Miraval Arizona Resort And - Tucson

Wow. I checked out yesterday from my first trip to Miraval and it was truly a magical experience. The staff was incredible and the services were excellent.

What an incredible experience! Initially, I thought it was just a typical spot for relaxation, but I ended up discovering unique activities that I had never experienced before.

Before I share my review, I want to mention that my trip was fully sponsored by Oprah and Weight Watchers. Yes, you read that correctly. Now onto my experience at the restaurant.

We recently went to Miraval with a day pass to enjoy the day there. There were several highlights but the overall experience was dampened by the service. The ambiance is delightful, if a bit dated, and the spa area is the star of the spaces with panoramic views of the mountains from the gorgeous sitting area. The spa was generally the highlight of the day with nice saunas and a lovely massage. The yoga class and fitness classes I took were good, average based on what you'd expect at a regular gym, with kind instructors. The yoga was also an interesting twist, doing it on moving platforms a new experience I was glad to try. The person working at the smoothie bar was really unwelcoming, a few guests even commented as I went up to get in line that they wouldn't recommend going up there based on how they were treated. The staff in the restaurant was reasonable one commented on my weight in a way that made me feel pretty sad and took the wind out of my sails for the day. It was a mixed visit and while there were definitely highlights, I'd prob try a different spa next time.

The food is amazing. Dinner is the only time when you need a reservation and a good part of the menu changes every night, which results in a super fun adventure with little repetition. What makes it even more amazing is that dinner is more of a tapas experience, so you can actually experience several choices at one sitting. The classes are amazing. I loved the creative photography stroll with Nancy. She took a hard subject and brought it quickly into something both fun and useful. The slack line class was an interesting dive into something I never tried before. The five-hour hike with Tika and Matthew Voss was wonderful, and the highlight was the deep conversation we all had together. I stayed in one of the villas and the architecture was stunning as were the views. On the downside... The onboarding experience was like herding cats. The website is awful. The communication was just as bad. Check in was a disaster that never happened to me anywhere else before with my luggage being tagged with someone else 's name. Even parking is bizarre. A great welcome when you first get there, but super weird attempting to go off property. HINT #1: Get the keys to your car and do everything yourself. The lot is small enough that self-parking is basically valet. HINT #2: GPS can take you on a shortcut to nowhere coming here. Yes, they make mention of it AFTER you fail, but it would be nice to know beforehand. Basically, I found everything before going and getting there to be an awful experience. Whereas, everything onsite is basically wonderful. If you can ignore the frustrations up front, this is still a great place with great services to experience. Also, the all-inclusive nature of it is something that works really well, but is also something I needed to ask for more details on since I am used to tipping and paying for food. (Alcohol is an add-on charge)