 25 (after the separate points rebate deal is over). It also looks like the property is only accepting points reservations for stays of 3 days or longer, at least during the peak season.
Massachusetts COVID restrictions
Massachusetts currently requires almost all visitors to quarantine for 14 days or produce a negative COVID-19 test result that has been administered up to 72-hours prior to your arrival in Massachusetts. (found here). The only current exceptions are for those from the current list of lower-risk states. As I write this, there are only 6 lower-risk states in the list: Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Vermont.
Since I live in Michigan and Michigan isn’t currently considered by the state of Massachusetts to be a lower-risk state, I decided to scuttle my near-term plans to visit the Miraval Berkshires.
Property Reviews: Mixed
So far, a number of Trip Advisor reviews of the Miraval Berkshires have been harsh. As I write this, the property only has a 3.0 TripAdvisor rating. That’s really bad for TripAdvisor. According to these reviews and to some readers who have reached out, there have been lots of start-up issues (which are common with new resorts, but not fun for guests) which I’m sure have been exacerbated by COVID-19. On the other hand, there are glowing reviews as well. For example, reader Kimba reported that the food and service was amazing, and the property was beautiful. And Zach Griff at The Points Guy gave the property a glowing review.
Conclusion
Despite the fact that the Miraval Berkshires is experiencing start-up issues, I would have loved to try it out. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get in on the Buy One Get One (BOGO) deal for the dates of my intended stay. Plus, COVID restrictions made the visit impractical. I may take a chance for later in the fall. I wouldn’t then get the 25% points rebate, but could still book the BOGO deal. And then I’d helplessly hope for reduced COVID restrictions and for good weather. More likely, though, I’ll wait for Hyatt to run another Miraval deal of some sort next summer. I doubt they’ll offer a deal as good as the current combo deal, but maybe I’d actually be able to take advantage of it.
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[…] may remember that I had hoped to visit Miraval Berkshires, but it didn’t work out (see: Miraval Berkshires Resort. My failed attempt to double-dip deals). Fortunately a member of the Frequent Miler Insider’s group, May May Hu, did go and wrote […]
Loved my stay there recently (on points with BOGO)! Food is surprisingly good (portioned and you can ask for more). Yes, I had some service issues (my fav is calling front desk about a note placed under my door and having them have not a clue what they sent me), but most staff were genuinely trying their best which I appreciated. Did four nights, new standard room, all under $175 credit for activities so final bill was just alcohol. Terrific ropes course, kayaking, yoga. And they were very COVID safe, I thought (minus one guest who kept challenging staff in random parts of the campus).
Speaking on Ventana Big Sur being a better value – anyone seen anything available for ~3 nights this fall?
I know there was a brief window, but I’ve been looking on/off the past couple months and have never seen availability at 30k/night. Occasionally can find a suite night for 60k.
I have seen decent availability for suites at 48K. I wouldn’t count on finding three consecutive nights at 30K for the fall, unless you were trying last minute (I expect some people will cancel due to Covid/fires in CA. I have a reservation for Nov which I am sitting on waiting to see what happens).
The Berkshires are known as a great leaf peeping destination during the fall. I’m not surprised by the Oct. 25 date as that likely coincides with when the Berkshires see a general downturn in tourism.
I just came back a week ago, and altogether I thought it was great value in-spite of some service issues. I’d definitely not pay $1000 a night, and the level of new-age corporate language was intense, be warned… But otherwise, it’s a nice getaway for COVID days.
Does anyone know how long it takes for the 25% promotion rebate to post? So far I am seeing nothing, and there is also no sign of this stay under my “brand explorer”. Oddly, I had Hyatt points post for the included credit resort ($175 per person per day), though this was not charged.
My rebate posted in 7 days
Thanks!
Two years ago we used the Hyatt free night certificates with the credit card for a two-night stay at the Arizona property. You can start your first activity as early as 9:00am on arrival day (we did) and stay all day on check out day, so with two nights you can really get 3 full days in. We stayed in a local hotel the night before so we could be there first thing in the morning. Although we loved it, we assumed we would never visit again because of the points cost – which I don’t think is worth it (I’ve been to many other Hyatt all-inclusives and enjoyed them just as much). Then when this new offer popped up and the Berkshire property is within driving range, we decided to go for it. We picked the last weekend possible to stack both deals hoping that most of the kinks will be worked out – and also hoping that it will coincide with peak leaf-peeping season. I called within a day or two of the BOGO deal being announced and had no problem getting through or getting it booked. I’m willing to take the risk that it isn’t 100% perfect now because I really would never pay full price with cash or points. It is great – but not that great!
At Miraval Berkshires we were told we are allowed to arrive on the property/start activities at 11 and had to leave at 2 on the day of check-out. That being said, they seemed entirely unorganized/inconsistent in the information given (especially by activity planners), so this could prove incorrect in the future.
Now that’s an accurate description of Miraval:)
The spa is pretty much closed & activities/workshops are limited due to covid. Much better to save this for next year for a true Miraval experience.
The spa/activities were pretty much business as usual (as of last week), other than the requirement to sign-up in advance and wear masks. I believe the hot-tub was closed.
“The locker rooms, sauna, steam room, and whirlpool are closed” off MB website. “We are offering a limited menu of spa services and reducing the capacity of our treatment rooms.”
I recognize that that’s what it says. However, I was just there and in reality they offered a wide variety of spa treatments and basically all of the activities. Locker rooms were open (didn’t check the sauna). There were a few things that were off-limit, but generally the offering is very varied and the effect, in my experience, is minimal.
What was definitely different, however, was the need to register in advance. That’s a big disadvantage, simply because heir activity planning department is currently really struggling.
Other 5 Miraval stays I have made ideally wanted a schedule finalized by no later than 2 weeks out. And even then in full swing it was always a lot of back n forth with the planners to get what you wanted, when you wanted it. If you plan a stay with another person, many more headaches to coordinate their schedule with yours & then with Miraval’s!
With reduced numbers allowed in the classes/workshops/breakout sessions, I don’t see how a person can register for what/when they really want. I guess many posters are only doing a 2-day stay which alleviates a lot of headaches from my usual 4. And without that extra $175 credit, filling it with spa treatments or paid activities that then require appts isn’t going to be an issue.
Miraval is all about connecting on many levels. Covid is about staying apart. I’ve met so many neat people sitting next to them in a class. I think that of goes away with strict distancing & mask enforcement.
For folks who are going just to check out a new hotel with good food, then now probably works ok. But to really immerse in the full Miraval experience, I’d personally wait til staff, technicians, counselors, & guests are in a better comfort zone.
I’m going there this weekend. Reviews seem to all say the actives and food are great. So I’m excited. It did take a while to book activities. Even spa services were pretty limited which is surprising given how much they charge
Greg: You need to correct one thing. For the pay two get two nights free deal, with two guests in the room, you only get a $350 resort credit ($175 per person for each paid night) each. You are telling people they will get $700 EACH. This is incorrect. Sorry you couldn’t book. I also had problems getting through to book it in the beginning. Ann
According to some posts you get the credit even for the free nights
I just returned from the resort – got credit only for 1 of the nights.
Actually, he did say that the credit is only on paid nights. I can see where maybe you were confused though.
The section you are referencing, “About Miraval”, is meant to explain how Miraval normally works. Greg explains that the usual price is 45K per night for one person and 65K per night for two people, the usual deal is $175 in credit per night per guest, and he gives the example of a 4-night stay generally offering $700 in credit per person. That section isn’t about the promo.
Then under the section titled, “Miraval’s Buy One Get One (BOGO) deal changes it up”, he says:
“You only get resort credits for the paid nights . . . ”
So the reality is both I guess: he explained that you would ordinarily get $700 each, but under the promo you only get the credit for the paid nights.
I’m booked for the end of month. We shall see how it goes……
I’m a Berkshire local. If you or anyone else are looking for anything in particular off the resort I’m happy to give my 2cents of advice.