Yes, the front desk agents might not be too friendly, but from what I can tell, it's not an Andaz thing, but rather a Maui thing. We just spent a week here, from last Wednesday to this Wednesday, and visited a bunch of nearby restaurants. In almost all of them, the waiters were friendly (sometimes even too friendly to my taste), but all the hosts were cold as ice.

Speaking of Andaz more specifically, we did get a very nice "full ocean view" room. Of course, we asked for a suite (and asked again a few times). But by the day of check in, there were no suites available. (Which was in line with what I saw on the website.) There were a few suites available for the last three nights of our stay, and I told them I don't mind changing rooms. But then they asked for $800 per night for upgrade, which I declined. I was ready for $300 or maybe $400 but not $800.

Can't say anything bad about the room. The bed was great, the views were stunning, everything worked flawlessly. My only nitpick (as often) is floor plan in the bathroom. The vanity area is on the small-ish side, the closet barely fits two suitcases, but the shower is overly—no, it's comically big. It's almost like it was designed for a bathtub, but then someone said "no, mere mortals don't deserve a tub, this privilege is for suites only." So, they switched it into a gigantic shower area without giving it too much thought.

A few more notes about the floor numbers. This might be confusing, so don't be fooled by their designation of "high floor" vs. "lower floors." The whole hotel is situated on a steep slope. You walk into the lobby from what was the ground level from the side of the road. But in fact, you're already on the fifth floor out of seven. The restaurant is on the third floor, and the ocean side views from there are fabulous. Even the lower two floors would probably have great views if not obstructed by tents and poolside infrastructure.

But of course, the higher the better. Our room was on the sixth floor, and it was absolutely fantastic, so I cannot complain too much about the lack of suite upgrade. Although I would agree that the room had barely enough space for two. So, if you're travelling in a larger group, perhaps taking even a ground floor suite would be a smart move.

I was a bit skeptical about visiting Hawaii in February but turned out, it's nearly perfect timing. A couple degrees more would be uncomfortable for us. And apparently, it's the right time to see whales who come to Hawaii in February to give birth and mate.