depending on which area you get the cabana it ranges in prices. There are usually people in the chairs in front of the cabanas though. According to one of the employees, they just got a large shipment of umbrellas and most, if not all chairs should have their own umbrella by the end of the month.

I actually think its rather silly that they charge for cabanas. They were almost completely empty the whole time I was there.

That's good to know. I think we'll go ahead and book a cabana for the end of our stay and if the chairs work out the first day we'll cancel. There were just some reports of all the umbrellas being taken at 9am, etc. and that just wouldn't work.

Wife and I really like this hotel. We did a 5 day stay and planned on another 5 at the hyatt kaanapali ($299 timeshare deal). The 5 days at the Andaz were fantastic, we were there during the hurricane and the staff was amazing, the grounds are beautiful and the beach and pools are excellent. After one day at the hyatt, we moved our timeshare presentation up and checked out and went back to the Andaz.

we didn't like the hyatt because the beach was terrible and the pool and hotel were way to crowded.

We have stayed at the Fairmont and Grand Wailea before as well as properties in Cabo, Cancun, Negril, and the DR and we are already planning a return trip to the Andaz. So don't let the negative reviews scare you off.

Same, people who didnt reserve them just kind of set up shop in one of them one day I was there. Nobody kicked them out, but it was kind of a gloomy day, so I dont think anybody cared.


We were usually down there by a little after 10a and we were always able to find at least 1 or 2 open umbrellas. Also, keep in mind that there are 4 levels, which means more opportunities for umbrellas

I was staying at Andaz Maui from 8/28-9/2 and like any other diamond member, booked the room with P&C option and applied a DSU. Room we got was a partial ocean view and there is NO view at all. AVOID room number 318!

Lobby is on 5th floor. There was one thread saying he was staying at 518 and overlooking the roof of villa in front of main building. So you may imagine the view was totally blocked by the villa in front of it. It would be a nice upgrade from regular room to a suite for non-elite member but for diamond member, I don't understand how Andaz has ever considered this as an 'upgrade'. That's the 1st shock I got once I arrived at the hotel.

Next morning, I was so looking forward to the breakfast experience as many famous bloggers have cited 'it blows them away'. That's the 2nd shock I got within 24 hours. Like others have mentioned they started to adopt a new policy towards diamond member complimentary breakfast that we are ONLY granted access to cold plates and need to pay extra $17 for hot dishes, which have never changed during our stay there. To be honest, you will get bored after two days because they NEVER changed their items for breakfast so it doesn't matter that much if you are only having the cold plates. What really let me down is that my favorite cold plate-smoked salmon disappeared after day3 and another selection of smoked fish just doesn't taste that good.

With the complimentary breakfast, diamond member are also allowed to have a side dish a coffee, a juice(not the fresh squeezed one) . My favorite one is slab bacon and I had it every day. The interesting part is it gets shrink everyday. Last day I got one only half size of the one I got on 1st morning. All side dish, coffee and juice are one-time serving ONLY. You will be charged for extra serving. I did mention that I wanna try some fish or fresh mango or even the gone smoked salmon. However, our waiter, Luke comes back every time saying we don't have them. But he does put in a 18% gratitude every day on my check. I don't know how other people feel but for me 18% is too much for a round of serving and breakfast.

I asked to talk to their General manager right after my 1st breakfast, which made me very disappointed that time, especially with the room we had. The general manager was very considerate and did emphasize that breakfast they were offering does comply with Hyatt diamond T&C. I replied that the breakfast is far from good enough for a hyatt place but not for Andaz which people may have higher expectation towards. She understood and got back to see what she was able to do. Then she came back with a satisfying solution: move our room to a better view suite next day+refund my DSU. I negotiate with her that I didn't need the DSU back and asked if she was able to waive my valet parking. She agreed on that and even offered full breakfast experience for us, which used to cost us extra $17 per person.

We ended staying at Room 737 which is the highest level and had full view of ocean, 5-day valet parking fee waived plus daily full breakfast and gratitude waived. I did get benefits from complaining to a manager. However, I would prefer to have Andaz Maui recognize our diamond elite from the very beginning. The only reason that I would stay at Andaz next time is that they have sea turtle in shallow water. I was able to watch every time I went to snorkeling even better than the snorkeling trip I paid for.

I read many reviews regarding this property prior to my departure so I had very high expectation for it. However, it has been downgrading from the opening. I can't imagine how it is gonna be like next time I visit Maui considering it has only been open for a year.

From what others posted, isn't the 18% gratuity charged waived as well for diamonds? Or is it no longer waived since they've split the buffet into hot and cold? Anyone know? Thanks!

As a freeloading status matched dsu weilding diamond i demand the highest lever of attention and service since blogs promised me so! I am gonna demand a personal apology from GM every time my blog fueled expectations are not met! You better shape up, Andaz!

Thanks for posting your experiences. My stay there starts in a few days and this is helpful to temper my expectations.

:td: I don't see how your post is helpful. Of course we will have certain expectations from reading reviews of the property. We aren't demanding an apology. Just proper recognition that is consistent with other Hyatts of the same caliber. If a diamond has booked a suite, why give them the worst one if other, better suites are sitting there empty? I doubt they get many last minute suite bookings. And the breakfast change is overwhelmingly unpopular by almost every poster and was made without any upfront notice given or regard to when your reservation was booked.

The hotel doesn't know one is a "fake" Diamond (my paraphrasing what you describe) versus a real Diamond... but for either "type", whomever did the block should be shot - blocking any "type" of Diamond to Rm 318 (when other rooms are available, house was not full, as noted by the OP) is just WRONG.

For the price I paid for this hotel, I can't help but agree with you; it does not deliver the amount of value you would expect for the price. However, you mentioned that coffee is one serving only, which was absolutely not true during my stay. You also mentioned there is an 18% tip, which is true, but I'm fairly certain that is also comped as a part of your breakfast. I didn't check my bill, but if it wasn't comped I would be furious. The above lies aside, I honestly don't understand how people can stick up for a hotel of this caliber providing the minimum fruit&nut breakfast required by Hyatt :td:.

What frustrates me most is that, as a diamond member using a suite upgrade, you needed to complain in order to be upgraded to a real ocean view, when it was clearly vacant anyway. It makes me wish that I had complained about my "garden room", as it is likely there was another room open for me as well.

I'm honestly not a complainer. I won't say anything to the staff, because I don't feel entitled to any more than I am provided; they have full discretion in regards to how they treat me during my stay, and that's part of the contract I sign when I book the room. But if my experiences at the property do not provide enough value for the dollar amount paid, you better believe I will not return, and I will tell of my experiences. :rolleyes:

I so agree with the general theme of the above post (#1331)... any Diamond should be blocked to the nicest room available (OK, in same category or +1) if the house isn't full... it's not like they have that much walk up demand that they need to hold back so many nicer or +1 category room types. Why make Diamonds have to complain and/or ask for it?

The hotel absolutely knows. The front desk agents can see a lot of information about the HP member including all past and futures stays you have with Hyatt. The easiest way to determine a fake diamond from a real one is the tier expiration date. Only real Diamonds will have a Feb 28/29 expiration date (until November). It's very easy to distinguishing a fake diamond from a real Diamond from how many stays you have stayed and all of your future stays booked with other Hyatt properties. All of this information is displayed to the front desk agent when you check in.

In any case, this is still my favorite thread to read...seeing those fake Diamonds call this four star property "best resort in the world" pre-breakfast devaluation to all the negative reviews being posted on a daily basis post-breakfast devaluation....HILARIOUS.

And to the poster who mentioned not being upgraded a single category when not using a DSU as a Diamond...well, you can thank the fake Diamonds for that. It is a standard of practice to not upgrade Diamonds these days, fake or otherwise, unless they want to burn a DSU. With SPG, at least properties are proactively upgrading Plats to truly the better rooms in the house, suite or nonsuite, but thanks to a gazillion fake Diamonds out there, I know for a fact that many Hyatt properties will not even bother pre-blocking Diamonds from a base level room to a "deluxe" higher floor room. HP is not what it used to be...but then again, I don't blame them.

If the staff isn't smart enough to do an optimal room block, then I don't know that a front office staff can follow all those "connecting the dots".

Ignoring the whole "fake Diamond" topic and bring the conversation back to this property, see my review of my Nov/2013 stay. I am a Diamond of many consecutive years (a dozen?), all earned by meeting either the 25 stay or 50 night hurdle, and I was blocked to a ground floor suite (using all points for a suite level reward) with no view other than the sewer drain (sorry, I forget the actual room number, 3rd floor first door on right from elevator).

Back to the original point... why should a Diamond (not a "fake Diamond") have to ask for a better room when it's available? Bad blocking.

It was waived for me but because I complain to the GM so don't know if it was waived by GM. However, I do think it should be waived for normal complimentary breakfast. Their service is way below worth 18%.