The Ranch at Death Valley, CA

 During our visit to Death Valley, we stayed at The Ranch at Death Valley.  This resort is part of the Oasis at Death Valley, which also runs the nearby historic hotel, Inn at Death Valley.  The rooms are cottage style with a living room, coffee maker, bathroom and bedroom.  Our cottage had two queen beds and was very comfortable.  Each cottage has a private entrance and shared porch.  The cottages are quiet, because there isn't a road near the cottages, just a central walkway.  The resort has a great ice cream parlor!  We only had the breakfast buffet at the large restaurant.  The buffet was good and it opens at 6 AM.  This was very helpful, because it was hot and we wanted to make an early start each day.  

There is a pool, which didn't have any shade.  It was too hot for us.  There is a nice gift shop and a good free museum about mining in the area.  The museum has a lot of old mining equipment, testimonials about the lives of miners (it was hard) and displays of rocks and minerals.  It's the Borax Museum at Furnace Creek.  It is worth a visit, even if you aren't staying on the property.

Adjacent to the hotel is a gas station (very helpful).  About a mile away is the Inn at Death Valley.  We liked the food so much, we ate there three times.  The Inn is set up more like a traditional hotel and is more expensive. 

The Ranch is an excellent base to explore the National Park.  It is located in the Furnace Creek section of the Park, very close to the Visitors Center.  It is a few minutes drive to most of the points of interest in this area, such as Artisan's Palette, Zabriskie Point, Dante's Peak and more.