Death Valley’s Furnace Creek Resort to receive $50-million makeover, open year-round

The Furnace Creek Resort in Death Valley National Park will begin an ambitious $50-million makeover next year that will bring new luxury casitas to the Inn and a new town hall and square to the Ranch.

The plan aims to raze and redo some old buildings at the historic resort that houses a 66-room inn and 244-room ranch. When renovations are complete, the resort, usually open seasonally, will be open year-round.

The Inn at Furnace Creek

Expect to see more than 15 two-room casitas sprinkled over an area between the Inn’s pool and gardens that will bring desert views right to your doorstep.

The spring-fed pool area gains a new wellness center with two-person and single massage treatment rooms, an expanded fitness area, more cabanas and a new pool-side cafe.

The lobby at the Inn at Furnace Creek will be more open inside and feature a new saltillo tile floor.

(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times )

The dining room will be redone with wood floors instead of wall-to-wall carpeting, banquette seating in the center and a turquoise ceiling — to mimic the sky above — amid existing wooden beams.

Pergolas will be added to the Inn’s dining room patio to allow more places for visitors to enjoy and photograph those glorious sunsets on the Panamint Mountains.

What won’t change are the rooms, which received new windows and doors as well as new furnishings in the last few years.

The Ranch at Furnace Creek gets a new building that will house a saloon, dining room and gift shop.

(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times )

The Ranch at Furnace Creek

The Ranch may lose some of its kitschy character with new buildings that reflect a Spanish Colonial Revival style (more like the Inn) rather than Old West-style, cedar-shingled digs.

A newly built and reimagined saloon (to replace the Corkscrew Saloon) will feature a bigger bar area. It also will house a dining area and general store too.

The current Corkscrew Saloon building at the Ranch will be replaced with one that features Spanish Colonial Revival architecture.

(Mark Bsoter / Los Angeles Times )

The Ranch’s entrance building where guests register will be razed and replaced with one that reflects the Spanish Colonial flair. It will have a belltower on top and a boardwalk with a shading roof surrounding the building.

In addition, a town square will be built on what is now a parking lot. It will be landscaped with gardens, plants and a fountain to give it the feeling of a village.

Construction starts in May at the Inn, which will close through October 2017. Work begins at the Ranch in April.

The renovation won’t involve public money raised from park fees. Xanterra Parks & Resorts owns the property that opened with just 12 rooms in 1927.

Info: Furnace Creek Resort, (800) 236-7916

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