Death Valley Is Made for Celebrations
For both wedding guests and corporate employees, the historic inn offers an unforgettable getaway from the everyday, thanks to the distinctiveness of the landmark hotel itself and the incomparable setting of Death Valley.
Whether you’re planning a wedding, a family reunion, or an offsite company retreat, The Oasis at Death Valley turns celebrations and meetings into memorable events.
Recently fully renovated, The Inn at Death Valley, the resort’s AAA four-diamond luxury hotel, is the opposite of a generic meeting location. For both wedding guests and corporate employees, the historic inn offers an unforgettable getaway from the everyday, thanks to the distinctiveness of the landmark hotel itself and the incomparable setting of Death Valley.
Front Entrance – Oasis at the Death Valley
If you’re worried that Death Valley is too remote, this world-famous desert destination isn’t nearly as isolated as you might imagine. Los Angeles and most of Southern California are an easy half-day drive away. For guests coming in from other parts of the country, McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas is just a short two-hour drive from the resort. That also means Death Valley is even close enough for breakaway sessions or teambuilding escapes if you’re hosting a meeting in Vegas.
But the truth is you’ll want to hold your event at The Inn. With four different spaces (the largest has a 120-person capacity) and nearly 4,000 total square feet of meeting and banquet spaces that can be set up in multiple configurations, the inn is a versatile venue capable of handling just about every sort of gathering.
For anyone longing to have a destination wedding, well, there’s certainly no destination quite like Death Valley or an inn as distinctive as this one. That’s especially true with the completion of the resort’s Mission Gardens event venue. Ingeniously designed from the shell of a 1920s adobe building that once housed the resort’s laundry facility, Mission Gardens is the kind of wedding setting that many couples dream of.
A view of the all-new Mission Gardens from The Inn
The Mission Gardens, with a whitewashed archway and walls of desert stone, looks like it has been here for centuries. Bougainvillea and blooming desert plants add splashes of color, while the desert mountains form a dramatic backdrop that will look terrific in your wedding pictures. And talk about romantic: When the skies fill with stars after dark, Mission Gardens becomes positively magical. (Death Valley is considered a “Gold Tier” Dark-Sky Park, according to the International Dark-Sky Association.)
For that matter, Mission Gardens is also ideal for elegant outdoor receptions during company events. And with Death Valley’s idyllic seasonal weather, you’ll definitely want to take full advantage of the inn’s open-air spaces. For another great option, the Gold Rush Patio overlooks the valley and the hotel’s palm gardens, creating a memorable setting for casual gatherings.
The Gold Rush Room
The hotel’s interior event spaces boast their own unique appeal. Both elegant and rustic, the 1,400-square-foot Gold Rush Room, which accommodates 120, has large windows that open to sweeping panoramas of the Panamint Mountains. The space also looks out over the pool, and its classic wood-beam ceiling and a pair of wood-burning fireplaces add to the Old West atmosphere.
The Inn’s versatile Oasis Level, where there are three separate event spaces, also offers a range of options. At just under 1,000 square feet, the Oasis Room, with its views of the Funeral Mountains, is another alternative to the sterile, windowless settings for many business meetings. The 500-square-foot Big Horn Room may not have the vistas, but its wood details and stone walls of borax and travertine beautifully show off the inn’s vintage architecture, as does the Oasis Foyer, a pre-function space that’s just outside the Oasis Room.
Hit the links at The Furnace Creek Golf Course at Death Valley
So what kind of events can the inn accommodate? Just about everything, really. In addition to weddings and vow renewals, families and groups of college friends come here for reunions, then take advantage of the endless recreational opportunities awaiting at the resort and in the national park — from guided horseback trips and wagon rides to hikes into desert canyons. Executive teams mix high-level strategizing around the 10-person table in the intimate confines of The Boardroom with rounds of golf on the challenging Furnace Creek Golf Course at Death Valley, the lowest-elevation course in the world. And of course, everyone can enjoy a swim in the spring-fed pool, perpetually at a comfortable 84 degrees thanks to Mother Nature.
Whatever event you’re planning, the sales staff at the resort will help you figure out the details and identify the best catering and audio-visual options for your group or company. With their skills and expertise, the staff can work with you to plan the event that you want. Best of all, they’ll keep things running smoothly so that you can enjoy a worry-free event — whether you’re the company CEO or a newlywed bride.
The Oasis at Death Valley in Furnace Creek is situated in a lush oasis surrounded by the vast and arid desert of Death Valley National Park — just 120 miles northwest of Las Vegas and 275 miles northeast of Los Angeles. The resort encompasses two hotels — the 66-room Inn at Death Valley (plus 22 brand-new casitas) and the family-oriented, 224-room Ranch at Death Valley. The entire resort is undergoing a $100-million renaissance with an extensive renovation to be completed in the fall of 2018. The resort includes natural spring-fed pools, an 18-hole golf course, horse and carriage rides, world-renowned stargazing, and is surrounded by Death Valley National Park’s main attractions. For information and reservations, visit The Oasis at Death Valley or call 800-236-7916.
For more travel experiences to Beautiful Places on Earth™ available from the Xanterra Travel Collection® and its affiliated properties, visit xanterra.com/explore.
Written by: Matt Jaffe
Specializing in California, the Southwest, and Hawaii, Matt Jaffe is an award-winning former senior writer at Sunset magazine and contributes to a variety of publications, including Los Angeles, Arizona Highways, and Westways. His books include The Santa Monica Mountains: Range on the Edge and Oaxaca: The Spirit of Mexico.