Miraval Austin Review

My wife and I celebrated our anniversary this year in Austin, with our first stop at The Thompson Austin. To finish off the long weekend, we spent two nights in Texas hill country at the Miraval Austin. In this Miraval Austin review, I will walk through how I booked our room, and my overall impression of this inclusive adults-only resort.

About Miraval

Focused on wellness, Miraval resorts cater to people looking for a break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Currently, Miraval has three locations – Austin, Arizona, and The Berkshires. The fourth Miraval on The Red Sea in Saudi Arabia is scheduled to open in Fall 2025, and it looks amazing.

“Miraval Mode” encourages you to put your phone away and be present with yourself, those around you, and nature. They offer a variety of things to help you rejuvenate, like spa treatments, yoga classes, fitness classes, outdoor activities, and cooking classes. Variety is an understatement…the activities guide is over 20 pages. And while they strongly encourage you to put your cell phones away, you can absolutely have it with you for pictures or to keep an eye on whatever you need to. Just keep it on silent and head to a designated cell phone area if you need to make a call.

Location / Transportation to Miraval Austin

The Miraval Austin is about 28 miles from Austin-Bergstrom Airport. A complimentary shuttle picks up every hour starting at 10am, with the last shuttle at 5pm. Departure shuttles to the airport run every two hours, starting at 6am, with the last shuttle at 2pm. Valet parking is complimentary for all guests with their own vehicle, regardless of status.

Typical Booking Cost

Miraval properties do not have a designated award category, which means Category 1-7 free night awards won't work here. The Hyatt Ultimate Free Night Award, however, can be used (earned at 150 nights), as well as Miraval Extra Night Awards (earned at 100 nights). Check out Ben's article here outlining the best Hyatt milestone awards. Using points, standard room award nights are:

• 40,000 points off-peak + 20,000 points for an additional guest
• 45,000 points + 20,000 points for an additional guest
• 50,000 points peak + 20,000 points for an additional guest

I booked one night on points, and a second night with a Miraval Extra Night Award. Cash rates often exceed $2,000 per night for two people, so these awards can be extremely valuable.

What's Included

The Miraval Austin was extremely communicative ahead of our stay so we would be able to make the most of all the resort offers. All meals are included (alcohol and other specialty drinks are extra). There is also a strict no-tipping policy, so keep your cash to yourself. Many activities and classes like yoga, meditations, and other experiences are also included at no extra charge. Popular ones book up 8-9 weeks in advance, so they strongly encourage people to book their activities as soon as possible (spa times tend to go first). Award bookings and certain cash rates also include a $175 resort credit per night for each guest, which can be used toward any paid activities, spa services, or drinks. We each received $175 resort credit for the first night, but not the second, as the Miraval Extra Night Award night award does not qualify for the resort credit.

Arrival / Check In

Guests can check in and use all the resort's amenities as early as 11am, with rooms guaranteed to be ready by 3. We arrived around 2pm, a valet attendant greeted us when we pulled up, and they took our bags. Once we were checked in, the desk staff offered us a sling bag or tote bag + aluminum water bottle to use around the resort. A very friendly employee gave us a golf cart tour of the grounds and dropped us off at our room, where our bags had already been delivered.

Miraval Austin Review: Guest Rooms

The Miraval Austin has 13 separate guest buildings spanning the property, with a total of 117 rooms. The Dreamcatcher Queen Room is the base level room for standard awards, which vary between 220-304 square feet. Globalist status scored us an upgrade to a Hill Country King Room 3rd Floor (around 400 square feet), which offered a fantastic panoramic forest view. The Hill Country King is perfectly sized, with a large bathroom featuring high-quality Zents bath products, vaulted ceiling, small table with chairs, and a great balcony with two chairs and a table. It was overcast pretty much the whole time we were there, but the balcony is a prime spot to catch a nice sunrise for the early risers.

Room amenities included:

• A mini fridge with a pitcher of filtered water
• Assortment of coffee and tea
• Electric kettle
• Robes and slippers
• Corkscrew + wine glasses
• In-room safe
• Tibetan singing bowl & meditation cushion
• Cell phone bed to encourage you to put your phone to bed and unplug

Last but certainly not least, the highlight of the room: the Miraval bed. They advertise their bedding as cloud-like, and that's no exaggeration. A pillow-top mattress, topped with another mattress topper, and a fluffy blanket make it feel like you really are sleeping in a cloud. It was amazing. 10/10 would recommend. My only negative takeaways from the room is that it was starting to show its age. Weather stripping coming off the doors created a loose seal, and every time the wind blew, it sounded like someone was starting to open the door, which kind of freaked my wife out in the middle of the night. And while I appreciated the organic coffee, it was not very good.

Property / Amenity Review

There is so much to do here that I can't cover everything, since we were only there for two nights. I covered as much ground as I could, while still trying to relax a little!

Miraval Austin Review: Meals

Reading reviews online didn't inspire much confidence in the food, but we found almost everything we tried to be very good. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were all served at Hilltop Crossings Kitchen.

• Breakfast
  • Choose from the full buffet, order off the menu, or both. There were plenty of options, lots of fresh fruit, and overall it was a typical upscale hotel breakfast. Nothing that wowed us, but they did a nice job. I ordered an omelet one day and an egg in a nest the other, and they were both good.
• Lunch
  • A more limited menu featuring burgers, sandwiches, and salads. The BBQ chicken sandwich was good, carne asada street tacos were very good, and the nest burger was just ok. More items on the buffet, but we just ordered off the menu.
• Dinner
  • This was where the food really shone. The dinner menu rotated every day, and we tried a few items that were a twist on the familiar, like venison bratwurst, and totally new-to-me food like the South Texas Antelope, which was really good. The steak and fresh catch were perfectly cooked and delicious, and the burrata with meatballs was out-of-this-world. For dessert, the pineapple upside down cake and chocolate date pie were good, but the coffee creme dessert was the star.
• Coffee Shop
  • Connected to Hilltop Crossings Kitchen, the Coffee Shop offered a full assortment of espresso drinks, smoothies, teas, and grab-and-go food. I was in here a lot because the coffee in the room sucked. The drip coffee wasn't much better here, but the espresso drinks were on point!

Miraval Austin Life In Balance Spa

One of the things we booked in advance was the 80-minute Duet Apothecary Massage. We checked in at the spa desk and were escorted back to the locker rooms to change into robes and slippers. Inside the locker rooms, there is a hot tub, steam sauna, dry sauna, showers, and infused water. This was probably the best massage I've ever had and would highly recommend!

Miraval Austin Review: Pools

Connected to the spa, the Serenity Pool and hot tub overlook Lake Travis and offer excellent sunset views. Closer to the lobby, the saltwater Discovery Pool and hot tub overlook the forest, has loungers in the water, and overall is a cooler vibe. There is also a cafe and bar that serves up snacks and drinks by the pool.

Activities

There are so many things to do at the Miraval Austin that I would love a full week to experience more of it, like horseback riding, the ropes course, beekeeping, and axe throwing. I'm more of an active person and less into yoga and meditation; my wife is into all that stuff, so I figured while we were here, I'd try some new things out. Here's what we did, and my take on each of them:

• Zen Stroll:
  • I thought this was going to be like a guided meditation walk with a group, but basically it was just walking around…slowly, not talking to anyone. The point was to stop and look at everything, smell the flowers, hear the sounds, etc. Skip this one and go on your own walk if you want.
• The Way of the Archer:
  • Basic archery lesson using a recurve bow. We shot arrows at targets for about and hour. Even my wife, who was hesitant to try it, had fun. Recommend!
• Kundalini:
  • More about breathwork and pretty intense. Hardcore yoga people may like it, but it was not for me.
• Crystal Bowl Chakra Meditation:
  • Relaxing, easier for me to make it through to the end. If you've never done any kind of meditation before, this is a good intro.
• Happy Hips:
  • I liked this more than I thought I would – some really good instruction on proper foam rolling techniques, different hip stretches, and releasing tension. A good one to take for people who sit in a chair all day or struggle with lower back pain.
• Hiking trails:
  • We went on a hike of our own on one of the designated trails by the ropes course. It was just ok – nothing too great.

Miraval Austin Review: ToP Thoughts

The Miraval Austin was a fantastic getaway for our anniversary trip. The rooms are starting to show their age a little, but the service and food are fantastic, and there is no shortage of things to do. I would return here without hesitation, but I think I'd like to check out the Arizona location next.

Let me know if the ToP Facebook group if you have been here, and what you thought!