m0hamed

Def WeHo.

The hotel is historic, the rooftop pool has brilliant views over LA and breakfast is brilliant.

We checked out of the Andaz San Diego after 5 mins. Look for my review in the Master Thread.

oliver2002

You can see the view from the corner suite in the vintage photo here: http://www.flyertalk.com/articles/th...l-stories.html

mh4ll

Have others had a similar experience? This sounds terrible, and somewhat surprising given the general good reviews I've seen of this property. Thinking about saying here in March and using a DSU.

Other option is to go to San Diego and stay at the Andaz there, so I'd be very interested in additional comparison info from those who have stayed at both. I am not worried about noise, but quality of room (DSU suite category) is important.

MDWCommuter

Because it was so incredible, when I spoke to the front desk I offered to wait in the room to show her what I was talking about. She declined in a way that suggested this was not news to her. It was like there was a frat party in the room prior to our arrival and they couldn't quite get everything off the walls and put back together.

The bed in the master had shoe scuffing on the mattress as though either the mattress had been drug down the hallway through some muck or people had been sleeping on the floor with their shoes on.

The small bathrooms (ok, so there were two, which was nice) had automatic lighting. Meaning as you walked by the open door the overhead fluorescent lighting in the bathroom snapped to attention as though you were in a dorm. The only fix was to slide shut the paper thin door as you exited the bathroom.

But even if the room had been fully cleaned, the actual furnishings were of such low quality that it was shocking that it was an Andaz. This was our third stay at an Andaz and the other two conveyed a quality level that is commensurate with their pricing. As I said, I was glad to be paying P+C with a full schedule outside the hotel, but had I been paying retail I would have left within the hour.

Let me also add that when we arrived at the hotel the checkin process was so indifferent that it was as though we had walked in off the street to ask to use their bathroom. And then when we arrived on our floor there were PILES of curtains filling the hallway. I understand that hotels have to maintain their properties and that daytime is when that happens, but perhaps the front desk might have mentioned that before we left them? A simple "by the way" would have been sufficient so that we weren't negatively surprised.

In the same vein, within five minutes of sitting down in the room the emergency alert system sounded instructing everyone to evacuate via the stairs. So down we went 11 flights to the alley, walked around to the front of the hotel and into the lobby and back to our indifferent staff who knew nothing of the evacuation nor were they interested in finding out why 25 people suddenly appeared in the lobby. When told the alarm had sounded they said must be a false alarm and turned back to their computers without so much as an apology. Not exactly the Hyatt touch.

Separately each of these don't amount to much, but put them together and you have a really disappointing stay that I won't repeat.

mh4ll

Yikes. Thanks for sharing all those details. I guess this property must have really declined. I can be somewhat tolerant of "soft product" deficiencies, as it's really hit-or-miss depending on the staff you happen to interact with, but a substantively bad hard product is not something I can work with at a higher-end hotel.

I have a very nice BRG rate reserved, so trying to decide whether it's worth a shot, but if your experience is the norm I should stop thinking about it now.

Did you check out the restaurant, bar, and/or rooftop?

MDWCommuter

The lobby really is quite nice and is very promising when you enter. It's a very appealing space and is up to Andaz standards.

We only had breakfast once in the restaurant (out of three opportunities) and I have to say it was good. Wide selection and the waiters we had were the only staff we encountered that made us feel welcome and valued. It's a buffet and we were allowed to order omelets off the menu at no charge.

We did not visit the rooftop - I'm sure it will please as the views really are the best thing about this property.

An additional note: instead of breakfast one morning we ordered coffee via room service as we were having breakfast at Huckleberry in Santa Monica. It was $60. I managed to convince the disinterested staff to consider it breakfast, which surprised me.

777 global mile hound

That's a tough question as they are two very different locations
Andaz San Diego has typically gotten good reviews but consistent noise complaints with the liveliness of the Downtown from a number of guests especially on weekends

Andaz West Hollywood was one of the first conversion properties with the Andaz brand in the US and I'm not convinced they did a solid job from my handful of experiences.
I generally choose the Hyatt Century Plaza or the former Park Hyatt now an InterContinental
The bed was always the too firm for me and too many issues waiting for valet parking and much noise from Sunset Blvd
Towards the end of my staying there I asked to be downgraded to the parking lot view so I didn't have to hear Sunset BLVD loudly
Some like it just as it is but every hotel gets complaints so its really a matter of personal taste and objectives

invalyd

is there a free parking option for (diamond) guests? or do we need to pay for the valet daily?

slippahs

No free option offered to us last month. And in fact, as noted above, they felt they could double and then triple charge us for parking.

rckcmp

Stayed there last November and had a great time. Good location. It was the GFs first time in LA and they even upgraded us to a higher floor for free. Def recommend. The restaurant is great for breakfast too.

Duke777

Just finished a one night stay with my girlfriend. We used C&P + DSU to confirm into an Andaz suite.

Overall, great stay. The service was excellent. The room was massive, and we loved the sun room. Unfortunately, a higher floor was not available, but the front desk did their best to accommodate our early check in and notify us when the room was ready by phone. We received a free bottle of wine for our "disappointment" without any prompting.

The only disappointment was the breakfast. We received two eggs any style plus the buffet. The buffet was fairly limited. We were told that we could use the amenity for up to 4 people.

My GF and I love the Andaz brand. It's everything the W brand should be but isn't. We'll be back to Andaz WeHo next time we're in LA.

elg26

Im staying here next week for 1 night. Currently what is the Diamond Amenity being offered....besides the points? (Timing is perfect as my Diamond Status will expire end of the month...back to Plat)

HAT

Can you still get a free room service breakfast being a Diamond? And is it as good as at the 5th Avenue property?

Duke777

Didn't ask / wasn't offered. Was told we get pantry buffet breakfast with an order of eggs. Breakfast was a let down as the buffet was not expansive like other properties. We may have been able to order off of the menu but it was unclear.

ctbarron

The family and I stayed here a week or so ago for two nights. We had two interior connecting rooms (king and double, view type) on the 10th floor, which was nice with two ~teenage kids. Not a diamond, so no breakfast.

The good first. We arrived a bit early (1:30) after a change in plans, and they readily accomodated us in one room that was ready. The other was ready a couple hours later. Check-in was easy and we had no trouble with the service. The rooms themselves were a decent size, although they desk layout in the double was a little awkward. The furnishings are not in peak condition with a few nicks and scratches, but no problems. The room was clean. The view from the sunrooms is really neat. You have a nice view of the city, and can see all the way to the ocean. There are comfortable chairs to lounge around in as well. Wifi was fast. Bathrooms are a little small, but I liked it as I think huge bathrooms are a waste of space. The kids liked the orange curio dogs.

The lobby and other shared spaces are good for hanging around. There is a lot of space, and the layout gives some privacy. We spent an hour or so hanging out on the roof by the pool. Again, nice views especially of the hills. It was the quietest spot we found in the hotel. The only downside was the pool bar doesn't open until 5 PM.

The negatives? It is not a quiet, tranquil spot. They don't advertise as such, but keep this in mind. Even on the 10th floor there you could hear street noise and there was a lot of light from a billboard across the street. In addition, people seemed compelled to yell on the elevators. You could hear it coming when waiting from a couple floors away. Weird. We were there in a warm spell (75-80 degrees), and with the sun beating into the rooms they got a little stuffy. There is only a small vent to get fresh air into the room. They also seem to use a lot of cleaner that smells like bleach. When we first went into the second room it was noticeable.

We would definitely stay again. I wound up booking a fairly cheap rate a couple of weeks out.