The mini-bar has about eight non-alcoholic beverages including Fred water that comes in a flask-shaped bottle (hadn't seen this before); Voss sparkling water; Coke, Sprite and Diet Coke in 8.5 oz metal bottles; two flavors of Fizzy Lizzy, an organic black cold tea; and an apple juice.

They are supposed to replenish daily, but my chocolate bar wasn't restocked and my opened bag of potato chips was just neatly placed back at the mini bar area.

Only about 30 rooms are open right now. They expect to have the rest of the hotel opened next month.

So far I've found the staff very pleasant and accommodating.

There are the usual issues that come with a soft opening though - telephone not working properly (but staff very eager to tend to the matter), staff not fully familiar with working some of the in-room systems, and engineers around working on parts of the hotel at times. Noise from that is minimal. Yesterday an ironing board and iron (with the cord unwound as though it had been used) appeared without me ever asking for one. The elevator bell on my floor seems to ding constantly though there are only a few rooms on the floor so clearly people can't be calling it that often. I can hear it even though I'm in the room furthest from the elevator.

Yesterday I tried to get in the elevator to the lobby, but there appeared to be reporters on a property tour blocking them. When the elevator arrived it was filled with engineers. By the time they got out and I could make my way through the tour group, the elevator was gone.

There seems to be employee interviews going on in the meeting rooms and various training sessions.

These are not complaints, just examples of some of what to expect as the hotel continues to prepare for its full opening.

Breakfast has been quite good and room service prices are reasonable. There is no delivery charge on room service, but a reasonable (actually seemed low to me) gratuity is added.

This is the third Andaz I've stayed at and so far it is my favorite. The staff is kind and eager to please (can't say enough nice things about them at this point), the rooms are attractive and functional, bed comfortable, bath amenities are good. One small issue is that all the hangers have clips on them. This doesn't work so well for dresses and T-shirts.

As for the seat in the shower, it's not built-in, but movable (though heavy).

When fully opened there will about 180 rooms and 30some suites.