Just got back after 5 nights Dec 20th to 25th. Resort was around 40% for 4 of the nights and went to 80% on the last night based on multiple employee and guests commenting on occupancy.
Check In:
Explorist upgrade: NONE, even when I had to show front desk the hyatt app that shows I can book mulitple Beach King and Doubles for the same dates while in lobby. The guy just kept on walking back and forth to discuss with manager. They claim they dont have availability yet I can click book right there and then. He said he was not sure why the app availability was different from their system. I asked if we can split the booking for a couple of days on the beach and rest at the lagoon so we can experience both also because we have free breakfast only at the Olataco which is on the beach and it would be a waste to have to take a cart everymorning to get breakfast then come back. He went back to manager and came back and said that they can do that but you have to pay an up charge of $100 a night. Keep in mind, for 4 out of the 5 nights, we were literally the only ones in the main 4 pools. There were very few guest around. This shouldnt have been like pulling teeth. Also, this was 4-5 back and forth with Aldo checking with manager but the manager never bothered to introduce himself or try to just speak to us to resolve it even when he's not even with any other guests, he's just standing there on the computer.
We had similar challenges in Andaz Maui a year ago but they were able to split booking to allow us a ocean view for 3 days followed by 4 nights garden view. And the manager introduced himself to us.
The resort was great, awsome main pools that are semi heated by hot tubs(which are not that hot which is great), beach pool is cold but great during mid day and afternoon. Beach was amazing, little to no waves so easy for my 3 year old to walk to his neck depth. water equipment included paddle boards and kayaks. Their vendor also offered sailboats but we only knew during out last day. I would have loved to take our kid out.
Food was the biggest disappointment here. We came here because we found all inclusives in the area to be soso for food, we would rather pay more for better food(we last stayed at Ziva Cancun last Jan). Since this is a 5 star along with three other 5 star resorts and the going rate for our dates was 600-700 a night, was hoping for really good 4-5 star food.
Breakfast:
buffett pales in comparison with Andaz Maui. There was nothing special with the exception of the Honey Combs that was pretty cool. Everything else was soso and most items were overly salty. Pricing of buffett is similar or close enough to Andaz Maui but if I rated Andaz Maui buffett a 10, this would be a 6-7 tops. Breakfast near the beach was by order only but you can ask for anything. ie. I just wanted some scrambled eggs and some flank steak on the side (steak and eggs), they were able to make it but its mixed together which is fine too.
Lunch:
the resturants had similar offerings. Ceviche (mixed is best) with more options from the beach, tacos etc, burgers. Same kids menus. One fish taco which was breaded and always fishy but the only fish taco they had. Everything was very similar to one degree or another. We found a rubber band in our smoothy.
Dinner,
Casa Amate is there premiere dining. It took over 2 hours to get a starter and a main. The ceviche had too much lime. The pork belly main was way too dry and chewy for pork belly. Our neighboring table of 6 had 2 young teenagers who pratically just layed on the couch seats lifeless as they are just tired of waiting. The main waiter also didnt ask them around food allergies and got into an argument with the mom there and just kept on saying he disclosed it. This is a 5 star restuarant right? just say sorry and move on comp some food be done with it. But the guy kept on saying he did it, The mom and to turn to her husband who said he didnt ask etc. We wanted to leave after well over 2 hours for 2 dishes and my 3 year old dying there. Asked for the check, 10 minutes later got the desert menu instead. said no, just the check, 10 minutes later got the check. All the time, no one asked how the food was. I would have loved to provide some feed back.
room service is provided by the main restaurant. burger is a plain old burger unlike what is provided around the beach. The steak sandwich is pail and almost seemed boiled.
In comparison, we dined in the main restaurant at Rosewood for two nights. It's slightly more than Casa Amate, but the service is next to none. we arrived with the andaz provided massive emergency-like yellow flashlights so we can walk from our room to the lobby. When we got to Rosewood, their lobby employee started to play with my son and took his pocket LED flashlight (size of a AAA battery) which was also brighter to my son and just gave it to him. So picture us walking to dinner with a massive yellow flashlight that I have to remember to bring back vs their pocket size flashlight I can just put in my pockets. Looking like a fool dressed up with a emergency flash light. We looked at the menu and it differed from what Andaz Reception emailed me. They no longer had Ossobuco any more for well over 2 months. We ordered something else, but the waiter sensed our disappointment, went to talk to the chef and came back and said they can order the ingredients and make it just for us for either the next or following night. Keep in mind it takes well over 10 hours to prepare. The Chef came out, told us they can do this for us and we booked for Saturday night. Who does that? This is what I call service. Especially comparing to the service and quality of food at Casa Amate. And this was their main dining restaurant and not their premiere. No way were we expecting this yet they went above and beyond. On saturday the chef came out and walked us through what was in the dish and how it was made etc and chatted with us along with other guests for a bit. Once again, never saw this at Casa Amate.
Overall, Andaz Mayakoba service and quality of food is definitely lacking compared to Andaz Maui and their neighbors such as Rosewood. It charges both in room and food at 5 star prices but quality definitely need to improve.