How Bravo’s Real Housewives Transformed Desert Travel Into a Luxury Trend

“Can you get the Pinot Grigio? Please. Please go.”

The desert is not your typical dream vacation; its dry, barren landscape evokes a focus on survival rather than luxury. At least it used to. Enter the Housewives—who are not your typical women—who have collectively reimagined what desert travel can be. Although the franchise has thrived since 2010 on a pedestal of wealth, friendship, and drama, one more subtle theme has played a significant role in its success: the regular cast trips featured in every season across all the cities.

What Is a Housewives Cast Trip?

If there’s one thing Bravo fans can expect from the Housewives, it’s always to be kept on their toes. Still, the cast trip has become an iconic staple of the show, outlasting even the longest-running stars. It involves the entire cast and often the “friends of,” packing their gazillion suitcases of looks for just a few days in a new destination. Initially, production’s involvement in these trips was more apparent, but recent years have seen the ladies take more creative control, with a cast member “hosting” the trip each season.

The cast trip is one of the most relatable elements of the show. It offers a scenic break from their everyday lives, organically sparks new storylines, and helps forge or fracture bonds among the cast. For the avid traveler, it’s a gold mine of aspirational ideas. And for the tourism industry, having a Housewife throw a drink across a restaurant table à la Beverly Hills’ Lisa Rinna in Amsterdam, or poop on the hotel room floor à la New York’s Ramona Singer in Cartagena, is the best advertising money can buy.

The Housewives is both transcendent and transformational. It has redefined what it means to be an affluent suburban mom, helped catapult reality stars from entertainment fodder to A-list celebrities, and inspired travelers to add more destinations to their bucket lists. Chief among them: the desert.

A Brief History of Desert-Bent Cast Trips

Promoting picture-perfect tropical paradises or bustling metropolitan hubs is easy, as these are the destinations that come to mind first when people start planning a vacation. But the cast trips have shown that luxury can thrive in all types of geography, with the desert being one of the show’s more surprising beneficiaries. Although Orange County was the first installment, launching in 2006, it wasn’t until 2010, when Beverly Hills premiered, that viewers were truly transported away from the titular home cities and, more importantly for ratings, the women’s comfort zones.

That same year, the desert made its debut when New York touched down in Marrakech, Morocco, for season 4. Watching grown women brawl for the biggest room is part of the delightfully petty formula that made the franchise a widespread success. But beyond the opulence and hilarity, the cast trips can also be unexpectedly informative. For example, deserts are typically associated with extreme heat, but the women wore sweaters, scarves, and jackets, showing that temperatures can also be quite cool.

@bravocelebrities “you came in, in your herman munster shoes” 🤣 #rhony #realhousewivesofnewyork #luanndelesseps #alexmccord #bravotv #ramonasinger #bethennyfrankel #realitytv ♬ original sound – Bravocelebrities 🎥

From there, the cast trip snowballed into one of the most beloved aspects of the show, with its plots becoming an itinerary for fans. The desert never stayed too far away from their radar, as evidenced by Beverly Hills’ visit to Dubai in 2016. Cast trips have done a fabulous job of promoting interstate and domestic travel, including portraying popular destinations in a new light.

Take Las Vegas, a globally known hotspot for gambling and quickie marriage, but mostly snubbed as a borderline desert to those unfamiliar with its land. Beverly Hills, Miami, and Salt Lake City have all featured a cast trip there. Or look at Arizona, a state with half its terrain composed of desert, which had the luck to be featured in two cast trips: Orange County visited Tucson in 2019, and Salt Lake City landed in Scottsdale in 2022.

Where the Housewives Go, Millions of Fans Will Follow

It’s hard to name a television show that has rebranded the image of the desert as much as The Housewives. The real draw for travelers to any location is the resorts, fine dining, and entertainment. Whether through fans scrambling to make reservations or following these entities on social media, the hospitality industry has gained so much from these women. For this invaluable reason,

Before The White Lotus highlighted Four Seasons’ across the world as the ultimate gateway, albeit decorating them with dead bodies every finale, these unhinged women ruled the trends of the travel industry. They still do, and their taste will forever live on with their billion-dollar legacy. Peacock has generated over $300 million since gaining streaming rights. While it may be expensive to house the Housewives, their demands, and the production crew, the value far outweighs the costs.

Here are some of the desert-based resorts where you’ve heard our beloved stars shout and yell profanities at each other at the top of their lungs:

– Colony 29 (Beverly Hills, season 4)
– La Quinta Resort & Club (Beverly Hills, season 11)
– The Trixie Motel (Salt Lake City, season 4)

– Miraval Arizona Resort & Spa (Orange County, season 14)
– CIVANA Wellness Resort (Orange County, season 14)

– Villa Dar Liqama (New York, season 4)

– The Palms (Miami, season 3)
– Bellagio (Beverly Hills, season 13)
– MGM’s off-brand apartments (Salt Lake City, season 1)

– Cliffrose Lodge (Salt Lake City, season 4)

– Atlantis The Palm (Beverly Hills, season 6)

Fodor’s reached out to the majority of the hotels on this list, but none could access measurable data to compare the influx of website and social views, as well as bookings, following the episodes’ airings. Still, many resorts have expressed that they would be more than happy to have them back.

Housewives’ Cast Trips Are a Public Service

At last, cast trips have evolved into a kind of public service for travelers who can’t afford the crème de la crème of the travel industry. The franchise is built on a foundation of offering a glimpse into the golden gates of hotspot cities, but its success lies in the fact that these women are anything but prim and proper. In that spirit, while cast trips are celebrated for letting us be a flower on the wall during a top-notch luxury vacation, what resonates most is when the women let their flawed humanity flag fly.

A Word on the Desert by Fan-Favorite Housewives

As most travelers know, the best way to learn about yourself and experience wanderlust is by engaging in fun activities in a new setting. The Housewives are no different; these are the moments that have lived on in infamy and hilarity.  A meme that has passed the test of time is Countess Luann de Lesseps nearly being thrown off a camel in Morocco. De Lesseps tells Fodor’s that she would happily ride one across the desert again. “When you fall off a horse, you get back on,” she says. “Same goes for a camel! I was on the baby of the mother camel who was leading the pack. She was bucking because she wanted to be next to her mama, and I was told that after the fact.”

@andy.cohens.bussy “I had to hang on for dearlife” #rhony #realhousewives #realhousewivesoftiktok #luanndelesseps #sonjamorgan #camel #camelride #funny #bravotv #peacocktv ♬ original sound – Andy Cohens Bussy (PK)

It’s not just destinations, restaurants, and hotels that the Housewives influence, but every activity they do becomes part of the zeitgeist. “We’re the guinea pigs,” she says. “There are always both good and bad aspects in every city.  Take New York, a city that can appear fabulous or like a dump. Look at Crappie Lake (a spinoff based in Benton, Illinois), we totally made that town, and people now go to visit and stay in the Sonja and Luann suite! The hotel improved and built a wing due to us because they had so much demand.”

One could argue the Housewives franchise is technically all travel inspo to anyone watching who doesn’t live in that city. The desert became a worldwide hit once the Real Housewives of Dubai premiered in 2022. Caroline Stanbury, one of its stars, says the desert is a mystical place. She even had her wedding there, unintentionally inspiring a slew of destination desert weddings. “The dunes are a must experience [for travelers],” she says, and advises “flats, cowboy boots, no heels, and loose and easy clothing,” for fashion, even if her cast typically opts for couture.

But then again, not many of us would feel comfortable having a desert picnic lunch wearing designer in 90+ degree weather. But Stanbury describes that day as “perfect.”