slippahs

I would always take the suite for a larger room, but ocean views are a daily part of my life so that doesn't really entice me. The additional considerations are having an additional half bathroom, the large dining table that allows my family to enjoy meals together in the room, the tanning bed on the lanai (can't recall if all suites have this), the Toto washlets in the main bath, and the soaking tub in the bathroom.

777 global mile hound

Yes by all means stick with the suite.
My reasoning the views are fantastic from near every part of the property and they tend to upgrade the Globs
out of there first at least from my understanding
Space rules IMHO.Sure a view is sweet but Andaz supplies it brilliantly walking, dining or sitting just about anywhere on property

Typically I find the property to be highly proactive with upgrading Globs on property day of arrival at least historically to ocean view
suites & rooms from the base level rooms/suites
That said if they sell it prior to arrival or at high occupancy your chances are indeed slimmer.
Also if your stay is over a weekend especially Friday or Saturday the potential goes down as well.
Not impossible but if you get it over a weekend thats really winning the lottery.

I always arrive Sunday or Monday and leave by Thursday and I have never been inside a guest room using my strategy
since opening except the photos I have seen from others.If I get to Maui on a Friday I pay or redeem somewhere else and make Andaz my last stop
A famous philosopher once said YMMV.Have a great time

beachfan

And these upgrades are post arrival of the new GM last May?

things are not the same in Nov 21 as they were in Nov 19.

777 global mile hound

Certainly possible that things have taken a turn for the worse.
I booked last year for Feb 22 so can’t say if things have changed since the wild pricing
of rooms more recently over the past months
I’ve been staying since opening.
How much worse has gotten in your experience with the new GM?

beachfan

In Nov 21 they gave me probably the best Andaz suite in that it was private even though it was ground floor and had nice outdoor space. But after a couple nights, view of the next buildings wall felt like more of an issue.

No free upgrade , offered for cash at very high price. Declined, priced lowered ,still too rich for me, then one on a lowered floor opened the next day (ocean view suite vs deluxe ocean view) and I took it for $300/night).

Clear difference from 2021, same time of year, when I was proactively upgraded .

Similar to what I experienced at the Andaz 5th Avenue when this GM took over there.

Your points M-Th is good one,these were weeklong stays.

777 global mile hound

I’m truly saddened to hear this it doesn’t make me wish to return
The Hyatt Regency Maui got a nice enough renovation recently
I may consider that instead where they have always been great to me
It sounds like an aggressive revenue manager and management @ Andaz Maui
We have brought this topic up on a few NYC properties in the past and it seems
that there are some others ok with the hard upsell to elites.
Personally it’s usually the end of my relationship with a hotel that does this if done at check in

I left Sheraton over it in the 90s over it and never returned in Hawaii where this became
the norm.It’s risky business in my eyes and only once in my decades with Hyatt did I play
ball upgrading to a massive suite at Park Hyatt Sydney for a few hundred dollars in 2002
Today that would be unlikely to happen.I’m not certain how much is financial desperation
Vs an aggressive new predatory management
Personally I see no need to belong loyal to program that wants to sell me the
upgrade they promise me for doing the business annually in the first place
Not the Hyatt I signed up for

canyonleo

Glad I didn't try to write that, you did it much better. With this kind of GM and RM behavior I won't be returning to the property (I've only missed two years since it opened) - IF that's what is going on.

Cometstar

This is a shot in the dark but…If anyone has an upcoming award night trip between 4/23-5/7 that they plan to cut down on nights or cancel, can you reach out to me?

Recently cancelled a birthday trip to Mexico and moved up a Hawaii trip from the fall to the spring and would love to stay at the Andaz (like everyone else) even if for 1 night and I know how difficult it is to book (as I went through the process myself for the fall).

Thank you so much!

avogadro

I have an Andaz Suite booked. I see from the discussion here they try to upsell you for an ocean view suite.

Is it possible to downgrade to an ocean view King (non-suite)?

If so, would you do so?

platbrownguy

First get to the room and check it out, tbh. They aren't all bad. The one we had was too low to be categorized as ocean view but it still had a semi-view of the ocean over the ugly green villa-building roof. They ended up moving us up 2 floors (to an otherwise identical room, same last 2 digits in the room number) and the view was better but not one I would pay more for compared to 2 floors down. I also would not have given up the original suite for an ocean view non-king. The ones with no ocean view at all, on the other hand, I guess that's a closer call, depending on how much you value space vs view.

777 global mile hound

For years I valued guest room & suite views over space but for me now its the other way around typically.
As a result I would say my upgrade successes have increased as most chase view or balcony over extra sq footage
.
Andaz Maui is unique in that wherever you are on property the lobby, restaurant, outdoors etc mostly the views are stunning.
Quite frankly I wouldn't want to be in one of their rooms as I've heard or perceive they are small and cramped.
The one exception might be in my eyes if say you wanted to stay in the room mostly during your visit and wanted a special view say for romance/romantic honeymoon,engagement purposes etc
Because I can see the ocean & mountains from my home living room (though not as good as the Andaz in Maui) set up & space is something I personally value more

Also at least in my own experience as a LT Glob I have never not been upgraded further to the more desirable ocean view suites once confirmed in the base level suite
(I also Never book weekends though ever) All that said word on the street as demand has picked up the property has gotten stingier than ever to elites
My last stay was taken just at the start of the pandemic.
Perhaps others can chime in here on their thoughts too

maxiedaniels

I just booked three nights on points and we're very excited. However, we are hoping to extend to five days somehow, but the cash price to do so is ~$1k a night. If I want to try and book extra nights with points, how do I look for availability? It seems the award calendar only shows three nights in a row or more, so if I'm searching for an additional two nights to tack on to my existing three night reservation, I'm confused on how that'll show up.
Also, is there a cash upgrade to go from a standard points room to an ocean view?

nsx

Status can get you an upgrade to ocean view. But the rooms are small and you should be outside most of the time.

To extend the stay I recommend calling Hyatt and asking the agent to check. Their interface can show space that the web page does not show due to minimum stay. If overall you meet the minimum stay they can add on whatever days they see. Phone once or twice a day until check-out day. I predict success.

maxiedaniels

I have no status at the moment - im considering getting the Hyatt card but I don’t think discovering makes a difference?

I’ve been reaching out to Hyatt Concierge on Twitter, they have the same interface yeah? They haven’t found anything yet unfortunately.

nsx

It can't hurt to have the card. You will get 5 elite qualifying nights plus your stay. In December 2020 when Hawaii was empty I had only the credit card for status yet I was upgraded to full oceanfront at Hyatt Regency Maui, a spectacular room. It can happen. That was a smart investment by HRM. I went back twice during the following 12 months. Full disclosure: I greatly prefer HRM to the Andaz. It's so much more spacious.

I recommend getting the card. The 2020-2021 promos for cardholders were incredibly generous, but even normal promos and the annual free Cat 1-4 night justify the annual fee. One family member with the Hyatt card got a 1Q2022 promo of 5k bonus points for spending $3000. That's close to a full payback of the annual fee.