After several delays Hyatt finally opened the Andaz Maui At Wailea last night.
Starwood and Hyatt have the most reasonable award redemption rates on the beautiful island of Maui. The Sheraton Maui and Westin Maui go for 12K points per night or 9.6K Starpoints per night if you stay for 5 nights. They also offer cash and point options where you can save half your points by supplementing cash. The Hyatt Regency Maui goes for 22K points per night and they even carry kosher food in their restaurants and give diamond elites a wonderful free kosher breakfast.
But those hotels are located in West Maui where beaches, snorkeling, and swimming are good but just can’t compare to South Maui. In South Maui there is the Grand Wailea, if you have the asinine 70K-95K Hilton points per night that the lackluster property commands. South Maui also has the Fairmont Kea Lani, which is great for lifetime Fairmont Platinums and will get even better thanks to the Willow Stream Spa opening there.
But the modern Andaz Wailea is a real treat for point addicts. Wailea is a beautiful, well-manicured area with awesome beaches and snorkeling. South Maui is also less windy than West Maui and has better weather.
And the Andaz brand is great. I love the Andaz 5th Avenue, it’s easily my favorite hotel in NYC (though I can’t wait for the Park Hyatt NYC to open in 2014!) Andaz hotels have a modern feel and the free minibar and WiFi is always nice as well.
I looked up the night of January 26th for a random mid-winter rate.
-A 2 Queen garden room is $589+tax=$668. Or use 22,000 points for a value of 3.04 cents per point.
-Perhaps the real value is in the Andaz Suite which have a living room, 2 balconies, and an ocean view. The rate for that room is $1,219+tax=$1,383. Or use 33,000 points for a value of 4.19 cents per point. You do need a stay for at least 3 nights to redeem for a suite.
The great thing about Hyatt is that the most any of their luxury hotels can charge is 22,000 points per night for a standard room and just 33,000 points per night for a suite, so there are great values at the high-end. And as long as a standard room or suite is for sale then you can book it with points-no blackouts or capacity controls.
You can earn Hyatt points via the Hyatt Visa though you will earn more points per dollar thanks to superior bonus categories on Chase Ultimate Rewards cards like Freedom, Sapphire Preferred, Ink Plus, Ink Bold, and Ink Cash. You or your spouse will need the Sapphire Preferred, Ink Bold, or Ink Plus to actually convert the Chase points to Hyatt (or any other airline or hotel). Points convert instantly at a 1:1 ratio.
I’ve been to Maui 4 times though I’ve yet to write a trip report about it. Perhaps it’s time?
Didn’t someone just die there snorkeling in Makena?
What type of kosher food is offered at the Hyatt and what is the cost? Also, can you see the kosher food choices on their website?
Thanks.
width and length are regular. They are low off the ground though, in keeping with the modernistic/minimalistic look of the room. I dont care for it. W beds are much much better. I always test the quality of luxury hotel beds thusly. I take a running jump and land on the bed with arms and legs spread. If you bounce: this is a cheap bed. If you are completely absorbed: this is a high quality bed.
In the grand hyatt Kauai we had a huge king bed with a canopy, and chase lounge at the end of it.Truly felt like a king. In 5th ave andaz,we had this short little thing barely two feet off the ground, felt like midget. But this was a regular room, maybe suites are different?
I would love to see a trip report!
@Yaakov:
Haven’t been to the Bahamas since I was a kid. Not my kind of trip.
@yakov1:
Was there something I missed about their beds?
How teeny can a King be?
@YYZ:
I don’t really see the point of Hawaii in the summer, half the fun is getting away from the cold!
The winds are nice (except when they blow you yarmulkah away.
The problem with the winds is that they make for very rough seas which makes snorkeling far less enjoyable. And the beach by the Hyatt Maui is wretched while Wailea’a beaches (and even more so south of Wailea) are just lovely.
The old guy that owns the Olowalu Juice Stand on the highway is an old Israeli and refuses to talk Hebrew.
Dan, Do you really not enjoy the trade winds in west maui? Perhaps you’ve only been there in the winter. Anyway, I have been to maui 4 times, we have stayed in the hyatt regency twice and twice in The Westin Maui. I couldn’t imagine any better weather then what we have there. Never to hot or to chilly, just perfect. The first time we were We booked starwoods under a platinum account and we upgraded to a suite ocean Front, we actually felt like we were almost on the water. Looking forward to read your trip report.
Thinking about booking this. I absolutely loved the hyatt in Kauai, but I’m not such a fan of Andaz 5th ave. (Teenie beds)
YES!! PLEASE write a Maui report I was thinking of going there! Did you ever write a Bahamas report?