Review: Andaz Maui At Wailea

I had heard so much about the Andaz Maui, both good and bad, and was keen to check it out myself. We took the ferry from Lanai to Maui, then drove to the airport, rented a car, went to Mama’s Fish House for an early dinner, and then headed to the resort just before sunset. The Andaz is located in Wailea, near the Four Seasons, Fairmont, Grand Wailea, etc.

As we pulled up to the hotel we were welcomed by the friendly bellmen, who valeted our car for $35 per night (there’s no self parking option at the hotel).

At first I was extremely impressed by the Andaz. There was a beautiful path from the hotel’s driveway to the lobby.

Andaz Maui entrance

Even more beautiful was the lobby itself. While most hotels in Hawaii feel (charmingly?) past their prime, the Andaz is only a few years old. Physically this hotel has the most gorgeous public facilities I’ve seen in Hawaii. Not only was the lobby breathtaking, but it had great views of the ocean, and constantly had a breeze thanks to it being open air.

Andaz Maui lobby

I don’t even know how to describe the center of the lobby, which had sand in the middle, but I loved it.

Andaz Maui lobby

Then further into the lobby were several seats and couches overlooking the ocean.

Andaz Maui lobby

Not a bad lobby view, eh?

Andaz Maui lobby view

As a brand standard, Andaz doesn’t have a front desk, but rather the “hosts” invite you to have a seat and check you in there using a mobile tablet, to make the experience feel more personalized. We were checked in by a friendly woman. She confirmed we were in an oceanview room on the top floor (we had booked an oceanview room, so there was no further Globalist upgrade, but I also wasn’t expecting one, since I’ve heard this hotel isn’t good about upgrades).

She also went over the benefits we’d receive due to my Globalist status, including a waived resort fee and complimentary breakfast daily.

She presented us with a card listing all the amenities that come with the resort fee. It was described as “discover a resort fee as unique as you,” which I find to be bizarre. The concept of resort fees is silly to begin with, but to suggest that a fee is as unique as their guests? They must not think very highly of their guests, then. 😉

Andaz Maui resort fee information

In fairness, I was impressed with the number of activities that were including with the resort fee, including outrigger canoeing, a mixology class, pilates classes, etc. I really wanted to do a mixology class, but we ended up being out and about exploring every day, so didn’t have time to take part in any of these activities.

Andaz Maui activities sheet

After being offered a welcome drink and being familiarized with all the details of the hotel, we headed up to our room on the seventh floor.

Andaz Maui hallway

Andaz Maui room exterior

We had been assigned room 710, which was the fifth room on the right.

Andaz Maui floorplan

As much as the public facilities were stunning, the rooms were… not. Let me acknowledge that room design is very much a function of personal preference, and also that I get it can be tough to choose a motif for rooms in Hawaii that’s both elegant and durable. But this room was just drab, in my opinion.

There was an entryway with the bathroom to the left and the rest of the room straight ahead.

Andaz Maui ocean view room entryway

Andaz Maui ocean view room entryway

The room was just so boring, and the lack of any sort of carpet didn’t help either. I felt like they used the cheap tile that you’d expect to find in an outdated Florida condo.

Andaz Maui ocean view room

Where do we start? The mattress wasn’t comfortable, and the bedding was low quality. Usually I look forward to getting into bed at night in a resort, while this had to be the least comfortable bed I’ve slept in at a self proclaimed luxury hotel in a long time.

Andaz Maui ocean view room

Andaz Maui ocean view room

Along one wall of the room was a cream colored chair with an ottoman (which doesn’t seem like a smart color to use for a chair in a hotel room), as well as a wooden desk with a chair.

Andaz Maui ocean view room desk & seat

While I appreciated that the desk had a built-in outlet, there was a single outlet here, and no other available outlet nearby (the nearest was on the other side of the mirror). I’m not sure why they couldn’t add a couple more outlets there.

Along the other wall was the awkwardly placed TV and the minibar. The TV seemed to be intended to be viewed from the seat, though you’d think some people might want to watch it from bed as well. While it swiveled, it didn’t swivel far enough to have a direct view from bed.

Andaz Maui ocean view room

Andaz properties offer complimentary soft drinks and snacks, and this one was no exception. In addition to a kettle with complimentary Via Starbucks coffee, there were also macadamia nut cookies and Maui chips. Yum.

Andaz Maui ocean view room kettle & snacks

Then there was complimentary root beer, cola, and pass-o-guava.

Andaz Maui ocean view room complimentary drinks

The bathroom was back near the entrance. The bathroom wasn’t actually fully separated from the bedroom, in the sense that they just had blinds of sorts separating the rooms. You can open those blinds from the bedroom, so it’s easy for the person to play tricks on you while showering.

Andaz Maui ocean view room bathroom

Andaz Maui ocean view room bathroom

The toilet was in a partitioned off area, though the door between the toilet and the rest of the bathroom never closed fully.

Andaz Maui ocean view room toilet

The shower itself was large and rectangular, and quite nice for a standard size room.

Andaz Maui ocean view room shower

Andaz Maui ocean view room shower

Toiletries came in big bottles, and had a nice scent.

Andaz Maui ocean view room toiletries

The closet was also in the bathroom area.

Andaz Maui ocean view room closet

The balcony had a nice view of the rest of the resort, and of the ocean in the background. Gorgeous!

Andaz Maui room view

What wasn’t gorgeous, however, was the cheap patio furniture. Seriously, this hotel tries to charge as much as the Four Seasons next door, and this is the patio furniture they have?

Andaz Maui ocean view room balcony

So yeah, I’m not sure what to say here. I loved the public facilities of the hotel, but I hated the design of the room. Maybe it’s a function of managing expectations, because if this had been a Westin that hadn’t been renovated in many years and was charging more reasonable rates, I might have thought it was fairly nice. But the Andaz is literally trying to charge the same rates as the Four Seasons next door (just do a search for dates in the future and you’ll see), they belong to Virtuoso, and they’re billing themselves as a luxury property, and the rooms simply don’t reflect that. At all.

The Andaz also doesn’t offer turndown service as a standard feature. And even if we’re ignoring the room design, the quality of the sheets and towels was also disappointing. When you’re staying at a nice hotel you want to feel like sheets and blankets are plush, rather than something you’d expect at a limited service property. Anyway…

The hotel offered complimentary coffee in the lobby every morning, and best of all, coffee at the hotel was really good.

Andaz Maui complimentary coffee

The hotel’s breakfast was also excellent. It was served daily at Ka’ana Kitchen, which is located one level below the lobby and has both indoor and outdoor seating.

Andaz Maui Ka’ana Kitchen seating

Andaz Maui Ka’ana Kitchen seating

Since we’re early risers, we always managed to get a table outside, though breakfast did get busy.

Andaz Maui Ka’ana Kitchen seating

The Globalist breakfast benefit at this hotel entitles you to “the breakfast experience,” which retails for $47 per person.

I’l let the pictures of the food speak mostly for themselves, but suffice to say that the selection was excellent.

Andaz Maui breakfast buffet

Andaz Maui breakfast buffet

Andaz Maui breakfast buffet

Andaz Maui breakfast buffet

Andaz Maui breakfast buffet

Andaz Maui breakfast buffet

Andaz Maui breakfast buffet

Andaz Maui breakfast buffet

Andaz Maui breakfast buffet

Andaz Maui breakfast buffet

Andaz Maui breakfast buffet

Andaz Maui breakfast buffet

Andaz Maui breakfast buffet

Andaz Maui breakfast buffet

Andaz Maui breakfast buffet

Andaz Maui breakfast buffet

Andaz Maui breakfast buffet

On top of the food, there was a selection of freshly made juices, and you could even add a turmeric and ginger shot to it.

Andaz Maui fresh juice at breakfast

Andaz Maui fresh juice at breakfast

You could get eggs prepared to your liking as well.

Andaz Maui breakfast omelet

Service at breakfast was consistently friendly and attentive, and I appreciated that they stamped the “18% gratuity included” in such a way that didn’t guilt you into tipping more.

Free Globalist breakfast at Andaz Maui

The hotel’s stunning facilities goes way beyond just the lobby area. The hotel has four layers of pool, which spreads people out and also creates a cool visual effect.

Andaz Maui pools

Andaz Maui

Even though the hotel seemed to be fairly full, there were always plenty of lounge chairs.

Andaz Maui pools

Near the top was the hotel’s outdoor bar, which had live music every evening. Apparently the Andaz has won awards for their cocktails, and I can see why, based on our experience.

Andaz Maui pool bar

Andaz Maui pool bar

This was a beautiful place from which to watch the sunset every night.

Andaz Maui cocktails

Andaz Maui sunset

For what it’s worth, the drink list at the pool bar read as follows:

The food menu read as follows:

In addition to the hotel’s four main pools, there was also an adult’s only pool, which was a bit more secluded.

Andaz Maui adult pool

Past the four main pools was a big lawn with more lounge chairs, and then a path down to the beach.

Andaz Maui lawn near ocean

Andaz Maui lawn near ocean

Andaz Maui walkway to beach

The beach at Wailea was lovely, and we took a walk along the entire length of it every day. Unfortunately you can only walk about a mile or so on the actual beach, as the beach stops to the left of the resort as there are rocks. However, there’s a path connecting all the hotels, and if you take that and walk left, you can walk on another stretch of beach (all the beaches are public).

Andaz Maui beach

Andaz Maui beach

In addition to a spa (which we didn’t use), the hotel also had a 24 hour gym, which was well equipped.

Andaz Maui gym

Andaz Maui gym

Andaz Maui bottom line

The public facilities at the Andaz are gorgeous, from the open air lobby, to the five pools, to the easy beach access. My expectations were exceeded on that front, as I actually thought the public facilities were more beautiful than at the Four Seasons Lanai.

Furthermore, the employees at the Andaz were great. They weren’t quite as polished as at the Four Seasons, but I also wasn’t expecting them to be. Just about everyone at the Andaz was well intentioned, professional, and genuinely seemed to enjoy their jobs, and the hotel deserves a lot of credit for that.

The breakfast was delicious, and a highlight of our stay here.

But then there’s the rooms. Again, it’s a function of personal preference, and maybe others find the rooms elegant. But based on my personal preferences, I thought the rooms were hideous and poorly designed. On top of that, the lack of turndown service and low quality towels and linens are really not okay given how much this place charges.

So would I return? I really don’t know. I’m so conflicted. It this hotel were at a different price point, I’d definitely say yes. But with this hotel trying to charge $750+ for stays in the future, I’d have a hard time justifying it.

I guess the best bet is to redeem points here, because at 25,000 points per night it’s a good value. On top of that, Globalist members get a waived resort fee plus complimentary parking when staying on outright award stays, which would get you even more value (you don’t get the complimentary valet parking when paying for your stay).

I value Hyatt points at ~1.5 cents each, so spending 25,000 points is the equivalent of paying ~$375 per night, and you get the resort fee and valet parking for free as a Globalist member. That’s a decent enough value, but otherwise I don’t think I’d return.

If you’ve been to the Andaz Maui, what did you make of it?