Furnace Creek Inn and Ranch Resort

Camp in summer in Death Valley

Installations are basics but clean and quiet. Services are near. Unique atmosphere. Some trees.

I've been there in September. Maybe that's why it was quiet, it's still really hot. We waited until 11PM before getting into the tent so it can be bearable to sleep.

Usually, you put a tent near a tree to get the shade so the tent keep cooler. We were amazed to see that, in fact, ground was so hot that tree was keeping the tent hotter... We moved the tent aside and won a few degrees in comfort...

Other funny fact : the more you open the water, the hotter it is, because ground seems to be hotter than inside the rest room !

Unique Quality: Special ambiance because of the heat, the coyotes, the desert.

A resort in the middle of the desert

This hotel is a mini-village, with bungalows, shops, a little supermarket, restaurants, laundromates, a post office, atm, a museum, a golf court, tennis courts and a natural spring-fed swimming pool.
At the outside, the buildings look a like a motel which has seen better days (2nd photo), but the rooms are quite nice inside.(1st photo)
Take care if you get a room close to the vending of ice machines. The walls are not sound-proof.

Unique Quality: The motel rooms have a bathroom, airco, tv, a small refrigerator, a patio or a balcony with garden furniture.

The rooms were clean and correct, but the balcony was not. The carpet on the floor of the balcony was dirty and I found a plastic cup in a corner with a few drowned cigarets in it.

However, if this is the only negative... no prob. We enjoyed our stay.

• Opinion of Price: more expensive than average
• Related to: Desert, National/State Park

Furnace Creek Inn and Ranch Resort Photo: Furnace Creek Ranch

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FURNACE CREEK RANCH HOTEL

A Good Base for Exploring the Park

Well situated in the park, Furnace Creek Ranch has two distinctly different types of rooms. They have small cabins units. There are two units per cabin. They also have motel units that are comparable to a typical motel room. We spent our two nights in Death Valley at Furnace Creek. The first night we spent in a cabin unit. This was not as nice as their website depicted. So the next day the helpful staff upgraded us to the motel type unit.

Furnace Creek Ranch - cabin unit

These cabins are small. There is just enough room to walk around the lone bed.

The bathroom is extremely small. The toilet has virtually no room between the face of the toilet and the wall. To make matters worse, they have the elongated type fixture that exasperates the issue. One has to ride sidesaddle in order to use it. The shower seems smaller than that on a World War II submarine. A valuable four inches is wasted between the shower stall and the wall where half the towel rack occupies the unusable space.

They do cram a small table in to the room and somehow manage to fit in a closet. The air conditioning unit is ancient. The rooms are equipped with a TV, dresser, and coffee maker. These are not very comfortable accommodations - not the kind of place where you will want to hang out. They can charge $150/night due to the location and lack of competition. On the up side, you can park right next to your cabin.

Furnace Creek Ranch - motel unit

These are more modern and spacious than the cabins. They have two double beds, a table, a TV, and a coffee maker. They have a normal motel type bathroom. The upstairs units have balconies with seating and a small table. They are definitely worth the $30 cost to upgrade from the cabin units. The only downside is they are farther away from your car than the cabins are. The room was nice to relax in at the end of the day and made for an enjoyable stay.

Unique Quality: Furnace Creek Ranch enjoys a convenient location as it is near several of the park’s attractions including Badwater, Devil’s Golf Course, Harmony Borax Works, Golden Canyon, and Artists Drive. A coffee shop, steakhouse, and bar are located on the premises. Amenities also include a swimming pool, a gift shop & store, and a gas station. A golf course and equestrian facilities are located on the property. A mining museum is on the site. Ice is available for guests. Furnace Creek makes a nice base for exploring the park.

• Opinion of Price: about average
• Related to: Road Trip, Desert, National/State Park

Furnace Creek Inn and Ranch Resort Photo: Cabin Unit Exterior

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An Oasis in the Desert

As you pull into this Hotel/Ranch the Reception area greets you with a little blast of air con and after a quick check-in you are given a map of the ranch and pointed in the direction of your room. This is quite a big, spaced out area and the rooms can either be cabin type room of there are 3 , 2 storey blocks of very nice double rooms with a small fridge, kettle and tea/coffee making facilities and of course en suite bathrooms, all looking out onto lush green lawns which leads to the worlds lowest golf course. The only downfall in my room was that the a/c was so noisy I had to turn it off at night and just rely on the ceiling fan and with temps at 93F at 3am thats pretty stuffy. Still I slept well after the long hot drive there.

Unique Quality: Lots of facilities. Two restaurants, one a steak house, the other a diner. A good sized bar with pool table. A huge gift shop, post office and a museum full of old mining equipment , wagons and mule trains. Across the main road is the slightly more upmarket Furnace Creek Inn where you can use their swimming pool, but altho the Inn closes in the hot summer months, you can still use the pool. Buffet breakfast was good and had just about everything. Dinner was had in the Wrangler, a diner, where we had fish and chips would you believe and it was delicious. The Ranch is open all year round and the rooms are all non-smoking.

• Opinion of Price: about average

Furnace Creek Inn and Ranch Resort Photo: Entrance to Ranch

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A Centrally Located Accommodation

Centrally located in Death Valley, Furnace Creek Ranch was originally built as a working ranch in the 1880s. Later it became the home of the 20 mule borax teams. Today, along with its 224 guest rooms, Furnace Creek Ranch is a complete resort. Open all year, you have a choice of motel rooms in a two story structure, or duplex cabins.

Unique Quality: The Furnace Creek Ranch is located in the most developed area of the park, and includes a post office, three restaurants, a saloon, a general store, the Borax Museum, a spring-fed swimming pool, a golf course, tennis court, horseback riding, and a variety of tours. There is also an airstrip for private planes.

• Opinion of Price: more expensive than average
• Related to: Spa and Resort, National/State Park

Furnace Creek Inn and Ranch Resort Photo: Furnace Creek Ranch Cabin

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A Hotel at Furnace Creek

Open from mid October to mid May, this beautiful mission style inn which is built of stone and adobe, was built in 1927. The elegant establishment with its 66 rooms, is privately run and provides first class accommodations in the Furnace Creek area. Found within a desert oasis, all the rooms are decorated in earth tones, are nonsmoking, have air conditioning, television, as well as many rooms having decks or terraces. Some rooms also have whirlpools. Nestled in a garden of palm trees, it is quite a view to look across the lush trees out to the desert and the high mountains.

Unique Quality: The inn has a beautiful natural spring fed swimming pool, sauna, tennis courts, gift shop, restaurant, and massage therapy available for an additional fee. The inn also contains a restaurant, bar, shop, and meeting rooms.

• Opinion of Price: most expensive
• Related to: National/State Park, Spa and Resort

Furnace Creek Inn and Ranch Resort Photo: Furnace Creek Inn

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Campground in the Furnace Creek Area

Furnace Creek Campground is open all year, and reservations may be made for the winter months. This campground has 33 tent sites and 103 RV sites, some are set up like a parking lot, others have trees around the sites. Located 196 feet below sea level, this campground has water, tables, fireplaces, flush toilets (no showers), and a dump station.

Unique Quality: Some trees within the campground.

• Opinion of Price: least expensive
• Related to: Road Trip, National/State Park, Camping

Furnace Creek Inn and Ranch Resort Photo: Spring Prickly Pear Blooms by Ed Christensen

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An oasis in the Death Valley

The Furnace Creek Ranch is a motel complex in Death Valley at the Furnace Creek oasis. Its rooms are typical US-style motel rooms, which are clean and comfortable. The key is that they all have have air conditioning, which is critical in Death Valley. Amenities include an outdoor swimming pool, a restaurant and a grocery/souvenir store.

• Opinion of Price: more expensive than average
• Related to: Desert, National/State Park, Family Travel

Furnace Creek Inn and Ranch Resort Photo: Buildings at the Furnace Creek Ranch

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