I stayed here for 2 nights. Check in was easy, however once I got to my room there was a complete power cut. I checked in at 4. The power did not come on until midnight. The town hall was ok as that was powered by a generator. I wasn’t too disappointed as I was excited about being in Death Valley so I wandered around the ranch which is great to walk around and visited the visitor centre. The general store is expensive but you can bring food with you as there are fridges in the rooms. The room I had was in the 600 block on the upper floor. I had a balcony and parking was never an issue. Although quite expensive for what you get I would definitely stay here again but I do think they need to look into generators for the whole complex for when there are power outages.

We stayed here two nights in mid May 2022. We booked through Expedia and had a little difficulty checking in, but I had my receipt and it was OK. It was paid in advance. The entrance is a little confusing with only one narrow driveway between buildings, into the facility. It is a motel type setting with 9 different buildings, some with two floors each. Parking is ample close to the buildings. They charge you $22 a night for "resort fees". I haven't seen this at any other National Park. We travel a lot. Our room was on the back side in building #7. We had ground floor with a nice patio, overlooking the golf course. We walked around the golf course path at night when no one was golfing. We even saw 2 coyotes laying on the green. Overall it was a nice quiet stay in a great central location. It was easy to come and go from here to hike or check out areas of interest. They could use more places to eat, with only one dining room. We stopped in Pahrump on our way in and bought food to last during our stay. Nice peaceful setting. We enjoyed the dry 80-90 degree temps. There is a very large pool in the center, but we did not use it. It would be great for kids. Gas up before you go into Death Valley, it is extremely expensive there.

I don't think my experience of The Ranch was helped by the fact we accidentally went to The Inn at Death Valley first, thinking our booking was there. And not just because The Inn is physically much nicer than The Ranch, but because of the undertone in the way the member of front desk staff at The Inn spoke about The Ranch: "It's umm... nice. You can do horse riding there... It's nice." It's not nice, it's functional at best. Which would have been fine, we were only there for one night so didn't need luxury, except the staff at both the front desk and the saloon restaurant clearly didn't want to be there and couldn't have made less of an effort. The bar staff at the saloon were just plain rude to my husband, making fun when he asked if he could order some food and drinks - a fairly normal question when making an order at a place which serves both food and drink in England, but apparently something to laugh at in The Ranch at Death Valley. Food was overpriced, but there was nowhere else to go so you just have to suck it up. Death Valley in itself is incredible, its just a shame The Ranch doesn't feel the need to provide any extra value to your stay.

Start with the fact that choices inside the park are limited. Sure, you could stay at Panamint Springs, but that is an hour away from Furnace Creek. Or you could stay at Stovepipe Wells, but that is half an hour away from Furnace Creek. Both of those properties have limited amenities. That leaves you with two choices; The Inn at Death Valley or The Ranch at Death Valley. Since we were there to see the iconic sights of Death Valley, not the spa, we chose The Ranch, a 224 room hotel. We selected the least expensive room which, after the base price of $309.00/night, actually cost closer to $370.00/night with taxes, resort fees, etc. Apparently it is whatever the market will bear. My first impression was that it was a college dormitory. All rooms come with two queen beds. The bathroom has a tub/shower. The furniture (desk, chest of drawers and mini-refrigerator) were in good shape. The beds were comfortable. Both the two story building we were in, as well as the single level buildings down the way, have a patio with furniture or a balcony. I don't know if the single level rooms are more expensive but if not, I would opt for one of those. Added privacy. There were also newer cottages near registration, the general store and ice cream shop. They were, from what I could see, slightly more expensive but they were also bigger. They were set up more like a little village with little front porches. We were there in April which is toward the end of the favored season. There were lots of families enjoying their spring break. Despite that we did not feel that it was overly crowded. Even with day travelers passing through during the day. My one bugaboo about the accommodations were the lack of diligence by the maintenance staff. You accept the goings-on of cleaning rooms with sheets and towels piled in the hallways during the day. What wasn't acceptable, to me, is bags of room trash that remained in the hallways, or on the outside landing, after the staff had gone home. That said, we enjoyed The Ranch because we could easily walk to the amenities. We didn't eat at the buffet but we did eat in the saloon and at the ice cream shop (which serves hot dogs, hamburgers and grilled cheese sandwiches in addition to ice cream from 2:00 pm until 7:00 pm). We liked the old relics next to the Borax Museum. The basketball and shuffleboard courts were a nice feature. Given the families in the pool area we did not go in there but it looked like a cool place to hang out if one was so inclined. And we played a round of golf on the nearby golf course which was a lot of fun. So as I said, the experience of being in Death Valley and of staying at The Ranch was very good. The room was so-so but it was the best option for us.

We stayed 3 nights in the new cottages and were very pleased with the accommodations. We drove in from NV and given I had read quite a few reviews about how terrible and over priced the food is on property, we went prepared with a cooler. To minimize getting irritated about paying for the restaurants poor food for all meals, we packed foods that didn’t need to be heated: cereals, milks, oatmeal (coffee maker in room boiled water) bread, deli meat, peanut butter, soda, snacks, candy and plenty of water (3 - 3 gallon jugs). This was enough to cover breakfast & lunch so when we did buy dinner, it wasn’t as bad. We did eat at the Saloon for dinner and I will reaffirm the food was very mediocre but pricy. 2 entrees & 2 margaritas came to 118.00 before tip. It was cafeteria quality food but the margaritas were great at only 7.00 each. The General store is 3 times the price of your average gas station so again, bring your own food, drinks and snacks. Many speculate they charge way more because they are in the middle of nowhere but if you drive about 20 minutes, Stovepipe wells (which is also remote) general store had items priced like other gas stations. The cottage was really cute. They are like duplexes (2 attached spaces) with a large shared porch. Each side includes 2 rocking chairs & a table, great for sitting outside at night with a glass of wine. As long as you don’t mind sitting near “neighbors” it’s a great way to wind down from the day. The room includes a small sitting area with sofa, dresser, & tv. There’s also a safe, small fridge that worked well, and a 1 cup coffee maker (not k-cup) we brought our own Starbucks Via even though coffee & tea are provided. There’s a separate bedroom that includes plenty of drawer space, a small closet, and 2 night stands. The bedroom also had a tv. In between, there is a combo washer and dryer, which I though was a very nice add even though we didn’t use. Yes the bathroom is a little small and doesn’t have counter space but we made do since there is a shelf under the sink and I also just used the washer (right next to bathroom) to store our toiletries. Small inconvenience that wasn’t a deal breaker for us. In terms of noise level, overall the property is laid back and quiet but being I am a light sleeper, I always use white noise (app on my iPhone) when I travel. You could hear noisy neighbors talking so keep that in mind. The property as a whole is just lovely. Lots of grassy areas to enjoy, 2 fire pits in the common area, very cute old western looking area for kids to see wagon, train, & old artifacts, spring fed pool (could use an update as it looks very dated and worn down), tennis courts, bocci court, and property also has a golf course and spa. Heads up: internet connectivity is almost non existent unless your in the main common area such as restaurant, general store, check in. Cottage does not have internet. We didn’t mind this too much since we came to relax and disconnect. I would absolutely recommend this place if you’re visiting the southern east part of Death Valley. Tips: - bring water & food that doesn’t need heating, during your stay. - fill up on gas before arriving to resort. Gas station next to resort was almost 9.00 per gallon!!! - go to the Visitor Center next to resort and get maps of area, especially if this is your first visit. Sorry the post is so long but I didn’t see others that had details I found as helpful.