thebluejean

Okay the reservation desk just replied that they won't guarantee paid upgrade before arrival, only based on availability when we arrive. Ugh, it may be tough if all ocean room types are sold out.

Snow Goose

A good resource for anyone concerned about shark activity in Hawaii or around the Andaz:

http://www.hawaiisharks.com/incidents.html

A couple of things to bear in mind:

(1) The risk of sustaining a shark bite are extremely low
(2) Most bites occur in turbid/muddy water or to surfers (mistaken identity)
(3) Most incidents are a single bite rather than an attack. Expert consensus is that the shark abandons the encounter after discovering that the human is not the prey item they originally thought
(4) Unfortunately, a single shark bite can still be quite serious and (rarely) fatal
(5) Although the global risk of sustaining a shark bite are incredibly low, the risk in Hawaii is higher than the global average. There is no reason to fear sharks while on vacation but it is worth taking basic safety precautions such as avoiding swimming/surfing/snorkeling in turbid conditions

SG

salvag

They won't guarantee it on a points reservation. Chances are extremely low that the hotel will be sold out. Even this past Thanksgiving week, they were only at about 70% capacity and that was the busiest they've been thus far. I would only worry if you are planning to go during Christmas which will probably sell out.

booyaa

I don't think it would be that bad or worth it. Unless you are the type who lounges around in the balcony (if there is one) or room to soak in the view (nothing wrong with that, just saying). There are other decent spots on the different pool levels to enjoy the view, save some cash in the meantime.

Was it the Hyatt reservation desk? or Andaz Maui reservation desk? I would try talking to one of their resort hosts.

Ancien Maestro

Seems demand is lower than expected for this hotel. I would have thought it would brim with more activity. Is this typically how a new Hyatt performs right off the hop?

thebluejean

It's directly from the Andaz Maui reservation. By the way, they want $650 to upgrade to the Andaz Suite and all we have seen in this thread, some Andaz Suite rooms face the roof of the building without any view!

ma91pmh

I think your observations are spot on

However nobody is asking the really important question. What kind of compensation can you expect from HGP if you are bitten by a shark while staying at Andaz Maui?

LivelyFL

33K points

tothetrail

Just completed a four night award stay two days ago. The breakfast was amazing as previously posted. Was upgraded to a partial ocean view and it was really nice to get that, room 722, right next to the elevator. About ½ the view was of the building , and ½ was the ocean. Was actually a very private balcony. Never heard the elevator and actually never saw another guest in the hallway during the whole stay. Since ice machines and water stations are on the even numbered floors, it was just one flight of stairs down to fill up water bottles. Not sure how it would be in a room right next to the machines, though, because as is usually the case, it causes quite a ruckus when filling containers.

The stay was nice overall, but just way too many inconsistencies. Water was left in the room on two of the four nights. Snacks were replaced once and none were in place on the first day. Valet guy had to request they be added that night. Ice bucket was filled once. Shampoo and conditioner was replaced once, had to request it three times. Soap was never replaced. Dusting towel was left on the nightstand one day. I know it would be a pain to prevent this, but it was just unappealing to see shoeprints in the shower. No slippers were available, but did notice them in the Ohana Lounge when I used it for printing boarding passes. Dryer sheets were unavailable in the laundry, though Tide and Woolite single packs were available.

Since I would need to leave early that morning for a day trip to Molokai, I asked if there were any other options for breakfast. They said that we could use the Mokapu Market which is open 24 hrs and that it would be seamless and I would not be charged. When we went the previous night, we noticed that only certain items are available 24 hrs. But they said that if you give them advanced notice, they can have any item available at any time. We managed to spend about $50 for two, about ½ the cost to the Ka’ana Kitchen. The charge showed up upon checkout, but was quickly removed.

After hearing a guest loudly complaining to the valet that they had been waiting over 10 minutes for their car even after calling down prior, I decided to try parking at the Tennis Club. Was able to park for two nights there before getting a courtesy parking notice. It's across from the shops at Wailea, about a 10-15 min walk, at most. Easy to walk to the hotel, but slightly uphill to walk back to the Tennis Club. While the lot does not have any signs posted against it, parking is not permitted over night. There are no signs prohibiting parking on the street in front of the tennis club, though, but I didn't try it. I had an early flight to MKK the next morning and didn’t really want to waste time in the morning to walk and get the car. But it probably ended up taking more time that morning. There was no one manning the valet desk at 5:00 AM, so after waiting about 10 minutes, I just reached in and grabbed the keys myself. By then, the only person we could find was the guy working in the Mokapu Market that morning. He came out to help us find the car. But by then someone finally came running up stating they were washing cars.

And just to note, there's no charge for valet parking during the day, only if you leave the car overnight. But it's way easier to just self park in the nice lot at the beach next door during the day, which is posted as open from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM, but noticed the gates locked by 7:45 PM one night. Also used valet parking the last night.

At check in on Saturday night I was confirmed for the 7:30 AM Wednesday Outrigger experience, which would be the day of my checkout. And also confirmed my late 3:30 PM checkout. The next day I had a message to see a front desk person. Not sure why they couldn't have just left a message, but when I found them, they wanted to let me know I was confirmed for the 7:30 AM Wednesday Outrigger experience. Ummm, okay, thanks, thought I was already confirmed.

So on Monday night, I get a message from the front desk, stating that they were unable to confirm my reservation for the outrigger experience on at 7:30 Wed., but 10:30 is available, as is 7:30 on Thursday. Ummm, okay. So I stop by on the way to breakfast and again confirm 7:30 AM for Wed.
So 7:30 AM Wednesday comes around, and we are the first to check in for the outrigger experience. None of the other four confirmed guests show up. It was actually pretty cool, saw a turtle and had a great singing guide. Too bad we were not there on Friday for the competition, which is what I really wanted to do.

At 9:30 AM, I got a call from housekeeping asking when I would be checking out. I let them know it would be at 3:30. Then at 11:00, I got a knock and housekeeping started to enter the room, (with privacy light on.) I held the door and explained that I would be departing at 3:30. At 1:00 PM, while I was retrieving laundry, I got a message (from the same person who let me know that my Outrigger Experience was not available at the previously confirmed time) that my requested late checkout would not be available as someone else would be checking into this room. I called them back and they said at resorts, late checkout is only allowed if available and since someone else was checking into this room it’s not available this time. When I was ready to tell them that I realize that, but I would need a little bit more notice, she asked how long I needed. I told them I would be gone by 3:00, and she relented.

So, overall, the property is beautiful and with the weather and nice beach after nice beach, it’s hard to beat Wailea. The snorkeling at the beach next door was great on the last day, and there were turtles we missed on one day, sounded like they are there most mornings. But I probably won’t be returning, especially when the points go up for this hotel next year. I’m glad I was able to enjoy if for the relative bargain of 22k points per night, especially when the rooms here were going for $389 and the Hyatt Regency were $239 for the same number of points.

salvag

So to get this straight, you didn't confirm late checkout in advance? Rather, you just informed housekeeping that you would roll out at 3:30? Then you are upset that they wouldn't let you stay late?

canyonleo

I had room 602, right next/across from ice and water machines, and I never heard them (and usually I'm super sensitive to noise from the hallway, such as elevator beeps) - but then I woke at 5-7a each morning and was off-property and/or out of the room for 90% of every day, but I did often go to bed by 9p. I was surprised how quiet (from hall noise) the room was.

I think the "Keihei" parking option is a much better alternative (for now) than the Tennis Club, especially given the notice received as noted... if anyone wants info on this potential alternative just drop me a PM.

blackpaper

Besides a crazy 12am domestic dispute on the 6th floor, I never heard people in the hallways. The room door is quite loud when it slams shut. You might hear that noise occasionally.

jpdx

Stayed over Thanksgiving, and would echo the generally positive comments, with some caveats.

On the plus side, first and foremost, at the current pay-2 get-4 promo rate, this place is an amazing deal for Diamonds – certainly by Hawaii standards, and indeed you’d be hard pressed to find a high category Hyatt anywhere that gives you comparable value.

Staff are friendly and eager to please. This is remarkable in Hawaii, where somewhat grouchy and indifferent service is not completely unheard of (although more at the mass market places like Grand Wailea, HR, Westin, etc). The property is brand new and in great shape, the pools and landscaping are nice, the beach is wonderful, and public areas are appealing.

For the negatives, I’m going to come out as perhaps the first person on this thread to be critical of the breakfast. Yes, getting a $45 breakfast for free (for up to four people in your room! Click here and apply for a Hyatt credit card and follow these easy steps to get free Diamond!) is nice, but quite frankly, I didn’t feel the food was spectacular, and the experience was chaotic. It may be due to my failing eyesight, but it took me a few days to figure out who the staff are. What about giving them some uniforms or some identifying feature that keeps me from hitting up other guests for orange juice? How about letting me pour my own juice, or at least telling me which side of the counter I’m supposed to stand on? Considering the hype the breakfast has been getting on this thread, I found it to be a letdown. There was very limited variation; the hot dishes were the same every day, fried rice, pork puff pastry, doughnuts, Hawaiian toast, sausage, bacon, potatoes, poached eggs. Of course there’s the egg station, but in spite of what some others reported, these guys don’t work miracles. I freely admit that I’m not an American breakfast person, so maybe I just don’t get it … sure, it’s better than what most club lounges offer, but it’s nowhere near the top-10, must experience breakfasts it’s been hyped up to be.

On the topic of food, we found the entire selection a bit strange, not just breakfast. If you spend a lot of time away from the hotel it’ll be fine, but if you have daily lunches at the pool, it gets tiring quickly. I’ll do the artsy, organic and local stuff for a few days, but there comes a point when I want a simple burger or piece of fish, not a couple of tiny buns with tempura prawns or meat layered with a generous serving of kimchee. Dammit, I’ve been home for three days, and I still burp kimchee!

We were given an x40 suite (using a Diamond upgrade cert), which is at the end of the building, closest to the water. The check-in person made a point of saying that they were able to further upgrade us to a view suite. The suite does have a nice view if you’re on one of the higher floors, but would likely be obstructed for anything lower than, say, the 3rd floor. I don’t have a good sense of the location of all the suites discussed in this thread; maybe someone could come up with a summary of where the best suites are. I would say, x40 (and according to our floorplan, x39) is closest to the water, and has a great view.

There were some issues with our suite. I agree with others that the couch and lanai furniture are spectacularly uncomfortable (as is the bathtub). Did they not sit on these before they bought them, or did they simply not want people hanging out in their rooms? Our mattress was hard as a rock (think Japan or Korea), and when we asked for a mattress topper we were told that they didn’t have one, and that the mattresses were so hard because they’re new. The most annoying of the numerous poor design features in the room is that the bathroom door can’t be locked and latches so poorly that it keeps popping open. Our suite also had an issue with hot water; the faucet never warmed up, and in the shower, you had to turn the knob all the way (past the red dot) and run the water for 10 minutes, and even then was it lukewarm at best. We had engineering come out with a thermometer, and after running the water for 10+ minutes, it was at 101-104 degrees. Clearly, they had no idea how to fix it (their suggestion -keeping with the low impact, sustainable theme?- was to keep running it longer), so we just took tepid showers.

Other than that, lots of minor issues (as described by others): no water delivered to the room, spotty housekeeping (not completed by 4pm on two days), no welcome amenity delivered, etc. All pretty minor teething problems, though, made up for by amazing staff, delicious drinks, and an excellent deal -- about $200 all-in per night for suite and breakfast is really hard to argue with. It's a place with a lot of potential, and if the pay-2 get-4 deal continued, we'd be back next month.

jayer

Its been a few months but I believe they were all wearing this funny little subtle woven lapel pin. Not that I would disagree with you that staff at pretty much any Andaz are identified so subtly they are at risk of being hidden.

m0hamed

Different strokes for different folks but I strongly disagree with the above.

I consider the Andaz Maui breakfast better than most Park Hyatt hotels I have ever stayed in, and I've stayed in a lot.

The key points being:

• The food is organic and locally sourced;
• They have made a point of reflecting the local culture;
• The food is innovative, and we ate dishes we have never experienced before;
• The biggest point being that the staff will make WHATEVER you want; and
• The service may be overbearing but at least the staff are all wanting to serve. This beats the opposite of not having any service.

On days when the dishes we liked weren't available, the chefs made us fresh batches. My husband has a crustacea allergy, so they would make vegetable friend rice. I don't really like Pork so they would make the dish with a variation.

Outside of breakfast we devoured the open steak sandwiches by the pool with the waffle fries, the flat pizzas store in the lobby and a few other dishes.

When we were by the pool I craved a pizza that they don't serve by the pool and the attendant literally went up to the lobby food shop and brought it to us.

If you complain about that kind of food or service than I dare say you might be happier at a McDonald's...