But that fact alone really means nothing, if a comparable night stay (and comparable nice property)... not saying it is that way, just remembering that Marriott (where I refuse to stay due to their points just not being worth that much last I looked long ago) required a lot more points for a say exotic ocean front view suite night vs. what is required at Andaz Maui (or PH Maldives), with their breakfasts, just as comparison.

Funny, when I stay at the property I never have any problem going to Kihei to eat and avoiding the expensive on-property restaurants! That said, I get the breakfast free as Diamond, I have "outdoor enthusiast" hours so I'm long asleep before a Morimoto dinner can be digested, and I'm in my car much of the day anyway hitting the great reef/hiking/sightseeting spots Maui offers.

Frequent Miler did some really fascinating research, and it shows that in general Marriott, Hyatt and Hilton have very similar earn vs burn ratios.
https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.c...ost-rewarding/
https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.c...ost-rewarding/

Since we're talking Andaz Maui (which is on the higher end range), Hyatt does slightly come out ahead in the "spend to get a free night" category. But as others have mentioned, because Marriott (& Hilton) have a much higher end of their awards chart, sometimes people coming from those brands don't actually realize that Hyatt's lower earnings rate is actually not a problem.

And, the one real big kicker for Hyatt is that Chase points transfer to Hyatt and it's actually valuable to do so. Nobody in their right mind would transfer Chase UR -> Marriott or Amex MR -> Hilton. So, an 80K Chase Ink signup bonus is good for ~3 nights at the Andaz.
Ritz Kapalua is a Category 7 (60K/night), BUT during peak times that goes up to 70K points/night. Even if you get the best CC signup bonus of ~100K Bonvoy points, that's 1.5 nights.

The real killer in comparing Hyatt to the other programs (last I researched) was that with Hyatt a standard room points reward can "become" an ocean front suite with no additional points (e.g. use a TSU, or at Maldives where it's just Cat 7 but all villas are steps to beach/ocean). Last I looked Mariott (and certainly Hilton) required a lot more points (double?) to "upgrade".


And that's where I really like Andaz Maui... for 25k points (for now) (and a TSU) one can get a full ocean view ocean front suite. My impression of Mariott (from long ago, I haven't wanted to stay at Mariott in a long time) was that it took a lot more "corp trip nights at low level properties" to earn a comp vacation room.

That's right.

At one point, a TSU got you an ocean view suite. Now it get you a pool suite.

In practice, I've always been upgraded to an ocean view from a pool anyway, but there's no guarantee.

To answer my own questions for other's reference:

1.) Yeah, plenty of availability. just booked three nights in April no prob.

2.) I called the property, and it's definitely not a well-oiled machine like the PH Maldives in terms of paid upgrades for points stays. However, the person at the property was really nice and said they would confirm certain upgrades with me over the phone for an upcharge. But since I didn't have an actual res at that point, the convo didn't go too far.

3.) As I now understand it, resort fee is waved on ALL points bookings, whereas parking fee is only waived for globalists. Further, globalists also get resort fee waived on paid booking.

4.) Didn't hear much on that.

Exactly. I never mentioned guarantee... and at this property (we're discussing Maui Andaz here) I've never been "forced" to have a pool suite - I've always (every time) either been given a south-facing ocean view suite, or the FO staff has played tetris and found a pair of them with a mid-visit room change, or something similar.



And when I've visited other properties (like PH Maldives) it's been the same thing - OW villa upgrade at no charge, etc. Sometimes it takes a little planning/effort/communications, but that's my experience with Hyatt. If you say Marriott is same, then as I noted, it's been a while since I stayed at Marriott (and now Starwood, which is still my second go to in the big brands).

I was actually able to get only 2 nights right after the WN OAK-OGG inaugural. No games required

Maybe my search skills are lacking today but didn't see an answer to this... do the standard rooms have a large bathroom like the suites do? big enough to fit a pack n play? thanks.

Standard rooms don't have a large bathroom, I doubt it would fit a pack and play.

Bathroom Tour starts at 9:10 secs

What are the cash upgrade rates off of a low status points stay?

That's really pretty lame. Did you push back at all on that? I wonder if you just got a noob check-in host, or if they were really incredibly full.