A Long Valentine’s Weekend on Maui at the Andaz
Feb 24, 2014, 10:03 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: SAN/LAX
Programs: UA Gold, VX Silver, HH Gold, Hyatt Gold, JPM Palladium
Posts: 627
A Long Valentine’s Weekend on Maui at the Andaz
Over the last year and a half, I’ve read (and watched) many trip reports, but this is the first one that I’ve ever written, so please be gentle?
About two weeks before Valentine’s Day, I found out that my boyfriend had planned something a bit more than just a nice dinner at fancy restaurant. In fact, he’d made many, many reservations…
Thursday, Feb 13th
On the before Valentine’s Day, my boyfriend’s best friend, his wife, my boyfriend, and I flew UA F non-stop to OGG. The 757 had old-school drop-down TV screens and no Channel 9. (Boo!) I knew better than to even think about the possibility of WiFi access on the 5 hour flight. (Double boo!) There was nothing extraordinary about the onboard service. I just wish that United would put less cheese and some bacon into their breakfast offering.
I’d been to O’ahu before and had heard that the individual islands all have a distinctive feel to them. Just flying over Maui, I could tell that this island was going to be a bit different; a bit more green and less developed.
OGG itself (bottom right of the above picture) is smaller-ish, slightly older, and partially open-air. You do get the feeling that your island vacation’s about to begin just walking through the terminal.
I usually pack creatively in an effort to avoid checking bags, but this time I got talked into taking a larger suitcase. Between the 4 of us, we’d checked 4 suitcases. Three of them we snagged off of the carousel with no problems. The fourth should have come out near the beginning with all of the other priority bags, but it was no where to be found. Everything from my toothbrush, to my bathing suit, and my summer dresses was in that bag.
All but one of the bags (which didn’t look anything like my bag) that had been checked onto our flight had been claimed. The UA rep working at baggage claim informed us that this happens on a regular basis; that people who are excited to start their vacation grab a bag that they think is theirs and head off out of the airport without looking at any tags to make sure that the bag is truly theirs. It was very likely that the unclaimed bag belonged to the person who took my bag. The rep called every contact number that they had for the passenger, but was only successful in reaching voicemail. There’s gotta be a better way to reunite passengers with their checked bags than the baggage carousel.
We left our contact info and started walking towards the rental car shuttles. There was a possibility that the other passenger had hopped on an inter-island flight or a cruise ship, so I was pretty PO-ed thinking of the shopping that would be required if my bag wasn’t returned more promptly. Before we could get on the shuttle, the UA rep called. A woman had returned with my bag and swapped it for her own bag. She’d apparently missed a shuttle that was supposed to take her to a port for her cruise because of the bag confusion. I was less than sympathetic. I’m going to be sticking with carry-ons in the future.
The rental car shuttle trip lasted all of two minutes. It took us longer to board than to drive over, but the walk is a less than a convenient one.
A rooster and his flock of hens seemed to have taken up residence in a grassy area near the car rental office. They were completely comfortable walking among the vacationers who were waiting to pick up their rentals. A small group of younger children was attempting to get the attention of the hens and rooster. I happen to still have some trail mix in my purse. A+B = very happy hens and very happy kids.
It took us about a half hour to drive from the airport to the Andaz. Over the course of the next few days, we’d very quickly learn that many attractions on the island are a good distance away, so renting a car is more than necessary. And sadly, Uber doesn’t operate on the island.
It is very easy to drive past the Andaz driveway. The Andaz, the Marriott, the Four Seasons, and the Fairmont are all next to one another as you head down Wailea Alanui Drive, but the signs for each blend into the landscaping.
Once you do pull in, you’re greeted by the valet staff and the hotel staff. You are charged for parking on the hotel’s property. With the difference between valet and self-park being nominal ($5/day), we opted for valet. A quick call down to the valet desk about 10 min before we were ready to leave again would ensure that our car was out front and ready.
The entrance way is nicely done and has a very relaxing feel to it. You walk along a wide, marble path with a wood canopy above. On both sides there are pools of water with flowering water plants. It’s very tranquil in its own way.
Newly arriving guests are leied, and led into the lobby where the check in process is very quick and seamless. The leis smell fantastic and the staff were exceptionally friendly and helpful. The uniforms can make it a bit more difficult to distinguish staff members from guests, but every time that I found myself in the lobby and looked like I may be uncertain about something, a staff member always quickly approached me and offered to help.
The lobby itself is open-air, spacious, and nicely designed. There is seating and small side tables in clusters all over the lobby. To the left you can see the entranceway. In the middle there is a sizable sandpit with short, wooden, wide seats inside the pit (for those who don’t want to take the 5 min walk to the beach itself?). Behind the pit is a small bar where every morning from about 6:30 until 8:30 AM there was free coffee being offered as well as skewers of fresh pineapple. On the right is where the majority of the seating is since the area overlooks the pools and the ocean. A number of binoculars on tripods were set up on the balcony so that guests could use them to see the whales off in the ocean.
The view from the lobby balcony is fantastic. You get to see the 4 tiers of pools below and the grass which eventually meets the beach.
The hotel itself seems smaller than it really is. Our rooms were in the Hema Wing. It took me a little while to discover the other wings of the hotel. Akau, is likely the most private/secluded wing. My boyfriend had originally hoped to get a suite in one of the villas, but the ones that were finished were already booked. It looked like villas F and E should be finished very, very soon. A private balcony hot tub and a kitchen/dining area would have been fantastic, but I really can’t complain about the room that we did get.
The hallways in all of the wings are open-air and more dimly lit. There were elevators that stopped on the 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 7th floors with open-air seating areas just outside the doors on each level.
Please excuse the fact that this is a picture of the room from the last day and not the first.
The room was well simply, but well decorated. We ended up using the large stuffed chair in the bedroom as a second suitcase rack since we had 2 large suitcases and since any time spent sitting in the room would be in bed or in one of the stylish, metal chairs on the balcony.
The water, iced tea, juice, beer, coffee, hot tea bags, bags of Pop Chips, and KIND bars in the room were free. The medium-sized bottles of harder alcohol were not, but all of it was nicely organized on the shelves and in the mini-fridge by the TV. The TV itself swivels out, so that you can watch it while in bed.
The sheer and blackout curtains let you control the brightness since the white room can easily get very bright. The blackouts are great for sleeping in. All you have to do is hit a small button on top of the nightstand and they’ll roll themselves down.
Above the headboard you can see shutters and a window. Those shutters can be closed or opened. On the other side of the window is a rainfall shower. (Hint: If you're going to be up early/late and don't want to wake a sleeping partner when you turn on the bathroom lights, close those shutter doors before you go to bed.)
I still like the bathrooms in the Aria Sky Suites more, but the space in this bathroom was well used. On both sides of the mirror and bathroom sink were white shower curtains. They divide a long shower stall from the rest of the bathroom. The toilet itself is in a separate room. With the same white paneling on both the bathroom and closet doors and with one being right next to the other, it felt like the toilet room was a bit closet-y. The only thing that the bathroom really lacked was a nice tub, but there was a public hot tub on one of the pool tiers and in the spa.
We decided to spend our first afternoon on Maui exploring the island a bit. We got our car back from valet, pulled out of the driveway, and decided to head... south. A few short miles later, we stopped by Turtle Town in the hopes of seeing some turtles. We found out that it wasn’t warm enough for them to want to come out onto the beach, but that if we wanted to see them, we’d have to go snorkeling. We added that to our possible to-do list and got back in the car.
Having no destination in mind, we kept on driving south and then something weird happened…
For a few miles that is all we saw off both sides of the small, two-lane road that we were on. As alien and mildly-eery as it looked, we were slightly tempted to find a place to park, get out of the car, and explore, but…
We saw other signs along the room which were a bit more frightening and threatening. Apparently there is still munitions debris among those rocks, so stopping and walking about is very, very strongly discouraged.
We kept driving and then…
The scary signs disappeared and a small parking lot by the water appeared. It was stunning.
By this time we were getting a bit hungry, but true civilization seemed nowhere in sight. We’d seen a few fruit stands and food trucks on our way, so we turned around and started driving back. The frozen, chocolate covered pineapple that we first stopped to get was very fresh, but didn’t quite hit the spot. What ended up surprising all of us were the sausages at Bubba’s Gourmet Dog Shack.
No pictures, my apologies… I’d inhaled the sausage before I could even think to take my phone out and snap a picture. This was no ordinary hot dog. The sausage was well seasoned. It was spicy. It was damn good.
We decided to call it a day after this snack and head back to the hotel for some pool time.
There are plenty of pool chairs and towels on each level. There’s a bar at which you can order drinks and some simple food on both the top and the bottom levels or… If you don’t want to get out of the water, staff members are always mingling about the guests checking to see if there is anything that they can get for you.
Just before sunset we left the pools and made our way down to the beach to watch the sunset.
After the driving, exploring, and time spent in the water, we were a bit hungry, but also lazy, so my boyfriend and I decided to eat at one of the two restaurants on the Andaz property - Ka’ana Kitchen.
The dinner menu is pricey and honestly, after having spent the last 3 years eating our way through mainly Los Angeles, but also at nice restaurants in Las Vegas, San Francisco, and NYC, Ka’ana Kitchen’s offerings were a bit disappointing. The menu is designed to feature local farmers and the ingredients were clearly fresh, but the watermelon salad, the grilled octopus, the ribeye, the lobster tail, and farm fruits… Each dish was just nothing exceptional and definitely not worth the cost.
Ka’ana’s Kitchen has both indoor and outdoor seating. There is an open kitchen inside, so all of the guests seated inside get to watch their food being prepared. Outside seating is on a wider balcony area that’s just under the lobby balcony, so you get the same, but slightly lower view of the pools, ocean, and horizon.
We tried to turn down turn-down service, but came back to find that our bed had been made ready for sleeping anyway. After the long day, we weren’t about to argue or complain. Over the next few days, we’d discover that the housekeeping staff was very courteous and very prompt. It seemed like the minute we’d leave, they’d appear, refresh everything, and just as quickly disappear.
About two weeks before Valentine’s Day, I found out that my boyfriend had planned something a bit more than just a nice dinner at fancy restaurant. In fact, he’d made many, many reservations…
Thursday, Feb 13th
On the before Valentine’s Day, my boyfriend’s best friend, his wife, my boyfriend, and I flew UA F non-stop to OGG. The 757 had old-school drop-down TV screens and no Channel 9. (Boo!) I knew better than to even think about the possibility of WiFi access on the 5 hour flight. (Double boo!) There was nothing extraordinary about the onboard service. I just wish that United would put less cheese and some bacon into their breakfast offering.
I’d been to O’ahu before and had heard that the individual islands all have a distinctive feel to them. Just flying over Maui, I could tell that this island was going to be a bit different; a bit more green and less developed.
OGG itself (bottom right of the above picture) is smaller-ish, slightly older, and partially open-air. You do get the feeling that your island vacation’s about to begin just walking through the terminal.
I usually pack creatively in an effort to avoid checking bags, but this time I got talked into taking a larger suitcase. Between the 4 of us, we’d checked 4 suitcases. Three of them we snagged off of the carousel with no problems. The fourth should have come out near the beginning with all of the other priority bags, but it was no where to be found. Everything from my toothbrush, to my bathing suit, and my summer dresses was in that bag.
All but one of the bags (which didn’t look anything like my bag) that had been checked onto our flight had been claimed. The UA rep working at baggage claim informed us that this happens on a regular basis; that people who are excited to start their vacation grab a bag that they think is theirs and head off out of the airport without looking at any tags to make sure that the bag is truly theirs. It was very likely that the unclaimed bag belonged to the person who took my bag. The rep called every contact number that they had for the passenger, but was only successful in reaching voicemail. There’s gotta be a better way to reunite passengers with their checked bags than the baggage carousel.
We left our contact info and started walking towards the rental car shuttles. There was a possibility that the other passenger had hopped on an inter-island flight or a cruise ship, so I was pretty PO-ed thinking of the shopping that would be required if my bag wasn’t returned more promptly. Before we could get on the shuttle, the UA rep called. A woman had returned with my bag and swapped it for her own bag. She’d apparently missed a shuttle that was supposed to take her to a port for her cruise because of the bag confusion. I was less than sympathetic. I’m going to be sticking with carry-ons in the future.
The rental car shuttle trip lasted all of two minutes. It took us longer to board than to drive over, but the walk is a less than a convenient one.
A rooster and his flock of hens seemed to have taken up residence in a grassy area near the car rental office. They were completely comfortable walking among the vacationers who were waiting to pick up their rentals. A small group of younger children was attempting to get the attention of the hens and rooster. I happen to still have some trail mix in my purse. A+B = very happy hens and very happy kids.
It took us about a half hour to drive from the airport to the Andaz. Over the course of the next few days, we’d very quickly learn that many attractions on the island are a good distance away, so renting a car is more than necessary. And sadly, Uber doesn’t operate on the island.
It is very easy to drive past the Andaz driveway. The Andaz, the Marriott, the Four Seasons, and the Fairmont are all next to one another as you head down Wailea Alanui Drive, but the signs for each blend into the landscaping.
Once you do pull in, you’re greeted by the valet staff and the hotel staff. You are charged for parking on the hotel’s property. With the difference between valet and self-park being nominal ($5/day), we opted for valet. A quick call down to the valet desk about 10 min before we were ready to leave again would ensure that our car was out front and ready.
The entrance way is nicely done and has a very relaxing feel to it. You walk along a wide, marble path with a wood canopy above. On both sides there are pools of water with flowering water plants. It’s very tranquil in its own way.
Newly arriving guests are leied, and led into the lobby where the check in process is very quick and seamless. The leis smell fantastic and the staff were exceptionally friendly and helpful. The uniforms can make it a bit more difficult to distinguish staff members from guests, but every time that I found myself in the lobby and looked like I may be uncertain about something, a staff member always quickly approached me and offered to help.
The lobby itself is open-air, spacious, and nicely designed. There is seating and small side tables in clusters all over the lobby. To the left you can see the entranceway. In the middle there is a sizable sandpit with short, wooden, wide seats inside the pit (for those who don’t want to take the 5 min walk to the beach itself?). Behind the pit is a small bar where every morning from about 6:30 until 8:30 AM there was free coffee being offered as well as skewers of fresh pineapple. On the right is where the majority of the seating is since the area overlooks the pools and the ocean. A number of binoculars on tripods were set up on the balcony so that guests could use them to see the whales off in the ocean.
The view from the lobby balcony is fantastic. You get to see the 4 tiers of pools below and the grass which eventually meets the beach.
The hotel itself seems smaller than it really is. Our rooms were in the Hema Wing. It took me a little while to discover the other wings of the hotel. Akau, is likely the most private/secluded wing. My boyfriend had originally hoped to get a suite in one of the villas, but the ones that were finished were already booked. It looked like villas F and E should be finished very, very soon. A private balcony hot tub and a kitchen/dining area would have been fantastic, but I really can’t complain about the room that we did get.
The hallways in all of the wings are open-air and more dimly lit. There were elevators that stopped on the 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 7th floors with open-air seating areas just outside the doors on each level.
Please excuse the fact that this is a picture of the room from the last day and not the first.
The room was well simply, but well decorated. We ended up using the large stuffed chair in the bedroom as a second suitcase rack since we had 2 large suitcases and since any time spent sitting in the room would be in bed or in one of the stylish, metal chairs on the balcony.
The water, iced tea, juice, beer, coffee, hot tea bags, bags of Pop Chips, and KIND bars in the room were free. The medium-sized bottles of harder alcohol were not, but all of it was nicely organized on the shelves and in the mini-fridge by the TV. The TV itself swivels out, so that you can watch it while in bed.
The sheer and blackout curtains let you control the brightness since the white room can easily get very bright. The blackouts are great for sleeping in. All you have to do is hit a small button on top of the nightstand and they’ll roll themselves down.
Above the headboard you can see shutters and a window. Those shutters can be closed or opened. On the other side of the window is a rainfall shower. (Hint: If you're going to be up early/late and don't want to wake a sleeping partner when you turn on the bathroom lights, close those shutter doors before you go to bed.)
I still like the bathrooms in the Aria Sky Suites more, but the space in this bathroom was well used. On both sides of the mirror and bathroom sink were white shower curtains. They divide a long shower stall from the rest of the bathroom. The toilet itself is in a separate room. With the same white paneling on both the bathroom and closet doors and with one being right next to the other, it felt like the toilet room was a bit closet-y. The only thing that the bathroom really lacked was a nice tub, but there was a public hot tub on one of the pool tiers and in the spa.
We decided to spend our first afternoon on Maui exploring the island a bit. We got our car back from valet, pulled out of the driveway, and decided to head... south. A few short miles later, we stopped by Turtle Town in the hopes of seeing some turtles. We found out that it wasn’t warm enough for them to want to come out onto the beach, but that if we wanted to see them, we’d have to go snorkeling. We added that to our possible to-do list and got back in the car.
Having no destination in mind, we kept on driving south and then something weird happened…
For a few miles that is all we saw off both sides of the small, two-lane road that we were on. As alien and mildly-eery as it looked, we were slightly tempted to find a place to park, get out of the car, and explore, but…
We saw other signs along the room which were a bit more frightening and threatening. Apparently there is still munitions debris among those rocks, so stopping and walking about is very, very strongly discouraged.
We kept driving and then…
The scary signs disappeared and a small parking lot by the water appeared. It was stunning.
By this time we were getting a bit hungry, but true civilization seemed nowhere in sight. We’d seen a few fruit stands and food trucks on our way, so we turned around and started driving back. The frozen, chocolate covered pineapple that we first stopped to get was very fresh, but didn’t quite hit the spot. What ended up surprising all of us were the sausages at Bubba’s Gourmet Dog Shack.
No pictures, my apologies… I’d inhaled the sausage before I could even think to take my phone out and snap a picture. This was no ordinary hot dog. The sausage was well seasoned. It was spicy. It was damn good.
We decided to call it a day after this snack and head back to the hotel for some pool time.
There are plenty of pool chairs and towels on each level. There’s a bar at which you can order drinks and some simple food on both the top and the bottom levels or… If you don’t want to get out of the water, staff members are always mingling about the guests checking to see if there is anything that they can get for you.
Just before sunset we left the pools and made our way down to the beach to watch the sunset.
After the driving, exploring, and time spent in the water, we were a bit hungry, but also lazy, so my boyfriend and I decided to eat at one of the two restaurants on the Andaz property - Ka’ana Kitchen.
The dinner menu is pricey and honestly, after having spent the last 3 years eating our way through mainly Los Angeles, but also at nice restaurants in Las Vegas, San Francisco, and NYC, Ka’ana Kitchen’s offerings were a bit disappointing. The menu is designed to feature local farmers and the ingredients were clearly fresh, but the watermelon salad, the grilled octopus, the ribeye, the lobster tail, and farm fruits… Each dish was just nothing exceptional and definitely not worth the cost.
Ka’ana’s Kitchen has both indoor and outdoor seating. There is an open kitchen inside, so all of the guests seated inside get to watch their food being prepared. Outside seating is on a wider balcony area that’s just under the lobby balcony, so you get the same, but slightly lower view of the pools, ocean, and horizon.
We tried to turn down turn-down service, but came back to find that our bed had been made ready for sleeping anyway. After the long day, we weren’t about to argue or complain. Over the next few days, we’d discover that the housekeeping staff was very courteous and very prompt. It seemed like the minute we’d leave, they’d appear, refresh everything, and just as quickly disappear.
Last edited by FTcadence; Feb 27, 2014 at 9:29 am
Feb 24, 2014, 10:17 pm
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: SAN/LAX
Programs: UA Gold, VX Silver, HH Gold, Hyatt Gold, JPM Palladium
Posts: 627
Friday, Feb 14th
I love flying West and hate traveling East because of the time difference. I was up by 5-6am every morning that we were on Maui. Since I was the only morning person of the 4 of us, I’d sneak out of the room and make my way to the lobby. That’s where I discovered that I was far from the only one awake that early. By 6:30-7am, guests (young and old) would be starting their day either by taking advantage of the free coffee and abundant seating in the lobby, by waiting for a tour/class pick-up, or by heading down to the pools/beach.
Every morning I brought my laptop with me to the lobby, snagged a cup of coffee and a skewer for fresh pineapple, and made my way over to a corner chaise to watch the sky get lighter and lighter and get some work done.
For the long weekend, that was my temporary “office” and honestly, I can’t complain about it. Well… I’ll admit that it did take some self-restraint not to shut my laptop and go for a walk on the beach instead, but the FlyerTalk forums never sleep, and I had much Tweeting to do. Those of you who happen to be Twitter users, and happen to follow @FlyerTalk, that’s where the Tweets you were reading were written. I’m very used to writing in 140 character snippets, but this trip report is a welcome change.
The time that I had to get work done was a bit limited on Friday morning since I’d signed up for a romantic breakfast cooking class. The class was scheduled to meet at Ka’ana Kitchen and I was a little sad to discover that only I and one other guest had opted to spend our morning learning and cooking. We quickly learned that in addition to that open kitchen that Ka’ana has, there is a much bigger professional kitchen just behind it where some prep work for Ka’ana is done and where the room service items are prepared.
The hotel’s and Ka’ana Kitchen’s executive chef, Chef Brent, was set to teach the class.
I mentioned that I wasn’t a fantastic cook, but that both my boyfriend and I happen to be big Food Network (and food) fans. If any of you also happen to be Food Network (and especially a Top Chef fan), then you already know one of the small reasons why I was excited to learn that we’d be cooking in Ka’ana kitchen. The last Top Chef season finale was filmed on Maui, at the Andaz, and partially in the Ka’ana kitchen. It was also just cool to be working in a professional kitchen for a few hours. (A first for me…)
On the menu for breakfast were: pork and green onion frittatas, twice fried smashed potatoes, THICK cuts of bacon, chocolate waffles with caramelized bananas, fresh coconut water, fresh fruit juice, a fresh fruit plate, coffee, water, and a bottle of bubbly. With all of that cooking, we didn’t waste much time in the kitchen and so I won’t waste much space posting pictures of me cooking. I’ll just include the ones that make me look a little bada**
I’m very glad that I had help wheeling the very full cart of food up to our room. It made for a great and filling start to the day which was a good thing because we had a LOT planned for that day.
Our first touristy adventure of the day involved a quick drive up to Lahaina. From the marina we took a short boat ride out to a submarine and then drove under the water to check out some of Maui’s marine life. The entire experience lasted about two hours. We spent one hour a little over 100 feet under water looking at schools of fish swimming around 2 coral reefs and a sunken boat. We also ruined a small romantic sharky rendezvous. It was very, very cool.
Once we were back on land, we drove over the Maui’s (and all of Hawaii’s) only commercial pineapple farm for a tour. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting it to be a highlight. I was wrong. Our guide not only proved to be an expert on pineapples, but also kept picking and cutting pineapples until we’d all had our fill. We got to see everything from freshly planted pineapples, to ones that were ready for harvest, to pineapples being picked, washed, packed, and loaded up for shipping. I ran across some Hawaiian Air cargo containers on the farm and asked about where they’re shipped. Much of the crop stayed on the island, but SoCal and many nicer restaurants in farther cities get shipments. We got two pineapples to take along with us at the end of the tour.
If you’re a looking for really nice, but also pretty pricey souvenir… Right by where tour participants are told to park, there is a glass blowing shop. The number of zeros on the price tag would make your jaw drop, if it wasn’t already on the floor because of how beautiful the pieces are. You can also walk to the back of the shop and actually see them making the pieces.
Now that we’d spent some time on land, it was time to go up in the air! We drove to near OGG and found our helicopter tour location. We’d booked a tour with Sunshine Helicopters, but they’re all one right next to the other and it looked like (despite the weather) we were far from the only tourists hoping for a ride.
Our original plan was to fly around the North and South ends of Maui, but it happened to be particularly cloudy and borderline rainy that day, so our plans changed a bit. We ended up flying over Molokai instead. I’m actually very grateful to Mother Nature for the less than optimal weather because it meant that we’d have the chance to quick peek at another island.
All I have to say is WOW. Were Maui felt somewhat underdeveloped and lightly populated, Molokai was even less so. We were told that there are only 7,000 people who live on the whole island and that large areas of the island are just untouched wilderness. From what we saw from the air, it was all lush green and waterfalls. The majority of the waterfalls that we saw were as tall as skyscrapers.
We flew over 4 house with no road that leads to them. The residents need to take a boat to get there. There was one smaller town with a few mom-and-pop shops. The reefs created a tick barrier between the town and the ocean there. Because of the cloudiness we saw multiple rainbows during our flight.
After landing, it was very much time for dinner. There is no luau at the Andaz, but there are easily a dozen different ones at different resorts and locations on the island. With the Marriott practically next door to us, we got tickets to that luau.
Hoping to avoid potential parking issues, we took advantage of the free within-Wailea car service that the Andaz offers and had one the valet guys give us a ride down the street to the Marriott. Oh, the Marriott... I’m very glad that we didn’t spend the weekend there. I’m in my late 20s and can imagine that the hotel was hip and happenin’ when I was just an infant. Now, it’s very much showing it’s age.
None of us were that impressed with Marriott’s luau. There were at least 250 people in attendance. The alcoholic drinks that were included in the cost of the ticket were watered down (yes, yes) and the mixers used were less than appetizing. The buffets of food and desserts was pretty mediocre. The only worthwhile parts were the uncovering of the luau pig and the fire-dancing performer who closed the show.
We called the Andaz drop-off/pick-up service after the luau and headed back to the hotel. While we were out at the luau, an Andaz staff member had dropped rose petals were dropped on the floor leading from the door and left a long-stem rose arrangement on the table alongside a plateful of long-stem strawberries and a pot of chocolate. And that’s how Valentine’s Day ended
I love flying West and hate traveling East because of the time difference. I was up by 5-6am every morning that we were on Maui. Since I was the only morning person of the 4 of us, I’d sneak out of the room and make my way to the lobby. That’s where I discovered that I was far from the only one awake that early. By 6:30-7am, guests (young and old) would be starting their day either by taking advantage of the free coffee and abundant seating in the lobby, by waiting for a tour/class pick-up, or by heading down to the pools/beach.
Every morning I brought my laptop with me to the lobby, snagged a cup of coffee and a skewer for fresh pineapple, and made my way over to a corner chaise to watch the sky get lighter and lighter and get some work done.
For the long weekend, that was my temporary “office” and honestly, I can’t complain about it. Well… I’ll admit that it did take some self-restraint not to shut my laptop and go for a walk on the beach instead, but the FlyerTalk forums never sleep, and I had much Tweeting to do. Those of you who happen to be Twitter users, and happen to follow @FlyerTalk, that’s where the Tweets you were reading were written. I’m very used to writing in 140 character snippets, but this trip report is a welcome change.
The time that I had to get work done was a bit limited on Friday morning since I’d signed up for a romantic breakfast cooking class. The class was scheduled to meet at Ka’ana Kitchen and I was a little sad to discover that only I and one other guest had opted to spend our morning learning and cooking. We quickly learned that in addition to that open kitchen that Ka’ana has, there is a much bigger professional kitchen just behind it where some prep work for Ka’ana is done and where the room service items are prepared.
The hotel’s and Ka’ana Kitchen’s executive chef, Chef Brent, was set to teach the class.
I mentioned that I wasn’t a fantastic cook, but that both my boyfriend and I happen to be big Food Network (and food) fans. If any of you also happen to be Food Network (and especially a Top Chef fan), then you already know one of the small reasons why I was excited to learn that we’d be cooking in Ka’ana kitchen. The last Top Chef season finale was filmed on Maui, at the Andaz, and partially in the Ka’ana kitchen. It was also just cool to be working in a professional kitchen for a few hours. (A first for me…)
On the menu for breakfast were: pork and green onion frittatas, twice fried smashed potatoes, THICK cuts of bacon, chocolate waffles with caramelized bananas, fresh coconut water, fresh fruit juice, a fresh fruit plate, coffee, water, and a bottle of bubbly. With all of that cooking, we didn’t waste much time in the kitchen and so I won’t waste much space posting pictures of me cooking. I’ll just include the ones that make me look a little bada**
I’m very glad that I had help wheeling the very full cart of food up to our room. It made for a great and filling start to the day which was a good thing because we had a LOT planned for that day.
Our first touristy adventure of the day involved a quick drive up to Lahaina. From the marina we took a short boat ride out to a submarine and then drove under the water to check out some of Maui’s marine life. The entire experience lasted about two hours. We spent one hour a little over 100 feet under water looking at schools of fish swimming around 2 coral reefs and a sunken boat. We also ruined a small romantic sharky rendezvous. It was very, very cool.
Once we were back on land, we drove over the Maui’s (and all of Hawaii’s) only commercial pineapple farm for a tour. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting it to be a highlight. I was wrong. Our guide not only proved to be an expert on pineapples, but also kept picking and cutting pineapples until we’d all had our fill. We got to see everything from freshly planted pineapples, to ones that were ready for harvest, to pineapples being picked, washed, packed, and loaded up for shipping. I ran across some Hawaiian Air cargo containers on the farm and asked about where they’re shipped. Much of the crop stayed on the island, but SoCal and many nicer restaurants in farther cities get shipments. We got two pineapples to take along with us at the end of the tour.
If you’re a looking for really nice, but also pretty pricey souvenir… Right by where tour participants are told to park, there is a glass blowing shop. The number of zeros on the price tag would make your jaw drop, if it wasn’t already on the floor because of how beautiful the pieces are. You can also walk to the back of the shop and actually see them making the pieces.
Now that we’d spent some time on land, it was time to go up in the air! We drove to near OGG and found our helicopter tour location. We’d booked a tour with Sunshine Helicopters, but they’re all one right next to the other and it looked like (despite the weather) we were far from the only tourists hoping for a ride.
Our original plan was to fly around the North and South ends of Maui, but it happened to be particularly cloudy and borderline rainy that day, so our plans changed a bit. We ended up flying over Molokai instead. I’m actually very grateful to Mother Nature for the less than optimal weather because it meant that we’d have the chance to quick peek at another island.
All I have to say is WOW. Were Maui felt somewhat underdeveloped and lightly populated, Molokai was even less so. We were told that there are only 7,000 people who live on the whole island and that large areas of the island are just untouched wilderness. From what we saw from the air, it was all lush green and waterfalls. The majority of the waterfalls that we saw were as tall as skyscrapers.
We flew over 4 house with no road that leads to them. The residents need to take a boat to get there. There was one smaller town with a few mom-and-pop shops. The reefs created a tick barrier between the town and the ocean there. Because of the cloudiness we saw multiple rainbows during our flight.
After landing, it was very much time for dinner. There is no luau at the Andaz, but there are easily a dozen different ones at different resorts and locations on the island. With the Marriott practically next door to us, we got tickets to that luau.
Hoping to avoid potential parking issues, we took advantage of the free within-Wailea car service that the Andaz offers and had one the valet guys give us a ride down the street to the Marriott. Oh, the Marriott... I’m very glad that we didn’t spend the weekend there. I’m in my late 20s and can imagine that the hotel was hip and happenin’ when I was just an infant. Now, it’s very much showing it’s age.
None of us were that impressed with Marriott’s luau. There were at least 250 people in attendance. The alcoholic drinks that were included in the cost of the ticket were watered down (yes, yes) and the mixers used were less than appetizing. The buffets of food and desserts was pretty mediocre. The only worthwhile parts were the uncovering of the luau pig and the fire-dancing performer who closed the show.
We called the Andaz drop-off/pick-up service after the luau and headed back to the hotel. While we were out at the luau, an Andaz staff member had dropped rose petals were dropped on the floor leading from the door and left a long-stem rose arrangement on the table alongside a plateful of long-stem strawberries and a pot of chocolate. And that’s how Valentine’s Day ended
Last edited by FTcadence; Feb 27, 2014 at 9:35 am
Feb 24, 2014, 10:21 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: SAN/LAX
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Posts: 627
Saturday, Feb 15th
The following morning I was up early and made my way over to the lobby to get a little bit of work done and to snag another one of those fresh pineapple skewers before heading back to the room for some room service. I was glad not to have to cook this morning, but now knowing that the room service food was made in the back kitchen of Ka’ana Kitchen, I was less than excited about how breakfast might taste. I was wrong… The pulled pork breakfast sandwich and the pancakes of the day (macadamia nut, caramel, and banana) were fantastic.
At 7:30am we were picked up at the front entrance of the hotel by a small bus which was supposed to take us to where another bus would drive us down the Road to Hana. We weren’t expecting to spend the next hour driving around and picking up other passengers had we know, we would just driven directly to the main meeting area, but Polynesian Tours hadn’t given us that option and we didn't know to ask.
If you think that you may possibly at some point potentially maybe get motion sickness, take dramamine. The Road to Hana is a very, very windy 52-mile long scenic one and the trip will take you the whole day. If you’re ever on Maui and decide to do the tour, try to request Bruce. He’s been with the company for the last 7 years, knows the island inside and out and has a fantastic sense of humor that will keep you alert for the whole looong journey. We were still very happy to get out and stretch our legs whenever we could!
We stopped at multiple scenic overlooks along the way. Lunch was included in the ticket price so we stopped at a B&B about half-way into the trip. Later we stopped and took a walk along a black sand beach (OUCH!) and for a swim at the 7 Sacred Pools of O’he’o. Our last stop was at a Maui Winery to try some pineapple wine. Eh. It tasted a bit like a very sweet pineapple that’d passed its expiration date.
If you’re like me and spending most of the day sitting in a bus looking at pretty green and blue scene outside the window isn’t your thing… Go in your own car and drive part of the way to Hana. It is nice, just not worth a whole vacation day.
The following morning I was up early and made my way over to the lobby to get a little bit of work done and to snag another one of those fresh pineapple skewers before heading back to the room for some room service. I was glad not to have to cook this morning, but now knowing that the room service food was made in the back kitchen of Ka’ana Kitchen, I was less than excited about how breakfast might taste. I was wrong… The pulled pork breakfast sandwich and the pancakes of the day (macadamia nut, caramel, and banana) were fantastic.
At 7:30am we were picked up at the front entrance of the hotel by a small bus which was supposed to take us to where another bus would drive us down the Road to Hana. We weren’t expecting to spend the next hour driving around and picking up other passengers had we know, we would just driven directly to the main meeting area, but Polynesian Tours hadn’t given us that option and we didn't know to ask.
If you think that you may possibly at some point potentially maybe get motion sickness, take dramamine. The Road to Hana is a very, very windy 52-mile long scenic one and the trip will take you the whole day. If you’re ever on Maui and decide to do the tour, try to request Bruce. He’s been with the company for the last 7 years, knows the island inside and out and has a fantastic sense of humor that will keep you alert for the whole looong journey. We were still very happy to get out and stretch our legs whenever we could!
We stopped at multiple scenic overlooks along the way. Lunch was included in the ticket price so we stopped at a B&B about half-way into the trip. Later we stopped and took a walk along a black sand beach (OUCH!) and for a swim at the 7 Sacred Pools of O’he’o. Our last stop was at a Maui Winery to try some pineapple wine. Eh. It tasted a bit like a very sweet pineapple that’d passed its expiration date.
If you’re like me and spending most of the day sitting in a bus looking at pretty green and blue scene outside the window isn’t your thing… Go in your own car and drive part of the way to Hana. It is nice, just not worth a whole vacation day.
Last edited by FTcadence; Feb 24, 2014 at 10:38 pm
Feb 24, 2014, 10:36 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: SAN/LAX
Programs: UA Gold, VX Silver, HH Gold, Hyatt Gold, JPM Palladium
Posts: 627
Sunday, Feb 16th
I’m one of those people who is hoping that hotels don’t eliminate room service because one of the perks of being on vacation is the opportunity to have breakfast in bed… without having to first get up out of bed and cook it. Breakfast didn’t disappoint again. The Hawaiian breakfast bento box and spam+egg sandwich were both very good. There’s a small coffee and market just off to the side of the lobby before you hit the Akau wing. That’s where we quickly grabbed some more coffee and a few quick snacks for the road.
I did a little bit of research into the different options that we had when it came to whale watching and discovered something. Many commercial whale watching boats charge $60-$90 a head, load up their boats with 100-150 people, and allot each person only a small space to stand/sit during the whole trip. With whale watching season only occupying a few months out of the year, private fishing boats often join in on the tourist action and also offer whale watching tours. They’ll go out early in the morning to fish with a small number of tourists who came specifically to do that, spend the afternoon making one or two whale watching trips, and then possibly make more more fishing trip in the evening.
The four of us charactered one of these fishing boats (a very nice boat) for 2 hours so that we could go whale watching. Two Maui Fun Charters operators/guides sailed out with us from Ma'alaea Harbor. They’d been fishing in these waters for the past dozen years and knew waters well. It took us a little while to find a group of whales, but once we did… WOW.
We saw fins, backs, and tails come up out of the water. One male breached about 100 yards from us. Another male stuck his BIG, ugly head up out of the water and looked directly at us. He couldn’t have been more than 20 feet away at the time.
We saw the whales swimming below and beside our boat. It was a group of 8-9 males all trying to fight over 1 female. As one whale swam by our boat and took a breath, we very quickly learned that whale breath smells like someone’d left a huge pile of fish carcasses in the middle of a boiling hot desert for a week. Ack!
The best part was… We were more agile than the big whale watching boats. When we saw a whale, we’d change course. We were the only one out there in the middle of this group of whale while all of the other what watching boats were far, far away. Yes, the private charter was a bit more costly ($400+tip for the 2 hours), but the experience was completely different.
After spending the morning on the water and the previous day on a bus, it was time to relax, so hit the spa at the Andaz. My boyfriend and I got a couples massage and it was faaaaaaantastic. I felt myself melt into the massage table.
The massages are very pricey, but the good news is that the rest of the spa (steam room, sauna, hot tub, relaxation rooms) is open to all guests. The hotel don’t exactly publicize that very well, so both times that I was down there, I ran into no one.
We ended the day with dinner at Morimoto's. It was easily the BEST meal that I’ve had in many, many months. We may have gone a little bit overboard, but the four of us wanted to try as much of the menu as we could, so we ordered: two bottles of unfiltered nigori, the spicy king crab, the goyza, the shrimp tempura, two 3oz pieces of the A5 Wagu, a spicy tuna roll, a California roll, a shrimp tempura roll, the Maine lobster, the sweet potato ice cream with fresh fruit, and the donuts.
Shortly a staff member brought out a piece of the Wagu for us to look at, I saw the Tweets about the Ethiopian Airlines start to pop up and knew that I’d have to excuse myself from dinner. I left an empty plate at my spot and asked that everyone who was left at the table put at least once piece of everything that was delivered onto it. I sadly left dinner at Morimoto’s to go read and write Tweets about the hijacking. Now that’s #dedication or #insanity… depending on how you want to look at things.
Thankfully I wasn’t gone for too long and was able to enjoy the rest of dinner. By the end, I found myself wishing for a second stomach so that I could continue to enjoy what delivered to the table. On a scale of 1-5, I give the restaurant a 12.
I’m one of those people who is hoping that hotels don’t eliminate room service because one of the perks of being on vacation is the opportunity to have breakfast in bed… without having to first get up out of bed and cook it. Breakfast didn’t disappoint again. The Hawaiian breakfast bento box and spam+egg sandwich were both very good. There’s a small coffee and market just off to the side of the lobby before you hit the Akau wing. That’s where we quickly grabbed some more coffee and a few quick snacks for the road.
I did a little bit of research into the different options that we had when it came to whale watching and discovered something. Many commercial whale watching boats charge $60-$90 a head, load up their boats with 100-150 people, and allot each person only a small space to stand/sit during the whole trip. With whale watching season only occupying a few months out of the year, private fishing boats often join in on the tourist action and also offer whale watching tours. They’ll go out early in the morning to fish with a small number of tourists who came specifically to do that, spend the afternoon making one or two whale watching trips, and then possibly make more more fishing trip in the evening.
The four of us charactered one of these fishing boats (a very nice boat) for 2 hours so that we could go whale watching. Two Maui Fun Charters operators/guides sailed out with us from Ma'alaea Harbor. They’d been fishing in these waters for the past dozen years and knew waters well. It took us a little while to find a group of whales, but once we did… WOW.
We saw fins, backs, and tails come up out of the water. One male breached about 100 yards from us. Another male stuck his BIG, ugly head up out of the water and looked directly at us. He couldn’t have been more than 20 feet away at the time.
We saw the whales swimming below and beside our boat. It was a group of 8-9 males all trying to fight over 1 female. As one whale swam by our boat and took a breath, we very quickly learned that whale breath smells like someone’d left a huge pile of fish carcasses in the middle of a boiling hot desert for a week. Ack!
The best part was… We were more agile than the big whale watching boats. When we saw a whale, we’d change course. We were the only one out there in the middle of this group of whale while all of the other what watching boats were far, far away. Yes, the private charter was a bit more costly ($400+tip for the 2 hours), but the experience was completely different.
After spending the morning on the water and the previous day on a bus, it was time to relax, so hit the spa at the Andaz. My boyfriend and I got a couples massage and it was faaaaaaantastic. I felt myself melt into the massage table.
The massages are very pricey, but the good news is that the rest of the spa (steam room, sauna, hot tub, relaxation rooms) is open to all guests. The hotel don’t exactly publicize that very well, so both times that I was down there, I ran into no one.
We ended the day with dinner at Morimoto's. It was easily the BEST meal that I’ve had in many, many months. We may have gone a little bit overboard, but the four of us wanted to try as much of the menu as we could, so we ordered: two bottles of unfiltered nigori, the spicy king crab, the goyza, the shrimp tempura, two 3oz pieces of the A5 Wagu, a spicy tuna roll, a California roll, a shrimp tempura roll, the Maine lobster, the sweet potato ice cream with fresh fruit, and the donuts.
Shortly a staff member brought out a piece of the Wagu for us to look at, I saw the Tweets about the Ethiopian Airlines start to pop up and knew that I’d have to excuse myself from dinner. I left an empty plate at my spot and asked that everyone who was left at the table put at least once piece of everything that was delivered onto it. I sadly left dinner at Morimoto’s to go read and write Tweets about the hijacking. Now that’s #dedication or #insanity… depending on how you want to look at things.
Thankfully I wasn’t gone for too long and was able to enjoy the rest of dinner. By the end, I found myself wishing for a second stomach so that I could continue to enjoy what delivered to the table. On a scale of 1-5, I give the restaurant a 12.
Last edited by FTcadence; Feb 24, 2014 at 10:45 pm
Feb 24, 2014, 10:43 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: SAN/LAX
Programs: UA Gold, VX Silver, HH Gold, Hyatt Gold, JPM Palladium
Posts: 627
Monday, Feb 17th
Our last day on the island was a little bit bitter sweet. We had room service for breakfast - a repeat of Saturday’s menu items, but this time the pancake of the day was a berry pancake. I swear that it’s the coconut syrup that makes the pancakes heavenly (and I’m not normally a pancake fan). Check out was a 2, so we spent the morning and early afternoon on the beach. The Andaz does offer paddle board lessons, yoga classes, and free rentals of scuba gear, but none of us had the energy for any of that.
We were a bit at a loss for what to do as far as our last meal on the island since we’d been unsuccessful at booking a table at Mama’s Fish House. (They were booked out for the week!) Since we still had plenty of time before our flight, we went for a drive by the water and just dropped by Mama’s hoping that would take pity on us and find a table somewhere. We were very much in luck!
Their dining room is massive; much bigger than it appears from the outside. While we couldn’t get any of those tables, we were able to snag a table in their “lounge.” It looked no different than a dining room table to us, just perhaps had less of a view? We came for the food anyways and with just one look at the menu, we knew that we weren’t going to be disappointed.
Even after slowly making our way out of the restaurant and returning the rental car, we still had 2 hours before our flight. None of use are HA FFs, so the HA lounge wasn’t an option (not that I believe we missed out on much). We ended up sitting in the small food court and working on our laptops; a big down side of OGG.
On that note, I should close my laptop and get some sleep. If you’ve gotten this far; to the end, thank you for reading!
Our last day on the island was a little bit bitter sweet. We had room service for breakfast - a repeat of Saturday’s menu items, but this time the pancake of the day was a berry pancake. I swear that it’s the coconut syrup that makes the pancakes heavenly (and I’m not normally a pancake fan). Check out was a 2, so we spent the morning and early afternoon on the beach. The Andaz does offer paddle board lessons, yoga classes, and free rentals of scuba gear, but none of us had the energy for any of that.
We were a bit at a loss for what to do as far as our last meal on the island since we’d been unsuccessful at booking a table at Mama’s Fish House. (They were booked out for the week!) Since we still had plenty of time before our flight, we went for a drive by the water and just dropped by Mama’s hoping that would take pity on us and find a table somewhere. We were very much in luck!
Their dining room is massive; much bigger than it appears from the outside. While we couldn’t get any of those tables, we were able to snag a table in their “lounge.” It looked no different than a dining room table to us, just perhaps had less of a view? We came for the food anyways and with just one look at the menu, we knew that we weren’t going to be disappointed.
Even after slowly making our way out of the restaurant and returning the rental car, we still had 2 hours before our flight. None of use are HA FFs, so the HA lounge wasn’t an option (not that I believe we missed out on much). We ended up sitting in the small food court and working on our laptops; a big down side of OGG.
On that note, I should close my laptop and get some sleep. If you’ve gotten this far; to the end, thank you for reading!
Feb 25, 2014, 10:27 am
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: SAN/LAX
Programs: UA Gold, VX Silver, HH Gold, Hyatt Gold, JPM Palladium
Posts: 627
Feb 25, 2014, 11:50 am
#11
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: DCA/IAD
Programs: HH Gold-IHG Plat
Posts: 390
thank you very much for this AMAZING POST. my wife and I are going for our 1 year anniversary, and staying at Andaz for 2 nights and then 5 nights in HNL, we plan on doing the Luau in Waikiki since we have more time there.
we plan on driving on the road to hana, and swimming at the 7 sacred pools as one of the days. how far is Mammas Fish house from Andaz? is there anything to do around there should we book lunch and walk around, or book a dinner and walk around??
any must see things if we are there for 2nights.
we plan on driving on the road to hana, and swimming at the 7 sacred pools as one of the days. how far is Mammas Fish house from Andaz? is there anything to do around there should we book lunch and walk around, or book a dinner and walk around??
any must see things if we are there for 2nights.
Feb 26, 2014, 2:33 pm
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: SAN/LAX
Programs: UA Gold, VX Silver, HH Gold, Hyatt Gold, JPM Palladium
Posts: 627
thank you very much for this AMAZING POST. my wife and I are going for our 1 year anniversary, and staying at Andaz for 2 nights and then 5 nights in HNL, we plan on doing the Luau in Waikiki since we have more time there.
we plan on driving on the road to hana, and swimming at the 7 sacred pools as one of the days. how far is Mammas Fish house from Andaz? is there anything to do around there should we book lunch and walk around, or book a dinner and walk around??
any must see things if we are there for 2nights.
we plan on driving on the road to hana, and swimming at the 7 sacred pools as one of the days. how far is Mammas Fish house from Andaz? is there anything to do around there should we book lunch and walk around, or book a dinner and walk around??
any must see things if we are there for 2nights.
A friend of mine had mentioned driving a rental topless Jeep when she did the Road to Hana. It may not be a bad way to go. ...much better than being cooped up inside. The road is windy, it does become a one-lane road in at least one area that I remember, and it isn't all completely paved, so drive slowly and drive carefully. Consider possibly taking some snacks with you on the drive. Hana's very sparely populated and places to eat are a bit limited. A romantic picnic perhaps? There's a little shop that has really good banana bread on Keanae Peninsula. There should be a few smaller shops in Wailua. Do you you and your wife like hiking? There are numerous State Parks and other areas where you can park and go for a walk/hike.
Mama's Fish House is 22 miles from the Andaz, but it's back towards the airport. Between the view and the food, it might just be a worthwhile drive: http://www.yelp.com/biz/mamas-fish-house-paia-3
I'm not sure when exactly you're going, but whale season should be over by the middle of April and that's when the windsurfing and other water activities pick up much more. (Less of a chance of running into a whale.)
Feb 27, 2014, 2:35 am
#15
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: NJ
Programs: UA 1K, HH Diamond, SPG Gold, etc
Posts: 69
I truly enjoyed your post and wonderful photos! We spent a week at the Andaz Maui in January. Your pictures and narrative refurbished our wonderful experience. It is truly a magical place! Can't wait to return.