Hyatt’s New Miraval Brand Now Visible Online

Earlier this year Hyatt acquired Miraval, a relatively small group that only has a couple of hotels and spas in its portfolio. The Mirival brand is heavily focused on being a “wellness” provider, a trend we’re seeing more and more recently in hotel offerings. This week, Hyatt officially added the Miraval brand and new “Wellness” hotel type to it’s website, joining the other Hyatt Brands.

Mirival has only one active offering under the brand: the Miraval Arizona located in Tucson. Anothor resort, the Travaasa in Austin, is also part of the purchase and apparently will take more time to redevelop and bring into the mix. A third, the Cranwell Spa & Golf Resort in Lenox, Massachusetts, is also planned for integration into the Miraval brand.

These are not regular resorts that you’re used to from other major hotel brands – these are high-end, all-inclusive hotels that are more about providing experiences at the resort than about providing a bed and room to sleep in. The flagship property in Arizona, for example, offers more than 120 complimentary “wellness activities, lectures and fitness classes” weekly. Many are included in your standard rate, while a few require an additional fee. You can see their full schedule here.

Highlights of the schedule include daily hikes of varying difficulty, the Miraval Equine Experience that offers you “an opportunity to practice living life in the moment,” The ABC’s of Emotional Intelligence, Mindful Relationships, and many other fitness, culinary, and outdoor activities.

The Hyatt website notes “Coming Soon to the World of Hyatt Program” and the landing page indicates a stay won’t earn you stay credits or Hyatt points just yet. What I’m looking forward to is the ability to redeem Hyatt points for a stay at one of these resorts, because I certainly have never stayed a property with these types of offerings.

I am interested to see how exactly Hyatt decides to integrate these properties into the World of Hyatt program. Hyatt’s existing Hyatt Zilara and Hyatt Ziva brands are in the “All-Inclusive” category, but they decided to keep Mirival separate. Given the offerings of the Miraval hotel, it would not surprise me to see them as either a top-tier Category 7 hotel requiring 30,000 Hyatt Points per night, or perhaps even something different from the current offerings. I hope, but don’t expect, to see these as Category 6 offerings that require only 25,000 points, as it seems like it would be a bargain given what’s included in the standard rate.

Oh, and the rooms don’t seem like they’re so bad either. Standard rooms look great, but the villas that are offered look absolutely amazing. At approximately 3,000 square feet with multiple master bedrooms, an infiniti pool, and mountain views, it certainly seems like somewhere I could spend a week to relax.

But make no mistake, if you’re looking to spend some time at these properties on a paid rate, you’ll be paying quite a bit. Rates start at about $400 in the dead of Summer but easily surpass $1,000 per night for suites and special packages. Villas are likely substantially more.

Hyatt will also be targeting corporations that want to offer employees a company retreat, or even on-site spa services as companies look to improve employee wellness practices at work. One of the spa-only offerings they operate is at the old St. Regis Monarch Beach, which is no longer a St. Regis hotel or owned by Starwood.

It looks like this will be a slow integration, but seeing the brand appear on the Hyatt website is a positive sign for at least the integration of the Tucson location into World of Hyatt.

What do you think – would you want to stay at a Mirival resort?