peteropny

Yes they do - if the base entry room is available for revenue it should be available for award redemption.

milemonkey

Apparently no point availability for Jan, Feb and March of 2016

canyonleo

IMO they are gaming availability by creating new categories so the "standard" (or lowest?) category now has much fewer rooms in it, thus availability is always less. I think Garden View is now the lowest category, where before it was Mountain View?

duranza

Same thing I was told months ago too.

coffee18

They're definitely gaming award availability. Since day one they had Garden View, but in the past two months they added "Mountain View", which encompasses a majority of rooms previously labeled Garden View. Here's the description from my e-standby page:

"Located on our higher floors, enjoy a view of the mountains from the comfort of your own guestroom."

I take it that Garden View then would qualify as loading dock-adjacent.

Kacee

The "comfort of your own guestroom" As opposed to what . . . the comfort of somebody else's guestroom???

Corporate speak reaches new lows.

exmike

Wow this property keeps plumbing new lows. Gaming categories to restrict award room availability kinda defeats part of the purpose of being part of a loyalty program don't you think?

sam_goh

Narh - it's really garden or mountain view depending if you're looking up or down. Hate these games too

Duke777

I just completed a stay at the Andaz over Memorial Day weekend with my GF. I'm new to Hyatt in the past year after spending several years strictly with SPG. I'm glad I've decided to split stays.

We booked 2 nights using my corporate rate about 2 weeks in advance for the garden view room. We were able to use a DSU at booking and confirm a pool side suite. Was a bit unsure if we'd prefer a smaller room with a view, but we tend to like the space suites afford. Being able to confirm a suite at booking is a huge perk of HGP and a big draw away from SPG. After seeing the pool suite, I would probably prefer a smaller ocean view king in the future.

We arrived to the hotel around 11 AM from HNL, not expecting to check in until the late afternoon. To get from OGG to the Andaz, we pre-booked Speedishuttle for $46 for 2 people. Fortunately, we were the only ones on the shuttle. At check-in, we were greeted warmly and offered water or lemonade.

Without any need to ask, we were upgraded to a full ocean view Andaz Suite (#639). The hotel wasn't showing availability online, so I was pleasantly surprised. The room was ready at 12:30 and the hotel called my phone to let us know. The Ohana Lounge worked well to store our stuff and change into our swimsuits.

The room was massive with two balconies and beautiful views of the water and resort. The shower with the incredible view and ability to watch TV was pretty neat.

The only downside was that the furniture was very uncomfortable, especially the chairs on the balconies. They need cushions. Does anyone test this stuff? Also, the free food and drink offerings were mediocre. We had two granola bars, a small pack of Maui chips, a local root beer, a Virgil's Coke, and a San Pellegrino lemonade.

I elected the Diamond amenity, which was a bottle of wine (2012 StoneCap Chardonnay) and two chocolates.

The resort is beautiful. We enjoyed all of the infinity pools and the beach. The waves were pretty big due to the wind, so we spent more time in the pools. We never had problems getting chairs anywhere. A huge plus of the resort is the service. EVERYONE was extremely friendly and made us feel welcomed. A very far cry from our multiple experiences in the Caribbean at the W Vieques.

The Diamond breakfast was fine. The fruit spread is extensive and there are plenty of carbs. I think after a few days, I'd want to mix up the food, but it's sufficient for a short stay.

We ate dinner at Morimoto one night. It was delicious. Highly recommend the A5 Waygu even if it's very pricy. We also had lunch there. The prices were reasonable for lunch (read: expensive, but not much more than the poolside bar where we ate two other lunches).

We also went to Ko at the Fairmont one night. It was the start of restaurant week, so we elected the $49 three course pre-fixe. The food was mediocre. The resort also felt huge, similar to Mexico resorts. We were glad to be staying at the Andaz, which felt more secluded.

We didn't have a car, so can't comment on parking. We did use the courtesy shuttle at the hotel to go to Monkeypods for dinner before our flight. It was fine, but still expensive. Happy Hour is a good deal though (until 5:30).

To get to OGG, we took Uber. It worked out great and was only $39. Quite a bit less than I was expecting.

Overall, we had a relaxing weekend trip. We'll definitely be back and will probably venture outside the resort to explore the island more.

Also, I'm now an Andaz fan. I thought the concept appealed to my demographic (late 20s) much better than W's with their weird room designs and pretentious lack of service.

Duke777

Are points not earned when dining at Morimoto? Looks like I didn't receive any HGP points when charging to my room. Since I paid the folio with my Hyatt card, I'll at least receive 3x anyway.

uprightposition

Second visit. Same tiny tiny tiny horribly designed galley-style room. Same non-upgrade, only this time we learned of a colleague who was given a suite because her partner is a travel agent. This was "our" suite. Oh, and this time, the breakfast we enjoyed last time would be an extra $17 per person above Diamond inclusions.
Aloha, Wailea. We gave you two chances (work brings us to the area, but the accoms are our choice) and you have shown zero interest in honoring the Diamond program here. Keep your tiny rooms. We prefer the Big Island anyway for leisure.

ETA: Holy S$#! I just read the Duke's report above and am now fuming mad. Not only wasn;t our suite request honored, but we arrived after 3pm and were still told to cool our heels for an hour while they readied the room, apparently the same weekend you were there. Wow, I'm caling Diamond in the morning. Thanks for demonstrating the absolute farce that is the Diamond program which works for some and clearly not for others. This makes my pending decision to switch loyalty to Marriott for their Autograph Collection oh so much easier. Just wow.

Gold Passport Concierge

Hello uprightposition,

We're sorry to hear of your disappointing visit. If you can PM us your stay details, we're happy to look into this for you.

Thanks!

Mary2e

I don't understand, are you saying you used a DSU and they did not give you a suite OR that you requested one at check in and were refused either for free or to use a DSU? Most hotels will not give away a suite upgrade unless you're a very frequent guest.

As for the breakfast, that changed months ago after this hotel became the darling of the bloggers and people flocked to get as much as they could for free.

Duke777

Not sure if it helps, but we paid cash for our two nights and applied and immediately confirmed a DSU weeks in advance when they were still showing a pool suite. It looked like the hotel was well booked this past weekend, so I was pleasantly surprised that we did get an additional upgrade to an Andaz Suite.

sn0wie

So we cannot use points at all for Andaz in JFM? I must have missed the boat on this one...

So much for my brilliant honeymoon plan, I guess we will be staying elsewhere. Argh!