Background
For a staycation/birthday trip, my parents and I headed to the Ritz Carlton Rancho Mirage for a quick one-night stay over the Thanksgiving weekend. I had a Marriott 85k Points Certificate to use, and the hotel had availability at 82k, so it worked out nicely. I’ve passed by the hotel on prior visits to the Palm Springs/Palm Desert area and always wanted to give it a try. This would be my 6th Ritz-Carlton property, with my most recent stay being at another Ritz in California, the Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel.
Location
The Ritz Carlton Rancho Mirage sits on a 650-foot bluff with stunning views of the Coachella Valley. It’s essentially halfway between Palm Springs and Palm Desert. Downtown Palm Springs is 9 miles away, while the upscale shopping street, El Paseo, in Palm Desert is about 7 miles away.
The hilltop community that the Ritz Carlton Rancho Mirage is part of includes the luxurious Villas & Estates of Mirada. The hotel has quite an interesting history. It originally opened in 1988 as the 7th property in the Ritz-Carlton chain. But then in 2001, the hotel closed due to the economic downturn and rebranded as the Lodge at Rancho Mirage. Then, in 2014 it reopened as a Ritz-Carlton after renovations.
Most recently at the end of 2023, the Ritz Carlton Rancho Mirage revealed 244 newly remodeled guest rooms and suites and an updated lobby & corridors.
With my limited sample size of Ritz Carlton stays, all at U.S. locations & primarily outside of the major cities, most of the ones I’ve been to have been considered “resort factories”, and I haven’t had the best stays. I do want to love the brand, and the name always sounds fancy to me. They are generally pricey, lack luxurious elements, and are missing unique features. Despite this, I was excited to see how this location would fare, and while it did still kind of feel like a “resort factory” it was much better than my stay at the Laguna Niguel location.
Takeoff Points
Date of Stay: November 2024
Room Type: Desert View 2 Queens
Pros: Newly renovated rooms, a nice adults pool, and a solid breakfast.
Cons: The Fitness Center could be revamped a bit, room was not ready at check-in.
Fora Travel Agency Benefits
I work with a travel agency, Fora Travel, and can assist in booking hotel stays. Fora is part of the Marriott STARS and Virtuoso. These partnerships give you special perks when booking with me. The Ritz Carlton Ranch Mirage comes with the following:
- Daily breakfast for two
- Complimentary upgrade (if available at check-in)
- $100 Hotel Credit per stay
- Welcome amenity
If you are interested in getting these perks and want to stay at the Ritz Carlton Ranch Mirage, feel free to email me at takeofftotravel@fora.travel and I would be happy to help you plan your trip.
Arrival & Check-In
I did find the initial impressions to be quite good when the doorman and front desk already addressed me by my last name despite the lobby and valet areas being filled with guests. The valet must have radioed in from when we pulled up in the porte cochere.
For parking, the hotel is valet only and it is $50 a day. They do provide electric charging for free, which helps offset the fee a bit. When we tried to leave for dinner, the wedding party was also finishing so the valet area was packed. I felt like it would be nice if they designed the hotel to have a ballroom entrance and a separate main valet entrance.
I was booked in the lead-in room category, which is a Resort View Room. A few days before arrival, I noticed on the app that I was given a one-category upgrade to a Desert View room type. We arrived right around 3:30 pm, and unfortunately, our room wasn’t quite ready yet (standard check-in is 4 pm). The front desk agent said they would give me a call when the room was ready, and he could not give me an ETA, but he said it was a “priority” to get cleaned.
Walking the Grounds
During my wait, I used this time to get familiar with the grounds and walked around. I felt that the grounds of the property were on the smaller side and everything seemed a bit squished together. I found that it was relatively quick to walk around the property. Perhaps my expectations were too high, but given that the property is on a hilltop, I thought they would make it more vast, but it felt kind of cramped. On the plus side, I found the grounds to be maintained well and still found it quite pretty overall.
For example, some of the Terrace Firepit rooms in the Springs Wing, are quite close to the cornhole set up on the Springs Lawn and seem to lack privacy.
However, the Terrace Firepit Rooms facing the small road and mountains in the Mirage Wing seemed great and very private. If I had a Firepit Room, I’d want one of these.
As I was exploring the grounds, I saw a wedding event occurring on the Vista Lawn, from 1-5 pm so the rooms facing the lawn and the Vista Adult Pool were quite noisy with the loud music. Thankfully it ended early at 5 pm, and that area was quiet at night when I went for a swim at the pool.
We passed a sign saying “Snakes and Other Wildlife Present” which made it feel like we were in the desert.
Checking-In 2.0
I headed back to the front desk around 4:30 pm as I still had not received word that the room was ready. This was annoying since I was on a one-night stay and had a 4 pm check-in and 11 am check-out time that was already quite limited. I would expect the room to be ready at the quoted check-in time.
Back at the front desk, I got a different agent, and he said the room I was assigned to was still not ready, but one down the hall opened up. Thank goodness. Next to the front desk was the concierge desk. It had some candies laid out for the Thanksgiving weekend, which was quite popular with the kids.
The Room: Desert View Two Queens
The property has the Springs Wing, Desert Wing, Mirage Wing, and the Vista Residential Suites. Our room was located in the Springs Wing, on the left side of the resort. Club-level rooms are located in the Springs Wing as well.
Our room was on the same level as the lobby, which was nice that we did not have to take an elevator. Due to the design of the hotel being on a cliff, our room was still above another floor, so it was as if we were on the 2nd floor. I found the guest room corridors to be nicely updated.
Bathroom
As you entered the room, the bathroom was on the left. It had a large soaking tub, which offered a loofah, shower cap, and bar of Diptyque soap. There was only a single sink, but it did include a scale, cotton buds, mouthwash, emery board, comb, cotton rounds, gentle cleansing face wipes, as well as soap & lotion from Diptyque in a refillable bottle. Diptyque shampoo, shower gel, and conditioner were also provided in the shower. There was a separate water closet as well.
The hardware and fixtures, particularly in the shower, seem to not have been updated during the 2023 renovation, but they could use a refresh.
On the plus side, I did like the Harry Josh Hairdryer which worked really well.
For a Ritz, the towels were a bit rough to me. Also, the water pressure in the tub was very bad and the shower pressure was alright.
On the plus side, the room was clean!
Bedroom
It was funny because I recently stayed at a hotel where the closet was near the bed too just a few days ago, and I thought that was weird and this hotel had the same thing. I’m normally used to closets being off the hallway. The closet featured just one pair of slippers, an iron/board, a safe, a luggage rack as well as two robes.
A complimentary shoe shine service is also available.
A Nespresso machine is provided as well as two water bottles. Teabags are also included. And, there was a mini fridge for personal use. Four complimentary bottles of water were provided in the room. I do wish there was a separate hot water maker for the tea.
The two queen beds were quite plush, and the pillows and sheets were solid.
On the nightstand in between the beds, there was a Tivoli Audio Clock/Speaker. Funny enough, it seems no one adjusted the clock for Daylight Savings as it was showing one hour ahead.
By the window, there is a nice sofa, and then sliding doors that open to the desert view. There wasn’t a patio or anything, but the views were nice.
Honestly, this was one of my better Ritz Carlton room experiences, as most of them have been underwhelming.
After we got back from dinner, I saw they left a box of macarons in the room for my birthday which was a nice touch!
There was turndown service offered, though they never came to our room. I think it was because they saw us walk into our room right before they were going to go in. I decided to just go to the hallway later and asked if they had camomille tea but unfortunately, they didn’t. One would think they should provide some non-caffeinated tea as well. Oh well, at least they did give me extra water and small chocolates.
Pools
There are two pools on-site, with the Air Pool being available for all ages, and the Vista Adult Pool only for guests 18+. In front of the Air Pool, there is the Whirl Pool which has jacuzzis.
I visited the Vista Adult Pool at night, and it was empty. It was nice, and towels were placed on all chairs even at 9 pm. It was fun to do laps, and there is something relaxing about lying backward watching the stars.
Fitness Center & Spa
The Ritz Carlton Spa and Salon is located near the Vista Residential Suites.
The fitness center is connected to the spa, though there is an external entrance for visits to the fitness center when the spa is closed.
The center was quite large with plenty of equipment and separate rooms for classes. Plenty of water and towels were available, and they even had cool eucalyptus towels like Equinox.
I was disappointed by a couple of aspects of the fitness center. First, some of the lights were flickering which was annoying. Secondly, there were no Pelotons! Even my stay a few days prior at the Hilton in San Diego/Del Mar had a Peloton.
Lastly, some of the treadmills had a piece of paper taped to them saying they were “Scheduled for Service”.
Dining
Room service is available 24 hours a day which is nice.
State Fare Bar & Kitchen is the main restaurant at the resort and it serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
I visited the restaurant for breakfast, and thought it was quite good! They had a breakfast buffet option as well as an a la carte menu. We opted to go a la carte and were very happy with our decision.
I got the breakfast burrito and found it to be quite tasty. Also, we shared a fruit plate which was quite good and a solid portion.
My parents also enjoyed their main dishes.
Other dining options include the Air Pool Bar which serves made-to-order burgers, salads, and cocktails next to the Air Pool.
Lastly, there is the Edge Steakhouse which serves dinner Wednesday-Sunday.
The Verdict
Overall, I had a relaxing stay at the Ritz Carlton Rancho Mirage. Despite some service hiccups, the property can still offer an upscale and solid stay.
Have you stayed at the Ritz Carlton Rancho Mirage? How was your stay? Comment below!
Cheers,
Ty
Have any questions? I’ve also started working with a travel agency, Fora Travel, and can assist in booking hotel stays or planning trips. Comment below or email me at takeofftotravel@gmail.com. You can also view all my other posts here! Thanks for stopping by!
I stayed there 5 years ago at the exact same time. Two nights instead of one. A little bit better experience as my room was ready at check in. Otherwise pretty much the same impression. It’s a short trip for me to drive there but I’m not sure I would do it again.
Thanks for reading and sharing!