Maui Master Thread

[skyguy918]

Im going to kauai from sunday to friday. Trying to figure out what to do that shabbos. I plan on going to molokai on sunday or Monday and then big island from there on wednesday. Flights to molokai are only from HNL of Ogg or ferry from Maui. So I can either stay in kauai for shabbos and fly to mkk with stop over in hnl or go to hnl for shabbos and fly direct to mkk on sunday. Or go to ogg for shabbos and fly or take ferry to mkk

HNL is the only place you'll for sure have a minyan and full Shabbos meals available for purchase, not to mention within close range of many hotel options. If that's important to you, HNL is the way to go.

[gavhaller]

Hey guys I'm still here at the Andaz in Maui. I was here for the past couple of days including shabbos. I'll get around to writing a TR very shortly. Just so busy lately

[sky121]

Hey guys I'm still here at the Andaz in Maui. I was here for the past couple of days including shabbos. I'll get around to writing a TR very shortly. Just so busy lately

Hope you are enjoying! Don't forget pics

[marko]

Hey guys I'm still here at the Andaz in Maui. I was here for the past couple of days including shabbos. I'll get around to writing a TR very shortly. Just so busy lately

Great. Looking forward to some insights into Andaz. I will be going there in a few months

[daganster]

Why in the world do you need to get a place in Kaanapali?

Dan, can you please elaborate? Why get a place in Kaanapali as opposed to what? Maui revealed actually says that the nicest beaches are in the Kaanapali area and/or south Kihei. He says that there are more kid activities in the Kaanapali area. So back to my original question why not Kaanapali? Another thing is I may end up spending a lot of time in condo/resort, so I refer a nice place for the kids. Again,  I appreciate your help, but I need to understand why not Kaanapali, and where to go instead.

[Dan]

Stop worrying about the area, everywhere on the west coast of Maui is perfectly fine.  As I said in the Maui guide, our family rented a condo in Kihei and it was great.

Find a place with nice pics and a good price and stop sweating it.

[daganster]

Stop worrying about the area, everywhere on the west coast of Maui is perfectly fine.  As I said in the Maui guide, our family rented a condo in Kihei and it was great.
Find a place with nice pics and a good price and stop sweating it.

The only problem is that the $200 a night places don't look great, But I'm sure I'll find something

[Dan]

Then you're not looking or negotiating hard enough.

[daganster]

Then you're not looking or negotiating hard enough.

Maybe you're right. What do you think I should be paying for a 2bd a night?

[EandN]

enjoy the Andaz. Do they have anything arranged for electric room keys on Shabbos? Are they any keyed rooms? If not, are they amenable to opening up the room when you need to go in? thanks

[green]

I stayed at the andaz in Maui in the beginning of this past December. It was amazing!!! They treat their guest like kings. Wtvr you need or want, they will give it to u gladly. Don't feel bad to ask for anything specially if your paying a lot.

[mordy2005]

I'm going to Maui in feb
I want to know which spg to stay at the Westin hotel or the Sheraton

[Dan]

I stayed at the andaz in Maui in the beginning of this past December. It was amazing!!! They treat their guest like kings. Wtvr you need or want, they will give it to u gladly. Don't feel bad to ask for anything specially if your paying a lot.

What's with shabbos there?
How much and what kind of automation and sensors are there.

So many people have stayed there already and not a single shabbos report

[Ergel]

What's with shabbos there?
How much and what kind of automation and sensors are there.

So many people have stayed there already and not a single shabbos report

I guess we'll have to wait for yours

[gavhaller]

Hey guys! – My wife and I were in Maui for a week and we stayed at the Andaz in Wailea. I’m going to try and do a full TR and talk about the intricacies of the hotel that we liked, and the things that we didn’t like

(My wife and I NEVER go to hotels, especially since we just became DansFans just a short few months ago. So it really took a lot of paying attention to detail to talk about the issues that came up at the hotel)

I’m going to start off with the Andaz because it was kind of our first experience with Maui. We arrived Wednesday night 1/15 @ around 10pm. It was unbelievable who courteous the staff were when we arrived. They immediately helped with our luggage and were just really exceptional. My wife and I were astounded when we first walked in because of the gorgeous entry way, so our mouths were pretty much wide open as we made our way in. Even @ 10pm the valet’s were standing right by the entrance and talking to us.
-They gave us our leis (which were fresh and amazing!)
-They even asked to take pictures because they say it’s supposed to be an entire ceremony and momentous occasion. (Again, very, very courteous staff)

We walked in and were greeted by a staff member with an iPad – Jill (great hospitality) gave us a quick tour of the hotel facilities, brought us to our room and explained the light switched and the crazy modern technologies and zeh hu.

-   We used hyatt points and fee nights which usually entitles you to the standard room unless you have some sort of suite upgrade thing. Originally we were in a garden room – after I booked it they upgraded us to a partial-ocean view. Then to surprise me, since it was my birthday when we landed, my wife called again and asked if another upgrade was possible since it was a honeymoon/birthday
-   We were upgraded to a full-ocean view
THIS IS A MUST – THE VIEW IS OUTSTANDING

THE ROOM

The room is really cool and interesting – you won’t know how to use the lights if they don’t show you. Everything is operated electrically by panels. My wife and I had trouble getting used to all the switches, It took us around 15 minutes to learn where all the panels were and how to operate them. When we wanted to go to sleep, there was one light that we had no panel for. It took 30 minutes to find the switch which was located behind the light itself. LOL – why there is no panel for that specific light, I don’t know…

Shabbos was a little bit of an issue when it came to the room. First of all, the door is completely electronic – so either you leave the door open, or you have to bug the staff to open the door. (They totally do not mind)
The minibar has a light as well when you open the door. We tried to circumvent the problem by putting tape on the sensor but it didn’t work. Just know that you can’t open it on shabbos.
Also had an issue with the bathroom, as the bathroom has a motion sensor where the light underneath the cabinet turns on when you walk in. Regardless of what we placed in the doorway, or anywhere else by the entrance, the light ALWAYS TURNED ON. (P’sik reisha – I don’t know, ask your LOR.)
Other than that, when we wanted to go to sleep we foud a staff member and tried explaining to them in the most roundabout way ever that its way too light in our room Stairs also have a problem with an automatic sensor for the light i believe. So when you ask the staff to let you in to the room, they took us right to the elevator and brought us to the room. Again - ask your LOR.

A great feature of the hotel is that they refill the minibar every day when they clean your room. Most of the stuff is complimentary except for the alcoholic drinks. So feel free to stock up on the free goodies because they keep on replacing them (Honest ade teas, seltzer, tonic water, pop chips, kind bars, and Virgil’s real cola)

There is also a nice feature that the front panel has when you walk in. It has a privacy button that when pressed, turns on a little red light on the outside of the door. This ENSURES that no staff member will knock on your door or disturb you when in your room. I’m pretty sure they won’t phone the room either in case of any needs.

The balcony (aka lanais) had a stunning and beautiful view from the entire room. (You can see the ocean from the bed and the shower is behind the bed with glass doors. So essentially if you have the shutters/screen/blackout shades open, you can enjoy a beautiful view while you shower. Each morning I opened the screen to the porch and enjoyed the most amazing sunrise. It truly is beautiful.

The bathroom is really modern and has a closet with safe and space for hanging things, there is a separate door for the toilet and an entryway for the shower, (Watch out, I stubbed my toe one too many times on the doorway – about a 4 inch ledge between the bathroom floor and the shower.) The shower is a rainfall shower and is nice, but the shower head in the ceiling is only a small square which might make it inconvenient to take a long hot shower – unless you are standing in one spot the whole time.
- We also had trouble with the hot water, sometimes it was hot and other times it was lukewarm.
Bathroom essentials replaced daily – Towels, soaps, shampoos, and really comfortable robes.

My wife and I had problems with the balcony – for some reason or another we had an ant problem (just on our balcony) we ate breakfast one morning on the porch and within minutes ants swarmed the dropped cheerios on the floor. We called the front desk and it took them 5 hours to come and spray the porch. Same issue happened the next day and they never came. = we complained and got 25,000 hyatt points. Yay!

The hotel can provide kosher food but arrangements need to be made at least 2 weeks in advance (or so they say). I believe they get it from the Chabad and they heat it up for you. You can also have your own food brought in and they can heat it up (DansMeals) – but they charge a fee, I believe its somewhere around $20 per meal – kinda expensive.
As mentioned by Dan earlier my wife and I rented a car and went to Mana foods, and safeway – we got sandwhiches, shmears, yogurts, cereals, and smart deli We also brought prepackaged vacuum sealed deli from shoprite for shabbos – brought it in a freezer chest. We asked the hotel for a seperate fridge when we booked the reservation and it was there even before we checked in!

The hotel
The hotel is beautiful, 3 pools nice scenery, clean and pretty beach. We did not go to the main pools at all because there were a lot of little children and families there and it was a little loud and crowded. But they do have a few bars there and nice scenery and music.
We relaxed by the tranquility which is known as the “adult pool” – no kids allowed, very nice and calm. The second you walk to the pool, the pool attendant comes over and helps you get set up and offers you drink. Water w/ lemon is free of charge
- We had a problem with the pool that kinda bothers us. We went for a night swim (pool is open until 10pm) we got there by 7pm and nobody else was in sight. The pool is supposed to be heated and by 7:15pm it started to get cold already – that was really annoying and there were no staff around and I wasn’t walking around the hotel to go find somebody to complain to when I was soaking wet.

The beach is also nice, the sand it great and warm and clean. There are also attendants by the water waiting to set you up with chairs and towels. The beach staff also have activities such as (canoe rowing? I think) Again, family oriented.
Also, if you need activities to do, the front desk can be really helpful. They gave us a map and showed us all the great things that are MUST DOs on the island.

Amazing perk – they have a laundry room on the second floor that is free!! FREE!!  FFFRRRREEEE!!! (self service only) so if you need to do a quick load or something for kids, its perfect. My wife and I live in a building in Queens with no washer/dryer, so we did our laundry before we left

There is a small shop/market that has some basic essentials and basic food items, but for everything else go to one of the stores listed above and they will most likely have everything. IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO RENT A CAR, the hotel has a special valet shuttle that will take you anywhere in Wailea for free. It usually transports you to the other hotels or to the nearby shopping center that has an ABC store and a mini mart – very overpriced.

Also be aware – it is like a $60 cab ride to the hotel from Kahalui Airport and the charge to park your car (only valet) is $30 I believe.
You can do what my wife and I did and only rent the car for the day you need it from the Hertz Wailea – Marriott edition and return it that night to the hertz parking lot. And get picked up and dropped off by the Andaz valet both ways.
Saving $30? Now were talking…

Hotel usually has kosher wine stocked in case you ask for it. With us they didn’t have so they went to get for us. They came back and told me it was $49 for a bottle of moscato. I said Noooo thank you. Luckily, the night before they had given us a bottle of champagne when we checked in as a gesture for our honeymoon – we brought it back to the front des and asked if we can switch it for something kosher. They did - free moscato

Just remember – the staff are all really, super friendly. At first it’s really sweet and nice. It starts to get annoying. You don’t want random staff coming over to ask you how your day is going. Just my wife and I IMO, they start to seem really fake after a little… LOL

Attatched is a view from our balcony. Enjoy!

[Dan]

Hmm. Wonder if I should switch to the HR Maui for shabbos.

[Something Fishy]

Hey guys! – My wife and I were in Maui for a week and we stayed at the Andaz in Wailea. I’m going to try and do a full TR and talk about the intricacies of the hotel that we liked, and the things that we didn’t like

...

Wow! Great, detailed, report (and the first DDF Andaz one!).

Looking forward to the full TR.

[sam28]

Wow thanks allot for u great trip report . It's really amazing I hope more is still coming activities and pictures.

[momo]

Hmm. Wonder if I should switch to the HR Maui for shabbos.

Just finished shabbos at the andaz papagayo. Had the same exact issues except for hallways. I spoke to the engineer, and they could not have been more accommodating. They came by our room on friday afternoon, and turned off all sensors, over rode the ac lights, doors etc... Dont see why they would not be able to do the same thing in maui

[gavhaller]

Just finished shabbos at the andaz papagayo. Had the same exact issues except for hallways. I spoke to the engineer, and they could not have been more accommodating. They came by our room on friday afternoon, and turned off all sensors, over rode the ac lights, doors etc... Dont see why they would not be able to do the same thing in maui

Its very possible that they could have been able to. I didn't speak with the engineers but I did speak with quite a few staff. The hotel is also very new so its possible they weren't accustomed to the request to have the panels turned off. Its very possible they would since they do try to accomadate as much as possible.