Review: Andaz Maui At Wailea

That room sucks. It's curious that a few of my friends (whose standards are obnoxiously high) had nothing but good things to say about the property. I think they stayed in some form of suite, but still...if that's what their ocean view room looks like how much better can a suite be?

It's interesting to see how different and bland the standard rooms are from the suites. It's ridiculously difficult to not only book on points, but also to secure an upgrade. I was in a plunge pool suite, which is the only class they'll upgrade to, and there are only 3 of them. The room was a lot brighter, felt warmer, and a whole lot more inviting than the standard room looked.

Adjacent properties are the Grand Wailea and Four Seasons Maui. I've stayed at each and although both are 1990s properties that feel of a different era, and service is rather cold and indifferent at the GW, each has larger and more luxuriously appointed rooms, offer turndown service, etc., or at least they did. The problem with a weak room product in a resort is you spend a fair amount of time in your room at a resort. There's no nightlife in Maui, you take naps, etc. The room is a big part of the value proposition. And inevitably those colors and fabrics are going to look dirty and worn in short order.

There is very little new resort product on Hawaii in the last 20 years, especially Maui. Given the cost of land, the ROI is just not there to develop showpiece properties. I was very much looking forward to trying the Andaz, but now I'm rather ambivalent.

Stayed there last November and am headed back in two weeks.

I agree with you on the public spaces, food and the service. The spa was also great.

And personally, I loved the room. I had a suite last time and will be in a similar room to yours this time. Am eager to see your review of the Royal Hawaiian, where the thick carpets, dark wood and walls make the rooms all feel old, and in my experience, smelling of mildew. The Andaz is sleek, I found it comfy, and for a beach hotel, I liked that there was no carpet to fill up with sand and dirt. Yes, it could use more outlets. And if you opened the sliding door and shot a few pics during the day, the room would have a whole other vibe.

Also, the Maile bath stuff is a Hawaiian brand, and they have a big store at the Royal Hawaiian just off the courtyard. I stocked up.

Net net, can't wait to get back. Oh - and am only paying 531 for an oceanfront room the week of Thanksgiving. Not cheap, but not 750.

I’ve stayed in prison cells better looking than that room. Ugh.
Rip off city.
Try Kea lani.

$18 gratuity for a buffet. $9 for a Bud Light. Ugly Room. Bad linens.
The Andaz brand is one of my favorites but this one is a hard pass at $750++/nite.

Beige, beige, and more beige.
I don't think I've ever seen this much beige in one place.

It's beige-tastic!

I enjoyed the Andaz, but agree with your critique. Did you check out some of the neighboring hotels? We stayed at the Marriott after the Andaz and was pleasantly surprised, and a fantastic value at 40,000 points a night.

A+, start to finish..Exxxxcept that room. Good lord.

Having stayed at Andaz's pool side suite, I would have to agree with Neil that I love the design of the room too. Carpet would only make the room musty and dirty especially for a beach resort property. Perhaps it is a personal taste and preference.

Points stay here is a good idea in theory, but this property games award availability as much as any Hyatt in the system by limiting awards to the very small number of "dumpster view" rooms and then imposing ridiculous minimum stay requirements. Want an award for a long weekend or only 4 nights? Sorry, that's not available.

@Lucky

As an advisor who books Maui quite frequently, mostly just at FS and Andaz, no one goes to Maui for the rooms. Even the FS rooms after the renovation aren't great. It's a scene, with great food, great service, and beautiful views. I'm not sure if you/Ford went to FS next door, but the Andaz is a much smaller and more family-friendly friendly property. The rooms might be smaller, but I can't say that the FS has those views/facilities (although their adult pool can't be beat)

Great report Lucky and you're right, the room is hideous and depressing!! The grounds look spectacular though.

The breakfast spread looks great but that plate of salmon leaves something to be desired. I love salmon but they could at least trim the dark part of the meat off instead of displaying it front and center! Minor complaint but still, details matter at a place like this.

The Fairmont just a short distance away has stunning rooms.

Wish the Fairmont Credit Card was still around. Got four free nights in a suite at the Fairmont Maui with free breakfast from the two cards my wife and I got.

Thanks guys, we'll be in Maui next spring, so this comes just right.

Another Hyatt buffet with no sneeze-guards? Pass.

After seeing a guest’s teenage son sneeze repeatedly (5x) into the buffet offerings at an Oahu Hyatt, I’m avoiding buffets without sneeze-guards.

My family stayed in April 2017 and our room was at the end of a hallway with no door closed off from nature. A bird was trying to build a nest in a cubby where our room number was posted (see picture "Andaz Maui hallway" above, there's a cubby that acts as a mailbox). We woke up to loud bird chirping and found a mess of twigs greeting us when we opened our door. Front desk told me that this had never happened...

The glass shower, covered with blinds separates the bedroom space and bathroom. After each shower, water would leak from the most bedroom corner of the shower to an already tight space to walk around.

I agree that our room was disappointing. We decided to stay in our room because we were staying just 4 nights (I didn't want to re-pack) but if we were staying for a longer period, I would've asked for another room. But what if that other room also had problem of its own...sigh. The front desk did compensate us by crediting 2 breakfast meals for each day, which were not included in our package.

I agree with you. I did not like the rooms either (I had the same one you did). I feel the hype is more than the reality with this property. Breakfast was the highlight for me. It went downhill after that.

Most overrated hotel in Hawaii. Won't see my money. Won't see my points.

Is this the old Renaissance that was closed for years?

I really don’t understand why you have taken photos of the room with artificial light. The rooms at the Andaz are not beige at all!

The design is just beautiful. It’s contemporary design, it’s light, it’s airy.

This is one property where the suites and the regular rooms have a huge difference (Even the floor tiles are different, and some suites have white marble walls).

I could agree more with you, Neil S.

The Royal Hawaiian is the classic example of a type of decor I would avoid at all cost. And not very dissimilar to other properties in Maui that we excluded.

The only hotels with decent design we found in Honolulu were The Modern and the Halekulani.

With the beautiful public spaces and grounds, the ugly and cheap looking room is a deal breaker. The Four Seasons Wailea is far superior and so is the Fairmont Kea Lani for that matter.

Why is it Andaz rooms always look like the interior designer gave up and left halfway through?

Waived resort fees on a paid stay while being a globalist? Is that new? Despite asking, I didn’t get those waived a year or two ago so when I was Diamond.

The Fairmont Kea Lani is my favorite! Love it there; rooms are gorgeous; service exceptional, & the property emits class. Beach is nice; not great; but the wife prefers pools. I always say; "if you can't relax here, you may as well end it" Besides, Mama's Fish House, has the best Seafood, on the planet; the Tristan Lobster Tails are euphoric!

Andaz always is a Holiday Inn on steroids. I find them sub par in everyway snd I don’t understand how some of us have orgasms over the concept. They are basic and boring and caters to - in my humble opinion- the person who judges a book by its cover (Millenials).

Wailaya always smelt like an open tuna fish can - to be.

While I can appreciate that the breakfast buffet was very nice, how many people would actually pay $115 for two people for breakfast? I have loved the breakfast in many places like this using elite status to get it for free, but there is not a breakfast on earth that I would pay in excess of $50 for. And don't get me started on including an 18% gratuity on a bill for a buffet, where you, for the most part, serve yourself.

I used to love this property and location when it was a Renaissance. Stayed here once when it became the Andaz and never again, despite my Globalist status. Had a plunge pool suite room, which I found pretty cold and institutional. Furniture looked like a prison with no "soft elements".
Besides the obscene food prices, the place public spaces reminded me of a bad disco next to a convention center. Lots of noisy corporate groups and loud disco "thump-thump" music in the lobby (hardly Hawaiian relaxing resort mood). Have since stayed always at the Fairmont. Cannot say enough positive things about the Kea Lani's ambience, the rooms, the amenities and the staff.

farnorthtrader
I'm with u but unless u want to travel they got u ..The best deal I saw on the High side is Wynn's in Las Vegas yes it was $400 per nite but the breakfast buffet was $27+ and like 5 cafe places u can eat for under $10 + coffee .I stayed down the block but the coffee in the Wynn's was Great $4 and free refills a great view , nice staff and it's easy to tip well .
I'll be in Maui 30 hrs almost FREE to check out the Hotels so I can get the 4th free from Citi in 2019 so I can Afford the Dam place .

CHEERs

I stayed at the Andaz Maui over the holidays using points a few years ago. The rooms available with points are not their premium inventory and face the parking lot, not the ocean. The room itself was nice enough but not really a 5 star luxury type experience. Loved the common spaces of the hotel. The location is good but you do have to drive into town if you want to eat anything other than hotel food. Bottom line, I'd stay there again with points but would not pay the cash rates they're asking these days.

@Lucky, I follow a simple rule ... when I'm spending $$$$ I'll only stay at Aman or Four Seasons, or I know I'm going to be disappointed

And it makes planning a vacation much easier - four websites and you're done

Wow you are kind. It’s one of the worst value propositions I have ever encountered and in general, even with cost aside, just a poor hotel in my view. Who the hell wants to sit by a steeply terraced pool in full broad view of the entire hotel looming above you? Over priced, horrible rooms, Mediocre though well meaning service. Come on. At half the price it would suck but maybe pass, at the prices they charge it’s a sucker bet for sure.

Did I miss any mention of the hotel being the former Intercontinental or Westin or whatever?

I was recently at the HR and found it very nice, and a much better deal on P&C with suite upgrade. (And the self parking is available and reasonable --for Hawaii.)

It's a nit, but the Four Seasons isn't next door. It's a short drive/walk down the street.

..."this hotel tries to charge as much as the Four Seasons next door"

I've stayed at the Marriott (which is the next closest hotel to the south - only a few hundred yards away, if that) and for a fraction of the price you can get almost the same thing you got at Andaz.

If you're going to pay Four Seasons prices, you may as well stay at the FS.

Stayed here for 4 nights in early March 2014 when my husband and I each used our 2 free nights from our Hyatt Visas. Back then we were able to get an OV room that overlooked the tranquility pool (I had emailed asking to not face parking lot ). The layout of our room was a bit better than yours - the minibar & tv were at the end of the desk, so the tv could be viewed from the bed. But that "couch" was really an over-sized lounge chair, not suitable for 2. The outdoor patio chairs you had look more comfortable than the wire chairs we had - we had to use bed pillows to be able to sit on them. Feelings about the room were mixed - furnishings were new at that point, but style was awkward. We didn't have to pay a resort fee at that time, and valet parking was $30 (they missed charging us for one night). Having no status with Hyatt, we did not get breakfast - no way were we about to pay ~$60 (at that time) for 2 of us to eat in Ka'ana Kitchen since we eat very little for breakfast. Just picked up coffee, yogurt, fruit and a muffin from the marketplace and ate out on our balcony. The "real" price of your breakfast experience was shocking - are they kidding? We did the beach walks, but didn't use the pools or gym since we were out and about every day. Self-service laundry was nice to have since this was the end part of 2 weeks vacation. Most likely wouldn't stay here again, unless I could stay on points.

That stay was March 2015...

I'm staying at this property right now - read this review from my balcony overlooking the pools! I agree with the commenters that liked the room design. I am definitely a fan. To me, the tile does not feel cheap at all and given that this is a beachside resort, I think it makes a lot of sense functionally. The beige colors reflect the sand outside. The patio furniture may be cheap, but to me it is not uncomfortable and I am and have been sitting in it as I type. All in all, I think the room feels like an upscale beach house, which works given that we are, after all, on the beach.

My biggest gripe is the layout of the bathroom. I am in a partial ocean view room and our bathroom looks laid out similarly to yours. Long and thin, no towel ring (hand towels hang below the sink, which was not intuitive for me at all). No issue with the towels. I also wish there were self-parking at a $20/night charge. I do not get any value out of valets and actually find the service to be a barrier from me just coming and going as I please. At $35/night, it really is irritating, especially combined with the resort fee, effectively tacking about $80 a night onto your room rate.

I haven't run a rate search, but for our dates the partial ocean view was running at ~$500 per night with the full ocean view maybe $50 more (we booked a AAA rate with the Prestige 4th night free though, so that knocked off about 10%). I think that's a fair price for the property, but then again I don't share your criticisms of the room layout.

The Andaz is a very well designed and beautifully laid out resort. Although it's fairly big, the layout meant I never felt like I was in a crowded resort or busy hotel. The beach is wonderful and although as a Brit I'm not used to 'resort fees' being added on, I didn't mind them as much after taking advantage of some of the things that included, for example, snorkel and bodyboard hire and a mixology class. On the subject of the mixology class, when I first arrived I thought the cocktails were overpriced (even for a resort). Taking the class made me realize that actually, you're getting what you pay for as premium ingredients are used and a lot of work goes into the cocktail menu.

18% gratuity on a buffet breakfast? FFS that is a hard NO! Also, the room looked pedestrian. Good thing Ben can claim his trip as a business expense because one would be a fool to pay more than a couple hundred dollars a night for night there!

Stayed here for 4 nights in August-Sept 2016. Agree with earlier comments - huge difference between the suites and rooms. I got the confirmed DSU pool suite and loved it, but admit the standard room is mediocre.

IMO, the views and public facilities are about as good as you're going to get in Maui, which isn't saying a lot.

I also spent 3 nights in Honolulu at the Royal Hawaiian and hated it - in addition to being badly dated, the service was atrocious. Very interested to hear Lucky's take.

The Andaz Maui has a gorgeous public area layout, but the standard rooms don't measure up. I love the rooms at the nearby Fairmont Kea Lani where the worst room is a very nice suite and the accommodations only go up (to sensational villas) from there. The beach at Andaz is lovely, but I prefer Ka'anapali when I'm in Maui for the beach.

Todd and John, I agree. Pay FS prices and stay at the Four Seasons. Pay Aman prices and stay at Aman. Don't pay those prices and stay somewhere inferior and then complain that they're charging FS/ Aman prices and aren't FS/ Aman quality! If you're getting it cheap or on points then fine, but if you're paying FS/ Aman prices for something inferior then that's just silly

It seems to me that the biggest difference between hotel loyalty programs and flyer programs is that airlines miles can (with just a few exceptions) buy access to the world's best first class travel, while hotel points don't buy access to the world's best hotels. Is that a fair assessment?

Actually, this hotel was a stouffers hotel before renaissance. Worked there for a couple years in the eighties! It bums me out to drive past it now ....of course, locals are not welcome - not like the old days!! We had some real classy people staying there back then ( movie stars and musician ) and they were all wonderful! Now most celebrities own homes in Makena....don't get me started on that.
Do take the ferry to Lanai from Lahaina for the afternoon. The views are spectacular, plus not many people can boost of going to lanai. Don't bother with shipwreck beach. But the Lanai Archery and Shooting range is pretty cool. Don't rent a car! I believe there is a shuttle for small charge.

Wow does that room suck! I've had nicer, more attractive rooms at $65/night hotels. The room feels unfinished, as if it was temporarily slapped together after a typhoon or construction project. Some nice wood paneling or color would have made a huge difference.

And I HATE peek-a-boo bathrooms. I don't want to hear/see/smell what goes on it there.

Also, the 'Resort Fees' and high valet fees are an insult. Perhaps other travelers get suckered into lower room rates, but I always add those fees back into the nightly price when comparing hotels.

I'm often asked about the Andaz, but have only ever seen the suite version of the resort accommodations. Now that I know what the regular ocean view rooms are like, I can refer people to your thorough review. As the south Maui resorts go, Andaz has the most contemporary style of them all, with the terraced pools being the hallmark, and has never struck me as being particularly kid-friendly. I will say that the lowermost pool bar has a lobster melt sandwich that will knock your socks off. Worth a try even if you're not staying there. Mahalo for the info!

We just got back from here, stayed two years in a row (similar room) and it was pretty fabulous. Waring to book for next year. Yep, we are super picky too and used to always stay at Kea Lani but that has gotten run down and while the rooms (all suites at Fairmont Kea Lani) are larger - the closet and storage at Andaz is much larger. The other plus is you don't have to rent snorkel gear or boogie boards, it is part of your resort fee. We love it. With so many pools plus the beach, you can always get a seat. Though I will agree, the outdoor furniture is in need of replacement.

Staying here now. Albeit my tab was comped for the event I'm at...that said its a really great hang. Standard rooms are low key but fine and the overall property is fabulous. 4 pools, beach and as said, great public spaces.

Having just read the lengthy commentary from "Globalist", I couldn't agree more. Some of the complimentary services that were mentioned did not exist for us: there was no coffee in the lobby, though you could buy a cup of plain java for @ $7...., the bedding and pillows were uncomfortable, the layout and furnishing of the room was really awkward, under furnished and well, not pleasant. We did have a coffee maker which was broken, and requests to replace or fix it were ignored. The only snack offered in the room was a bag of potato chips. EVERYTHING was extremely expensive, at least by our standards: e.g., a fifty dollar per person breakfast, before tips? Staff was very nice, grounds beautiful, but I wouldn't recommend the place. As for the lovely pools, the water was cold ! Indeed, our overnight transitional hotel in Portland Oregon, the Radisson, while not elegant, had the most wonderful bed and pillows, a coffee maker , and , my heart be still, even a large fridge and microwave ! Free cappuccino in the lobby? Hmmm! At the Andaz, one real lack, that would have made a big difference, was no lifeguard at the ocean's edge. Couldn't they afford even one? And if you have any issues with walking up hills, as did one of our party, don't expect anyone to offer an assist or provide a brief ride.
Ho hum....

Our room was indeed "beige" in any light. Your concept of the design as "beautiful", "contemporary, " etc., doesn't work for us. It was difficult to even move about in the bathroom, to open closet doors, for god's sake, and we needed "lessons" to just turn on the darn shower. One uncomfortable chair inside? No micro? A coffee maker that was broken and only made espresso anyway? I could go on. Pillows were uncomfortable, and all this for a rip roaring high priced resort, where EVERYTHING was an additional charge, as well. Very nice staff, I'll give them that.

A minor complaint indeed...why bother, when there are so many more major complaints to be made?