We wanted to visit Hawai'i last year but decided to wait until the Andaz opened. We had just visited the HR Waikiki and the St. Regis Princeville.

Driving into the resort there were always no less than 4 valets ready and waiting to take your bags and assist. They escort you to your 'host' (read front desk agent) who performs the same action, in the same manner at all other Andaz using an iPad. We had Ben who was so in incredibly cheerful. At this point I realised that I had left my credit card at the store up the road, and he quickly called them to make sure they had it and it was secure. I drove back (they offered to get it for me but I thought it would be quicker if I drove) and during that time Ben kept my husband's company.

Location

The property is 20 mins from Maui airport, and in an upscale suburb of Maui surrounded by luxury hotels like the Four Seasons, a high end shopping centre with Chanel and LV, as well as stunning homes.

Room

We were escorted to our Andaz Suite, Room 737 on the top floor. Most of the Suites are on the top floor, except for those on the corner which are on every level. Like the property the rooms are incredibly modern and sleek with the use of natural materials. The Andaz takes their environmental impact seriously, and it shows. Like the PH Maldives there are no plastic water bottles here, rather you are given 2 Andaz drink bottles to refill throughout your stay, and outside the main building staff will offer to fill them up for you.

Someonesaid that the room blinds go up when you enter to wow you, but they actually keep the room cool when it's unoccupied and the a/c is off. The whole room is very high tech with automatic shutters, Toto bathroom fixtures, and the compendium is a feature of the TV. The TV will even guide you on how to connect your other devices.

The Andaz Suite is one living room, one bedroom, 1.5 bathrooms and 2 large balconies. The room is beautiful, has stunning water views and overlooks the pools. Note that at this property most of the rooms look inward see you will be seen in the pool in your swimmers.

One of my few criticism is the furniture. The couch was incredibly uncomfortable, I actually sat on the floor while watching TV, and as others have pointed out the outdoor furniture hurts to sit on after 15 or so minutes. You could use cushions or pillows to help but overall we tended not to sit there or on the sofas for this reason. Staff members had mentioned that many guests have now made these comments and furniture was being reviewed.

Service

When I returned Ben ran through all of the features of the hotel, we were offered their signature Gin, Pineapple, Organge Juice and Guava cocktail and he made a really big point of "We love our Diamond guests here." Note that this was the first Andaz that our status was actually recognised in this way.

When wanting to use the pool you need to see a Recreation Attendant who will give you towels, cover your sunbed and even provide sunscreen if need be. These guys were soooo much fun. If you want to order and food or beverage then you need a server. Unlike other Andaz's the staff here are uniformed so are easily identifiable. We made comment that there is very little shade, even with the umbrellas. The cabanas are in fact $200 to rent and come with an 'amenity' or 'lunch' depending on who you spoke to. They are going to have work something out because when the hotel is busy, guests will simply not tolerate having empty cabanas when they hotel can't provide any shade by the pools. I know it may be common in the US, but at the W BCN, the cabanas are on a first come, first served basis.

There is an adults only pool next to the gym, which is very well equipped, however is the only pool to lack any kind of view so we chose not use it. We did not that there are some rooms here which have pool access, i.e. their balconies open up the a pool area next to the adults pool but these did not look like they were finished yet.

Also, there are some operational villas. We were told that the villa next to Morimoto was occupied by a guest staying for a month who chose to book it for a week. Prices were quoted for between $5,000 to $26,000? per night but I'm not sure those figures were right.

On the beach is the Andaz Beach Crew who I later found our were a completely separate company. They have a stand just before the beach where you can ask for help getting a sunbed and umbrella, rent snorkels and other equipment. Unlike the beaches in Waikiki or Kauai this beach is swimmable and doesn't have the rocks in the water we had to get used to looking out for. Most striking for me, and completely unexpected was the reef quality here. I snorkelled twice and saw fish, starfish and even swam with a turtle. It's not a feature the hotel markets but definitely worth doing.

Dining

The food quality here is very, very good. Others have made mockery of the food sourcing, however as the menu below states they source from: Ono Farms, Surfing Giat Dairy, Flo Farm, Evonuk Farms, Waipoli Hydroponic Napali, Ho'opono Farms and Ka'apa Farms. The end result is that the food is fresh and the ingredients top quality. Add to that that they have made a very strong point of trying to reflect local cuisine in a modern way.

The 'Breakfast Experience' in Andaz speak is one of the best I have ever had. I highly recommend the buffet, and we found out on our final day that you can also order a half serve of the a la carte menu as well. The restaurant is staffed with Chefs who will cut up the fruit display for you (yes, it's not just for show), cook you eggs or any of the dishes on the buffet made to order. The food is not labelled, rather there is a small sign indicating what kind of meat or fruit they contain which was a cute touch. You MUST try the Pork and Egg open buns and the Eggs Benedict made with Chicken Schnitzel and purple sweet potato (see below(. Some of the items we came to love weren't there every day and they were enthusiastic to make them for us. Note that you should tell them you are Diamond before or when you get your bill, otherwise it will post to your account and you have to get it removed.

Now, one thing to note if going soon. The ratio of staff to guests is very disproportionate. To be expected in a new hotel, but at breakfast EVERYONE will also how your food is, if they can get you anything etc. etc. This also happens when you pass through the lobby. They are all incredibly enthusiastic, and clearly proud of their hotel, but sometimes you just want to be left alone. We found ourselves exiting the breakfast by avoiding the restaurant, and tending to avoid the lobby for this reason.

We had dinner on our first night in the restaurant, but ended up just ordering burgers which weren't on the menu but we had a craving for. Again, they were happy to make it. Other than that we ate out, or a few times from the Market. The Market is a great concept, and is essentially a take away store open 24x7. They make a select menu of items (highly recommend the Pepperoni Flatbread Pizza), sandwiches and other meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They have a wide selection of alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks, souvenirs, snacks and a gelato bar which is to die for.

Something to note is that there is a bit of subtle upselling here. It is not in your face, but I wondered and had it confirmed that the servers by the pool are indeed trained to do so. One slight fault is that we didn't feel the cocktails were up to scratch. Given how impressive the food is, such as the open steak sandwich and the infamous onion rings, the cocktails really need to be of a higher standard.

Overall

Overall, this is without doubt the most modern of the hotels we stayed at in Hawai'i, and from what others have said is going to give the Four Seasons and even the St Regis a run for it's money. The GM made a point of finding us on our second day, and we spoke to him at length every day we were there. They know their market and I think they've really got the concept of an Andaz resort right. Typically Andaz have great hotels (such as WeHo, 5th Ave, Wall St) but the service is lacking, and they usually have an attitude of 'But we're not really a Hyatt.' That's not the case here.

The Andaz Wailea is a stunning property, and it was by far our favourite part of our vacation to Hawai'i. It's a nice balance between Waikiki and Kauai, the food is of gourmet quality, the pools are beautiful (even if no more than 4 feet deep) and the beach is magnificent. We were surprised at just how dated many of the hotels in Hawai'i are, and even the St Regis. we were disappointed by. The issue or furniture needs to be addressed, and shade by the pool, but if we were ever to return to Hawai'i this would be where we will go, and where I am recommending to all my friends to stay.