tusphotog

FWIW, last summer I had a 10 minute wait for UberX at the Marriott. The availability tends to drop off a little at night, but during the day it seemed decent.

If you're really worried about availability, you might want to get your driver's phone number and work out something directly with them to get up to the airport.

canyonleo

I'm very experienced in diving and snorkeling, and all over Maui - that area (noted above) between Mokapu and Ulua beaches is even better than pretty good. It suits the beginners and experienced, it has great diversity (I've seen like 5-8 different species of eels, manta ray, octopus, lobster, and of course tons of fish), and it's right there. IMO one is crazy to pay to go on a crowded cattle-car boat experience to Molokini.

armstwa

Just got back from our honeymoon in Maui and wanted to provide some feedback since this thread helped me out. Overall, great stay. I booked via the Citi Prestige concierge so I could get the 4th night back and used the World Elite MC rate to get free breakfast and room upgrade. Unfortunately, the resort was more crowded than I expected it to be at this time so didn't get a room upgrade at check in. Couldn't convince my wife to use the spa credit and a massage starts around $200 so not worth it to me. We were in the 'Mountain View' so kinda wished I had booked an ocean view for our honeymoon, so definitely don't count on being upgraded if it's busy around that time. Tons of upgrade availability until about 2 weeks out of our stay then I saw we likely wouldn't be upgraded. Room was good with a great bathroom.

Anywho, great resort, lobby is swank and it's view is fantastic over the infinity pools to the ocean, you could see some whales the day we arrived. At checkin we mentioned honeymoon and they said they'd send a bottle of champagne that night, it came a the next day but that worked out better for us! Staff was great and the property was just a pleasure to be on. The breakfast buffet is nice, and I mainly booked the MC rate to get it for free knowing it is included ($47/head). Although it's great, we are not creatures of habit so next time I'd book a lower rate if possible and get breakfast offsite. Don't get me wrong, it's good, with a juice bar, omelet station and everything you'd want, but I definitely don't think it's worth $47, but I'm also a little bit of a snob when it comes to food/drink. That being said, the cocktails are site are some of the best on the island (I have a pretty serious home bar and was worried about Maui's cocktail scene). I got to know a great bartender, Ka'ai, and he said the program was from Julie Reiner of NYC fame and all the bartenders had been there since opening which is impressive. He'll make you some great tiki/off-menu drinks if you ask. Also ate at Ka'ana Kitchen one night and was very impressed. It has a good rep right now with the current chef being heavy on the farm to table motto.

First time to Hawaii and loved the sand for Wailea beaches as well as the blue water. The Kihei option is alive and well and is good albeit a little longer than I'd like from room to car so since it was the honeymoon I only used it one night. Were I on a tighter budget I would definitely use it. The resort fee is kinda BS as you don't get to use a lot of the water sports equipment without having to pay more, so definitely disappointed there.

All in, we'd go back, but not pay cash, use points. We discovered on the honeymoon that we don't need a swanky resort. Our rental on Hana was probably our favorite stay. That being said, if I was going to resort path, I wouldn't hesitate to come back here. PM me for any more intel on Maui!

Best,

Wade

TravelingAssociate

Question - any reports of Diamond benefits being extended to a second room here when both rooms are booked by a Diamond?

I'm heading to this property this summer, booked two rooms; wanted to see what my odds were of being able to get Diamond bennies extended to my parents in the 2nd room. I know this is YMMV, but I've had decent luck with identical scenarios at other Hyatt properties.

Thx for any input.

milemonkey

I sent an email to Andaz Reservations and never heard back. Its been five days. Is that normal?

robizzle

Wade could you please comment on the world elite MC process? Did you just look on the world elite mc website and see the rates and call the citi prestige concierge and refer him/her to that price? And I'm assuming the hotel knew the rate you paid included the breakfast for 2 without question? Finally, is it a known thing to roll up to check-in and ask for an upgrade simply because you're a world elite MC holder? Thanks in advance.

Also finally is this world elite MC rate eligible then for a 6k pts/night suite upgrade

Goonie

Kapalua bay is one of my favorite snorkle beaches.

777 global mile hound

http://hotelexecutive.com/newswire/5...chfront-villas

armstwa

Robizzle,

I saw the hotel on the MC website (although oddly enough my Prestige CC number won't allow me in the MC website anymore). I did call the Concierge and refer to that rate and they gave me a quote no problem. They did know it included breakfast although there was a time or two the bill didn't have gratuity already included, I wrote it in and then when it showed up on my bill as being a little extra, I called the hotel service and they took care of it. I didn't ask for an upgrade as I knew from the night before that there was nothing available. I was hoping that the honeymoon mention might cause them to move some things around but no luck. I didn't put my Hyatt passport on the Citi Concierge reservation at the time of booking. I asked them to add it later. Surprise, it wasn't on there. But I called the hotel after checkout and they added it. If you have status, make sure your number is on your reservation ahead of time....

robizzle

very helpful, thank you!

toptravelista

We just got back from the Anadz Maui and attended a wedding while we were there. Here are a couple of hints from our stay. First we booked under Points plus Cash and are diamond members. They did not charge us for the $40 resort fee for any of the nights. When checking out we did not mention it to them but we expected to have to pay. We will see if they charge us later. We parked at the "off site" lot the entire stay with no issues. Note that you only pay for parking if you park overnight. So during the day we would park our car at the Andaz and return it back to the off site lot at night. Also we used the courtesy shuttle to visit local restaurants at night which was easier than waiting for an Uber.

The Room- We were not able to use our DSU for the Pool suites but they did upgrade our room to a Oceanview right above the pool suites. The room is very nice but a little unconventional. The shower was huge but the bathroom layout seemed crowded and awkward. There was only one sink so it made it hard to get ready for my husband and I. There are sliding doors in front of the shower so on the lower floors people could see you showering if you left them open. The bellman warned us to not leave them open at night. The shower curtains didn't work and we always had water on the floor. They don't believe in hanging the artwork so the room looked unfinished. As with all Andaz they provide drinks and snacks. We had natural cola, root beer, sparkling water, Maui chips and granola bars. Other than the awkward layout the room was very nice.

Diamond Breakfast- Because we were there for a wedding we had lots of friends staying off property so we added them to our reservation (even through they were not staying with us) We were able to get free breakfast for 4 every morning. It was the buffet breakfast that cost $47 per person. It was a wonderful breakfast. The mochi waffles were great albeit a tad heavy. Also included was the juice bar. If we were actually paying for the buffet we would have never paid $47 because we could never eat as much to make it worth it. Also my one complaint about breakfast was as soon as the waitress found out we were diamond she left the check early and never check back with us. We had to ask other staff for coffee refills. They get 18% flat tip even when they don't check on you.

Beach amenities- Because I thought were were paying $40 every day I was determined to use the amenities. We rented (included in the fee) a GoPro for the wedding day. Took it to the beach and used the beach chairs and umbrellas. Rented a Boogie Board (Included in the fee) and used the GoPro to film us crashing into the waves. There is an app you can download so the videos and pictures transfer over to your iphone from the GoPro. Which made it super easy. On the first day I signed us up for all the activities as if you wait they will be sold out. I signed up for the Outrigger Canoe ride, Kayak ride and the Stand-up Paddle Board. They all do the same trip out and all were included in the fee. I would skip the Kayak and do the Outrigger and SUP next time. We saw turtles and several whales. I asked lots of questions of the guides when we were out on the water. The locals call the snorkel area outside the hotel "Stoffers" as there used to be a restaurant called Stoffers on the Andaz property prior to being a hotel. Prior to the Andaz they thought it was a Renaissance hotel but the Andaz kept the same layout. The infinity pools were amazing we spent most of our time at the pool hanging out with our friends and watching the sunset. Lots of space for everyone to have a chair. Staff was super attentive to bring food and drinks. They did have to close the bar early one day because they were taking pictures of the pool bar on the lower level. They made everyone move from the area for the pictures. That was a bummer. The ocean walking path was very crowded. It could be 2-3 times wider as you ended up walking single file to pass everyone which was hard to have a conversation.

The wedding- It took place on the lawn next to the beach area (close to the public beach) followed by a cocktail hour and pictures. It was very simple and beautiful. After that we made our way over to the lawn in front of the villas (by the outrigger canoes) for the reception. They had a dance floor with small white lights above the dance floor and all the tables. Food was great but the service was very slow. The only bummer was that the dancing had to stop at 10:30. After that we made our way over to the upper pool bar until they kick us out at midnight. They were very strict on closing time and there is not much to do at the resort after midnight.
This board was very valuable in planning our trip so thank you to all the contribute to it. I hope this helps someone with your trip. -TT

canyonleo

> The locals call the snorkel area outside the hotel "Stoffers" as there used to be a restaurant
> called Stoffers on the Andaz property prior to being a hotel. Prior to the Andaz they thought
> it was a Renaissance hotel but the Andaz kept the same layout.

Before being an Andaz, the building and property was a Renaissance. Before that, the property I think was an Intercontinental and had different structures that were torn down to build the Renaissance, if I remember right (and the Grand Wailea was a Grand Hyatt). I don't remember a Soffers restaurant, but isn't Stouffers a hotel brand?

Michael Ad

There was a Stouffers hotel there once. I stayed there 20 years ago.

I couldn't tell if it had been torn down or just massively renovated.

canyonleo

I remember an Intercontinental being there or very close to there (and can't be where Elua nor Marriott are as those building are too old to be built since, so must be on the property) and the Intercontinental had multiple structures as opposed to one build building as is the Andaz, so anything before an IC (Stouffers) would be different structures. Also, I'm pretty sure I've seen recent aerials of the property as an empty lot, so again I'm pretty sure Renaissance had new structures built.

Michael Ad

I looked up Stouffers a bit, and from what I can tell, it was acquired by Renaissance at some point - the whole chain, however big it was.

By the way, the hotel brand was actually an offshoot of the Stouffers frozen food company. Pretty unappealing.