My Winter Trip to Asia and Hawaii: The Andaz Maui at Wailea

I started off my two week trip to Asia and Hawaii at the Andaz Maui at Wailea. It quickly rose to one of my favorite hotels I’ve ever stayed in and for good reason. The Andaz Maui at Wailea thoroughly impressed me and I felt that, as far as decor, ambiance, architecture and creativity, they got everything exactly right. I used Hyatt free night certificates and Hyatt Gold Passport points and managed to spend my time in Maui in a $1200 a night “Andaz Suite.” Standard rooms normally cost $400-$700 depending on season, but there are plenty of opportunities to use points. I would return to this hotel in a heartbeat for my next Hawaiian vacation!

Trip Report Index

• Planning with Miles and Points

• The Andaz Maui at Wailea

• Restaurants at the Andaz Maui at Wailea

• Maui’s Haleakala, Ho’okipa and the Road to Hana

• The Grand Hyatt Kauai

• Wamea Canyon, Wailua River and Na Pali Coast in Kauai

• A Day in Singapore

• Redeeming Barclaycard Arrival Miles To Fly Singapore to Phuket

• A $3250 Stay at Le Meridien Phuket with Points

Although the hotel has 290 rooms, the “being at a hotel” feeling never truly sinks in. The Andaz is run with the idea of having an intimate personal relationship ambiance and is intended to give you the feeling of visiting a good friend’s villa in a beautiful island location. Before I arrived, I called a few times to make arrangements and they already had my cell phone number saved so I never had to identify myself when I called again – a very nice personal touch, in my opinion. There is no check-in desk or uniforms. The hotel employees do everything on Mac computers stationed at a nearby table and wear fashionable Tori Richards designs (I found their dresses so cute, I plan to get one myself). The main signature restaurant Ka’ana Kitchen is designed to feel like being in a friend’s kitchen or “at home” at the breakfast buffet.

What impressed me most, however, is the architectural design of the hotel grounds itself. The hotel is built on a hill and. It’s often difficult to overcome the challenge of making the small pool area not feel crowded, especially during those Maui sunsets. However, at the Andaz, the pool area is split into four levels of infinity pools, each having its own private view of the sunset. The designers were creating and took full advantage of the shape of the landscape to make this happen.

How I Paid For My Stay

The Andaz Maui is not cheap and I was very lucky to be able to use points for my three night stay. I applied for the Chase Hyatt co-branded credit card when it used to offer two nights in a suite for Diamond members. I was on my Hyatt Diamond Challenge at the time so was able to get the offer with the suite nights. Right now, the credit card offers two free award nights at any Hyatt worldwide, regardless of membership elite level.

I redeemed my two suite certificates for the Andaz Suite, which turns out to be the most expensive room offered and costs $1200 a night. For the third night, I transferred Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt Gold Passport and redeemed 22,000 points for a standard room. Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be earned with the Chase Sapphire Preferred®, Chase Ink Bold® Business Charge Card or Chase Ink Plus® Business Card and then transferred.

Currently, the hotel costs 25,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points a night for a standard room or 12,500 Hyatt Gold Passport points + $150. I wrote about booking the Hyatt Gold Passport Points and Cash rate and the advantages it offers.

The Lobby

The first point of arrival is the hotel’s open air lobby. It’s located at the very top of the hill and you can see the entire resort including the four levels of infinity pools. When we first arrived, we were offered to sit on the couch while our hosts got us a cocktail to check us in. The lobby has a modern design and the sand immediately makes you feel like you’ve arrived at the beach.

We found ourselves in the lobby quite often. We’d often ask questions to the concierge or be waiting for friends to go have breakfast.

The lobby has different seating areas and our favorite gadget was the binoculars, through which we found several breaching whales right out in the ocean! No need to go whale watching when you have the perfect vantage point right from the Andaz!

The Beach

I’ve been to Maui once before and stayed at the Hyatt Regency on Ka’anapali beach last time. Although you can’t go wrong with either, the two beach areas are slightly different. Ka’anapali Beach is somewhat bigger and is more densely populated with hotels. Wailea is smaller and the water is peaceful with fewer waves.

When I evaluate a beach, I prefer a relatively flat landscape, peaceful water and, most importantly, the ability to be able to walk far along the beach. (You’ll hear me complain about this when I get to reviewing my hotel in Thailand as there, the beach was blocked off by rocks). The beach at the Andaz is on a stretch of multiple beaches so you can walk as far as you like!

The beach has attendants that will put out chairs and umbrellas for if you ask.

The Pools

If it’s one thing that the Andaz Maui has, it’s plenty of pools. As I said, they are very neatly arranged into four levels built into a hill so that each pool has its own personal view of the ocean and sunset.

The very bottom pool is a shallow water pool on the same level at Morimoto’s restaurant. This pool is perfect for children and there are even some “floating noodles” (I don’t know what they’re called) that you can get for the pool.

This pool is surrounded by chairs and relaxing cabanas for shade.

From the second level up is where the infinity pools start and the very top one has a beach bar with live music at night.

Over by the spa and separated from the “main” pools, there is an adult tranquility pool. This picture also shows the mobility chairs that are at various places around the resort to make moving into the water easier. I think this is a great addition and a nice thought to make sure every guest can fully enjoy himself.

The Rooms

The rooms at the Andaz Maui are among the most intelligently designed and comfortable rooms I’ve seen during my travels. Everything is automated: the lights, the blinds, the music. The decor is very modern and has an island feel. Our room had a living room with dining table, a lounge area with TV. Because I don’t tend to spend much time in the rooms, it’s hard for me to get into a long discussion about them. MommyPoints, however, has a super detailed discussion of the rooms and suites at this resort.

Stay tuned for more…

Any great vacation should have some great food! And there was no shortage of that on this trip. I am going to have a separate posts covering the restaurants at the Andaz Maui at Wailea. I got to have breakfast at the signature restaurant Ka’ana Kitchen, lunch and dinner at Morimoto Maui and visited Mapato Market. Stay tuned!