Tag Archives: Andaz

Winter Vacation Plans Revealed

Winter vacation plans previews

For a while I’ve been hinting at a warm weather winter vacation for my wife and me. We finally got the plans finalized and over the weekend I posted a few teasers on the ValueTactics Facebook page.

I showed a few screenshots of our online bookings. I blurred out the locations but astute observers will notice the flights were on American Airlines and the hotel booking was at a Hyatt property. So that narrows it down to about 1,850 destinations. . .

Most of those dots each represent dozens of Hyatt properties. (Courtesy of www.awardmapper.com)

Winter vacation plans revealed!

Some of you already guessed it on Facebook. Good job. 🙂

In early March, we’re returning to the site of this February’s “Long Weekend in Paradise,” the beautiful Andaz Papagayo Peninsula in tropical Costa Rica!

Why Costa Rica?

The planning for this trip was similar to the last time we stayed at the Andaz Papagayo. I can’t typically get vacation time in the spring so we’re limited to winter months. In order to get somewhere unequivocally warm in December through mid-March you have to get waaaay south.

The Caribbean is a tough nut to crack when looking to redeem anniversary nights from the Chase Hyatt card. The anniversary nights are only good at a category 1-4 hotel, which are hard to come by in the Caribbean and Mexico. The eligible hotels in those regions aren’t anything special and aren’t worth the trouble of a short vacation, in our estimation. I wracked my brain looking for other options but all paths led once again to the Andaz Papagayo.

This time around the planning was much harder than last time. I predicted a phenomenon that finally appears to have come to pass. With the Caribbean resort capacity severely diminished due to hurricanes, many vacationers have had to cancel or rethink their winter travel plans. Those who decided to find alternative destinations probably opted for nearby areas that weren’t hit by the storms. Those would include Jamaica, certain smaller islands, and Central America.

I literally couldn’t have done it without a spreadsheet. It was like a linear programming problem!

We planned our last Costa Rica vacation only a week or two earlier than this year’s planning, but this year the award night and flight availability was very slim. I was forced to make a spreadsheet just to organize it all. Eventually the puzzle pieces fell into place and we ended up with a FREE 4 night warm weather get-away!

Our Hawaiian Get-Away 2016

1 Reply

In September of 2016, Nicoleen and I embarked on our long-awaited Hawaiian get-away. This 7-night luxury trip to Maui was our first time to Hawaii, and knocked off one item in my bucket list. It took some advanced tactical planning to get the flights and all the hotel stays to align properly. Read on to find out how we planned and executed our much needed Hawaiian get-away and got $4,152 worth of lodging and airfare for $189 by tactically redeeming miles and free nights!

[Mostly] Free Hotels
Cost Summary

Origin of Concept
The Planning Phase
Cost Breakdown

[Mostly] Free Hotels

After our involved and arduous planning phase, we accomplished our goal of 6 free nights at luxury resorts. Since our flight didn’t arrive in Maui until late evening, we wanted to burn our first night at an inexpensive hotel near the airport. That way we would get to enjoy our whole first day at the Andaz.

With a little help from Tripadvisor reviews (always part of my research) we settled on Maui Seaside Hotel in Kahului. I had an e-mail offer from Rocketmiles for 4,000 bonus miles with my first booking. The price for the room was only $11 more through the Rocketmiles price search. Since I value 5,000 American Airlines miles at far higher than the $11 difference, the offer was well worth it.

– Click for my full review of the Maui Seaside Hotel –

After the brief stay in Kahuilui it was on to the incredibly upscale southwest Maui town of Wailea. There we stayed at the two resorts that our whole trip revolved around. The first was the Andaz Maui at Wailea. The second was the Grand Wailea, a Waldorf Astoria Resort.

– Click for my full review of the Andaz Maui at Wailea –

– Click for my full review of the Grand Wailea, a Waldorf Astoria Resort –

Our hotel schedule looked like this:

1 paid night at Maui Seaside Hotel
4 free nights at Andaz Maui at Wailea
2 free weekend nights at the Grand Wailea: A Waldorf Astoria Resort

Cost Summary

* Add the $95 annual fee on the Citi Hilton Reserve to our lodging cost, if you want to count that.

Points earned on the trip were 4,993 Hyatt points, 4,693 Hilton points, 4,179 American Airlines miles, and approximately 1,500 Chase Ultimate Rewards.

Origin of Concept

I had known about the Chase Hyatt card and the Citi Hilton Reserve card from my early days of credit cards, points and miles. These are very popular cards because of their sign-up bonuses: both cards offer two free nights at any category of property from their respective portfolios. Obviously the value potential when redeeming these free nights is enormous. Each card could conceivably be used for $1000+/night resorts. I briefly discussed the possibilities for these free nights in this post when we first got these cards.

Between two people you’ll have a total of 8 free nights if each of you gets both cards. It’s a little tricky though, because the Hilton free nights are only good on weekends (Fri, Sat, Sun nights). So in order to get 8 nights in a row, you’d have to split your stay at the Hilton in two, with the 4 Hyatt nights in between. We had no interest in switching hotels twice, so our goal was 6 nights split between 4 Hyatt nights and 2 Hilton nights. (We had to do this anyway since I had already used both free nights from my Hilton card on previous trips).

The trick then became finding two amazing properties close to each other, one Hilton and one Hyatt. . .

The Planning Phase

As you may have guessed from the post I referenced above, I had already given some thought to which pair of Hilton and Hyatt properties I was aiming for. There are a number of fantastic locations around the globe with worthwhile resorts from each chain near to each other. But I had my heart set on Hawaii; specifically the Andaz Maui from Hyatt and the Grand Wailea from Hilton’s Waldorf Astoria collection.

The logistics of this trip were quite a feat to sort out . . . but possible with enough research and advanced planning!

The logistics of this trip were quite a tangled mess to sort out . . . but it was possible with enough research and advanced planning!

This trip was a real doozie to plan! I had to coordinate 2 free hotel stays at highly in-demand properties. The dates had to fit with our work schedules. We needed to be reasonably certain we could arrange child care for the dates. Plus, the hotel dates needed to mesh with available flights we could purchase with miles.

Here’s how my thought process worked as I approached this monumental task:

Time window. We got the card bonuses (free night certificates) in December and we had already picked out September or October as our target date range. It’s a good time to visit Hawaii and it’s also a relatively slow time for me at work. A 9-10 month lead time would also improve our chances of finding free nights and flights that all worked together.
Free hotels. There were multiple options for airlines and frequent flier programs to get to Hawaii, but we were aiming for two specific hotels with limited award night availability. I knew that hotels would be the limiting factor, so that’s where I started. The hotel availability was so limited that I didn’t even look at flights at all until I had the hotels set. The free night certificates are completely refundable, so there was no risk to booking them “in the blind” as far as airfare was concerned.
Free flights. Once I locked down hotel reservations and used all 6 certificates, I began the flight search. I checked my usual three: United, American, and Delta. Right away I noticed that most flights from the lower 48 to Hawaii arrive in the evening, and most return flights are red-eyes. That threw a wrench in the plans because I didn’t want to waste virtually the whole first day at one of the awesome hotels by getting in late. So I moved my search for the outgoing flight up a day and figured we could stay the first night in an inexpensive hotel by the airport. I settled on a Delta round trip, which would use up our entire Delta SkyMiles balances. (good riddance!)
Bonus night. Because we would be arriving a night early, we would need to find a hotel for that first night. I had recently seen an e-mail offer for bonus American Airlines miles when booking hotels through Rocketmiles. I found a decent-looking hotel near the airport in Kahului and booked it through Rocketmiles for the bonus miles.
Car rental. We waited a little too close for comfort on this. I think we reserved a rental car less than 2 months from the trip. It ended up working out fine, but we should have taken care of it earlier, to be safe.

The struggle with free nights at the Andaz Maui

Certain Hyatt resorts are notorious for being difficult to book with points or free night certificates. There’s a whole Flyertalk thread devoted to this annoyance. It’s a combination of supply/demand, games some hotels play with room types, and minimum stay requirements. The Andaz Maui at Wailea ranks up their with the worst of them, as it has all three factors going for it.

Example: If I try to book for two nights this coming September, it shows standard rooms available:

Check the box for paying with points and the rooms disappear:

But, if you extend the stay to 5 nights, the rooms are magically available again. This is an example of a hidden minimum stay requirement:

The minimum stay requirement in the example above is probably the one that gets most people. The minimum stays aren’t publicized; you just have to search around for room availability. Some dates it’s 5 nights minimum, others it’s 2, or any other number.

Free night certificates can only be used to book “standard” rooms, which are the same ones bookable with points. This is another way some Hyatts manipulate room availability. They re-categorize a handful of rooms to a “lower” room type and calling that new type the “standard” room. This new room type can exist for reasons such as a less desirable view or being on a lower floor. I call shenanigans!

How we beat the shenanigans and booked the room

With a little help from reports on Flyertalk and blog posts like this one from Million Mile Secrets, I went to book our free rooms. The Hyatt website was giving us the same minimum stay error for our selected dates as shown above. I was anticipating that so I had Nicoleen call the Hyatt Gold Passport reservation line.

The rep put up a little resistance when the same online system didn’t let him book Nicoleen’s 2 night stay with her certificates from her Chase Hyatt card. She played dumb and told him that each night showed up as available when she selected cash as the payment type. And, she reasoned, if the same room type was available with cash, she should be able to book it with her certificates. She was successful. Two down, two to go!

Next It was my turn. I tried the same thing but the rep I got actually cited the 5-day minimum stay. I told him as long as the standard room was available (which it certainly was), I should be able to book it with my certificates. He once again mentioned the 5 night minimum so I had to play my ace: “If it’s not possible, then how did my wife just book the two previous nights? Here’s her confirmation number…” The rep put me on hold and after about 10 minutes a manager greeted me. She said usually it’s not possible, but in this case she would make an exception and book the room for me.

The Andaz Maui at Wailea is such an amazing property, it was worth the extra hassle to hunt and fight for the free night reservations.

Apparently there is a way for the Hyatt customer service reps to book free nights and override the individual property’s minimum stay limit. It might take a few HUCAs (Hang Up and Call Again) but it can be done. Or at least it could be done when we booked this trip. This type of thing is constantly evolving and I would recommend reading recent discussion in the Flyertalk forum for the latest intel.

Booking the Hilton free nights

Using the Hilton free nights from the Citi Hilton Reserve card is actually more restrictive than the Hyatt certificates, but it’s more cut and dry.

Hilton also limits their capacity of points-bookable rooms. On top of the limited supply, they further limit the number of points-bookable rooms at the “standard” award level. These are the equivalent of an airline’s “saver level” award seat. Only the standard room type at the standard award level can be booked with the Citi free nights. One more restriction: the Citi free nights can only be used on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays.

Despite the restrictions, it’s easy to search for available dates. When searching for a room on the Hilton website, check the “flexible dates” and “Hilton Honors points” boxes:

The results will look like this:

You can then click “Forward a week” to scroll through the dates. Standard award rates are always nice round numbers. In the Grand Wailea’s case, it’s 95,000 points. As of right now, September 8th-10th, 2017 is an available weekend stay!

Before booking the Hyatt nights, I had confirmed that the two days following that hotel stay were available weekend nights at the Grand Wailea at standard rates. A few clicks later, and both hotels were booked!

Free airfare (the easy part)

By the time I got all the hotel stays to line up, our dates were the only stretch in our 2 month window that would work. Being tied to specific flight dates typically makes finding free flights more difficult. But we had a few factors working in our favor as well. We had decent balances in all three major U.S. frequent flier programs (United, American, Delta), Hawaii is a popular place to fly, and we were starting our search 9 months in advance.

Right off the bat our specific travel dates narrowed us down to Delta flights. Nicoleen and I had over 90k combined Delta miles. Since Delta has the worst redemption rates in the universe for award flights, our round trip economy flights would cost us 45k miles per person.

The other option was to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards to Korean Air and book the exact same Delta flight for 25k miles per person. (For a full explanation of how this works, check out this post by Milevalue: Guide to Booking Delta Flights to Hawaii for 25k Korean Miles Roundtrip).

Despite living near a Delta hub (MSP) I value Delta Skymiles so lowly, I had previously resolved to use them the first chance I could. So I gave up a potential 50,000 point savings on a 90,000 mile flight in order to get rid of my Delta balance! I had to pay a $120 fee to transfer some of Nicoleen’s miles to me so we both had over 45k. . . and I still think I made the right choice!

My complimentary meal on the 5 hour flight LAX-OGG. The price of flying for free. 🙂

Cost Breakdown

Airfare:

Our outgoing and return Delta flights were both two-leg economy flights with a layover at LAX. The cash value was actually pretty reasonable at $605.01 per person, round trip. We paid 45k Delta Skymiles per person. There was a $120 transfer fee involved in order to get both our account balances up to 45k. We also paid $25 each way to check a bag.

We earned the majority of our Skymiles with the Delta Gold American Express card, which we both got early in our credit card careers.

Lodging:

We stayed the first night of our Hawaiian get-away at the the Maui Seaside Hotel. When all was said and done, it cost us $179. With the stay we earned over 4,179 American Airlines Miles, which is worth at least $50 to me.

Our next 4 nights were at the Andaz Maui at Wailea. We used 4 free night certificates that we earned by each getting the Chase Hyatt card. The cash price for a fully refundable stay at the time we booked the room was $439. With the mandatory valet fee ($25), daily resort fee ($40), and tax, the nightly total would have cost us $540, for a total of $2,160. The resort fee is covered with the free night, so all we had to pay was the valet fee, $106!

The last two nights of the trip were at Hilton’s Grand Wailea, a Waldorf Astoria Resort. The cash price for our room at the Grand Wailea was $327. With resort fee, valet, and tax, two nights would have been $872. Our cost was just the valet with tax: $62.50!

Ground Transportation:

We decided to see what the smaller, non-chain car rental companies had to offer on Maui. Our search revealed some amusing results. One particular company had a category called “old vans” which consisted of early 90’s minivans at a bargain price!

We went with a company called Maui Car Rentals that had Mustang convertibles for less than the price of compact economy cars at the major chain rental agencies. I got this 3-5 year old Mustang convertible that ran and looked great for $223! We got a free ride from the airport and they let us drop the car off at the airport after hours. Maui Car Rentals nō ka ’oi!

We had a running joke with the hotel valet drivers. When requesting our car we told them we had the white Mustang convertible. I think about 90% of the cars on the island were white Mustang convertible rentals!

Conclusion

This Hawaiian get-away for Nicoleen and me was the culmination of a lot of planning. We had this or a similar trip in mind way back when we planned our credit card applications a year prior. The Chase Hyatt card and the Citi Hilton Reserve cards make a potent combination if enough advanced thought it given to the bonus redemptions. For us, the research and planning paid off!

We managed to stay at luxury resorts on Maui that we could have normally never afforded. Throw in the virtually free airfare and the whole trip cost us less than a budget weekend to Florida would have cost!

Another added bonus of virtually free airfare and hotels is the freedom it affords you with other spending. You can splurge on dining and entertainment and not feel guilty about it.

Lobster deviled eggs, Proletariat wood-fired pizza, and the best fries on the planet – at Monkeypod farm-to-table restaurant in Wailea, Maui.

Do you want to learn the tactics we used to plan and execute this amazing Hawaiian get-away? Like the ValueTactics Facebook page, comment, ask, and interact!

For more on this Hawaiian get-away trip, check out these related posts:

Hotel Review: Maui Seaside Hotel
Hotel Review: Andaz Maui at Wailea
Hotel Review: Grand Wailea, a Waldorf Astoria Resort
Comparison: Andaz Maui vs. Grand Wailea
General Tips for Maui
Maui Vacation Field Report #1
Maui Vacation Field Report #2

Hotel Review – Andaz Peninsula Papagayo

1 Reply

We recently spent three nights at the Andaz Papagayo Hotel & Resort in the Guanacaste region of Costa Rica. The trip was an awesome break from the Minnesota winter! Read my trip review here for details on how and why we planned this short, delightful vacation. Experiencing the 90+ degree weather and the luxurious Andaz Papagayo was awesome in and of itself. Paying only $150 for a $1,541 hotel stay was even more awesome!

Jump to section:
Overview
The Room
Amenities
Dining
Cost and Value
Overall Thoughts
Tips for Your Stay

Andaz Peninsula Papagayo Resort Overview

The Andaz Papagayo opened in late 2013, which made it just over 3 years old at the time of our stay in February 2017. There are 153 rooms, 3 restaurants, multiple pools, 2 beaches, a spa, and a kids’ center. The architecture is all naturally inspired and blends in to the surroundings. The resort is located on a steep slope and is positioned lengthwise so that most of the walking is across the slope. Even so, you will definitely stretch your calves at the Andaz Papagayo; ramps and stairways are needed to access most locations.

Cross-slope pathways connect different parts of the resort.

Guanacaste is on the dry, Pacific side of Costa Rica. The weather is heavily dependent on the time of year. They rainy season is May-November and the rest of the year it is very dry. The vegetation is very different from the rain forest only 75 miles away. The forest on Peninsula Papagayo is classified as a “dry tropical” forest, and it becomes mostly brown during the dry season. Despite the thick forest cover everywhere we looked, we saw more cacti than palms! Click here to learn more about the climate in Guanacaste.

The Room

We booked 2 nights with our anniversary free nights from our Chase Hyatt cards, and one night with Hyatt Gold Passport points (15,000 pts). Anniversary free nights and award stays can only book into the standard room, called the “Andaz Double” or the “Andaz King” depending on the bed configuration. We got an Andaz King in building 7.

I was a bit disappointed we didn’t get one of the many rooms with views of the bay I had seen in reviews. Our room looked out into the forest and we could just barely see the ocean through the trees. As our stay progressed I came to realize my disappointment was undeserved.Yes, the view would have been nice, but our room had two advantages the higher up buildings and rooms didn’t have. One advantage was the monkeys! We got very close and personal with the white-faced monkeys that roamed the property. The rooms with balconies above the forest canopy didn’t have our front row seats for the monkey show. The second advantage to our “no view” room was the privacy. In three days I didn’t see a single soul from our balcony or bay window. By the end of the stay I was comfortable changing into my swim trunks anywhere in the room. It also allowed us to fully utilize the walk-through open air shower without fear of being creeped upon.

The rooms at the Andaz Papagayo have a very contemporary, clean design and utilize native wood in the cabinets and other decor.

The bathroom and shower has a contiguous river pebble floor which we really liked. It felt like a mini foot massage with every step! As I mentioned before, the shower has an open design, with a glass door to the vanity area at one end and a large folding door opening onto the balcony at the other end. There’s a removable shower head and a large rain shower head. There was ample space on the vanity top:

The shower with vanity and toilet closet behind. Photo was taken from the balcony.

Our one complaint about the bathroom was the toilet closet. The frosted glass door between the toilet room and the main bathroom area doesn’t seal at the top, bottom, or side. And the frosted glass doesn’t provide adequate privacy. As my long time readers may know, I’m a sucker for sleek design and aesthetics. But there are some cases where function needs to trump design. The poor planning on the toilet enclosure is one of those cases.

The quality of the soap, shampoo, and body wash was a nice surprise. The shampoo was some sort of tingly minty stuff, and the body wash smelled like an entire citrus grove smashed into a tiny bottle.

Like the Andaz Maui where we stayed for free in September, there was a small bonus amenity kit on the bathroom vanity with q-tips, make-up remover, and other such things.

Speaking of small bonus surprises, when we arrived there was a hand-written, personalized note on the desk welcoming us to the Andaz. There was also a plate with three fresh oranges and another plate with biscotti and Nutella. In my book, those little extra touches are definitely worth the resort’s cost, as they make guests feel that much more welcome and special.

Our king bed. The hats (and flip flops – not pictured) were ours to keep.

The king bed was very comfortable, with a nice firm mattress. The lighting options and brightness controls in the room were mind blowing, although with everything on full blast it was still not very bright in the room. We also noticed that two of the light controls in the bathroom (for the vanity sconces and the shower) had their labels reversed. One final nit pick about the lighting is that the snack cupboard light didn’t automatically turn off when the door was closed, as it was supposed to. Being the manly man that I am, I was able to fix the switch in short order. 🙂

That snack cupboard with the broken light switch is one of the trademarks of the Andaz brand. Well . . . the complimentary snacks; not the broken light. Every day the cupboard is refilled with coffee, several kinds of chips, Diet Coke, Coke, Fresca (a citrus soft drink – not the early 90s American Fresca), and bottled water. Like the Andaz Maui, this fridge is not a true fridge, but a cooling cabinet. Drinks get cold but it takes a long time. Unlike the Andaz Maui, this “fridge” was actually large enough to store some of our own drinks.

The clock/alarm/stereo also came in handy. The little unit actually had really good sound with the “Mega Super Bass Enhancer” (or whatever it was called) turned on. It has an iPod dock but can also be used with any 1/8″ headphone jack device (bring your own patch cord). While I’m on the subject of cords, I’ll also mention that the TV has VGA and HDMI inputs, but again: bring your own cord.

Overall the room was awesome. We used every feature of the room: the small table and lounge chair overlooking the bay window, the closets, both balcony doors, the balcony furniture, and the desk. The shower was wonderful and besides the complaint about the toilet closet, the bathroom was functional and convenient. Room service was wonderful. Despite the lack of an ocean view, the monkeys and their antics made us very happy with our room location!

Amenities

Non-award bookings at the Andaz Papagayo Peninsula pay a resort fee which seems to fluctuate with the price of the room. A few sample bookings on the website just brought up nightly resort fees of $37-75, depending on the time of year. The fees cover use of all the facilities (this should actually be considered part of the room rate) and the included beach activities. Award bookings and free nights have the resort fee waived.

Aside from the food and drinks, it feels a bit like an all-inclusive resort. Most of the beach activities are included with the resort fee. At all the pool areas there are towel stands with complimentary fruit-infused ice water and 3 different types of sunscreen. We ended up with some sunburn despite frequently re-applying copious amounts of sunscreen from these stations. There’s a reason why all the locals wear long sleeved shirts and shaded hats; the Costa Rica sun is strong!

Swimming Pools

The zero entry pool in the kid-friendly area. Click photo to see a larger version.

I am in love with the Andaz vision for swimming pools! Like those at Andaz Maui, the pools at Andaz Papagayo are incredibly beautiful. They contribute equally to both the beauty of the resort and to the potential for tropical relaxation.
Andaz Papagayo has two main pool areas. One is a family-friendly pool complex (pictured above) and the other is a single infinity pool in another area, for adults only. The family-friendly area consists of a smaller pool on the highest terrace, with a larger zero-entry pool below it. Another pool is around the corner, directly under Rio Bhongo restaurant.

The adults-only area contains a single swimming pool and is located under Ostra restaurant, at the far end of the resort from our room. We didn’t swim in this pool until our last morning. The distance from our room and the lack of obnoxious kids at the family-friendly pool area gave us little reason to swim here.

The peaceful adults-only pool.

During our stay there were a few little kids in the family-friendly area, but it certainly wasn’t overrun. We spent most of our time in that area since it was right next to the building with our room.

All swimming pools have infinity edges. None are heated, from what we could tell. The signage says the pools close at 9:00 p.m. but upon checking in, our host told us they were open 24/7. Major points for having 24 hour pools! We were however disappointed to find out there is no hot tub on the property. It would have been the perfect place to hang out in the cooler evenings and meet fellow travelers. In fact, the lack of a hot tub was our biggest single complaint about the property.

Beach and Activities

Prior to our trip I read multiple reviews decrying the lack of a good beach. Knowing this ahead of time helped us avoid disappointment, but I have to agree with those reviews. The two beaches at the Andaz Papagayo are small (virtually nonexistent during high tide) and the ocean floor is far from pure sand. On top of that, the water was as cold as a Minnesota lake!

This is as close as we came to swimming in the bay.

However, what the beach lacks in swimming potential it makes up for in interesting flora and fauna. We found tons of little hermit crabs on the sand and on the rocks. During low tide the beach, which is a beautiful blend of tan and black sand, is littered with shells. From the beach we got a good look at many types of lizards, including some 3-4 foot long iguanas. They would scurry up into the woods a second before we would get close enough for a good photo! As a forester, I was interested in the hundreds of different tree species in Costa Rica.

We signed up for a snorkeling tour the first morning of our trip. When we got to the meeting place on the beach, the guide told us she had to cancel the tour because the bay was full of jellyfish. No arguments here! She told us they might be out to sea by early afternoon, but that the wind might be a problem. The danger was getting blown into shore where the rocks are covered with spiny urchins. There were also sharks to watch out for, and tiger eels, and poisonous sting rays, and occasionally deadly sea snakes. . . We decided to sign up for a kayak tour instead, and see the sea life from above the water!

The kayaking tour was pretty fun. They use plastic 2-person kayaks and the tour moves at a leisurely pace. I told Nicoleen not to paddle and I don’t even think I broke a sweat. The tour goes south along the coast and then back. We saw puffer fish, a blue heron, an osprey, and several other kids of fish. The guide talked about the peninsula and Costa Rica in general, focusing on the climate and biology of the area.

Stand up paddle-boarding was also an option and there was some sports equipment on the beach during low tide. Wave runners were also available for rent: $75 for 30 minutes or $150 for an hour. We considered renting one but decided to get in some more swimming pool time instead.

Neither of us used the fitness center or the spa, so I can’t comment on them.

Dining

The resort sits in a fairly remote location on the Peninsula Papagayo. Therefore, guests are pretty much forced to eat at the on-site restaurants. I call this kind of situation “hostage dining.” There are restaurants at the nearby marina and beach club, but online reports indicate they are similar in price to the Andaz restaurants, with slightly less food quality. I can’t imagine a scenario where resort guests didn’t eat at least some of their meals at the on-property restaurants.

The Andaz Papagayo offers three dining choices:

Rio Bhongo is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Chao Pescao is open for dinner, tapas menu, bar is open late.
Ostra is the signature restaurant, open for dinner, reservations recommended

Having known about the hostage dining situation before the trip, we packed a carry-on sized suitcase with snacks, pop, and booze. I used to make fun of people who brought their own food on vacation, but we didn’t do it to avoid local or cultural foods. We did it to avoid $15 drinks and $100 restaurant breakfasts. It did feel a bit lame though, but it did save us a lot of money and more importantly: time. Quick breakfasts in the room meant more time to relax by the pool!

All that being said, we did end up having some meals at Rio Bhongo, so this review will cover the food and service at that restaurant only. The restaurant is next to the kid-friendly pool area and gift shop. Like all of the public areas at the resort, the building is open and airy. Our first night at the Andaz we had a light supper. Nicoleen had pasta and I got the patacones (fried plantain) appetizer. We were both slightly underwhelmed by the food but I was pleased with my first taste of the Costa Rican beer they served.

The fried plantains should have been crispy, but they were tough.

Rio Bhongo also services the pool area during the day. Our second day we split a poolside chicken quesadilla. (I don’t mean to say it was made with poolside chicken; I mean it was served to us when we were by the pool.) The quesadilla was enough for both of us. It was served with the same awesome fresh pico and guacamole I had the night before with my patacones. The quesadilla was above average. But having food delivered right to your face while drinking beer and sitting on a lounge chair by a scenic swimming pool is what really made the small lunch worth the ~$20 charge.

The third and last time we ate at Rio Bhongo was for dinner. I had been craving seafood and Nicoleen wasn’t up to the octopus I had been eying on the Chao Pescao menu. So we returned to Rio Bhongo to discover it was “special grill night.” Two of four selected sides were included with any grilled entree. I got the salmon and Nicoleen got the steak. It was probably the best grilled salmon I’ve ever had. The rice and plantains in maple honey were wonderful as well. In Costa Rica I learned that good pico and guac go with almost anything.

Our only dining regret was not checking out the bar at Chao Pescao on our first night, when we heard the live music from our balcony. Without a hot tub on the property, the live music and evening bar crowd seem to be the only after-dark opportunity for socializing.

Cost and Value

When we planned this trip in late November (3 months prior to traveling) the published rate for our room averaged $405 per night. After adding the resort fee and taxes, the total cash value for our 3 night stay was $1,541.32.

By using anniversary free nights from our Chase Hyatt cards (full review of this card coming soon!) for the first two nights and booking the third night with Hyatt Gold Passport points, we paid $0.00! If you want to include the 2x $75 annual fees we paid on our Hyatt cards to get the anniversary nights, you could say it cost us $150 for a $1,541 stay. Not bad at all!

Rooms at the Andaz Peninsula Papagayo cost 15,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points. This category 4 resort is a definite sweet spot in their redemption table. In contrast, the comparable Andaz Maui at Wailea costs 25,000 per night. The Andaz Papagayo is also relatively easy to book with points. There are minimum stay requirements on some dates, but they are far less restrictive than some other Hyatt properties. With only a three month notice, I was able to find three nights in a row during a peak season. Each night I searched was individually available for a points or free night redemption. No minimum stay requirement blocked my search.

Hyatt Gold Passport is a 1:1 instant transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards. You can get 59,000 Ultimate Rewards with the sign up bonus on the Chase Sapphire Preferred. That’s almost enough for 4 free nights at the Andaz Peninsula Papagayo!

Click Here for my review of the Sapphire Preferred and a link to the application page.
(I earn referral bonus points through the application link, which help to support this site.)

I am very confident this was a worthwhile use of our Chase Hyatt annual free nights. The value of paying the $75 annual fee to get the annual free night is likewise a pretty easy case to make, considering one night here would normally cost over $500. For 15,000 Hyatt points it’s also a steal. A points redemption at the Andaz Papagayo puts Hyatt Gold Passport points at around 3.3 cents each; higher than most commonly assigned values for these points.

Whether or not a stay at the Andaz Peninsula Papagayo is worth the published cash prices is not for me to say. It’s largely up to your personal finances and travel budget. However, I hope this review helps to inform your opinion on how valuable staying here would be for you!

Overall Thoughts

This was our second stay at an Andaz brand resort and we continue to be impressed. Hyatt has really nailed their goal of creating a chic, luxury, boutique experience with this chain. Overall we received excellent customer service. The grounds and facilities are as amazing in person as they look in the photos.

Although this trip was as close to the equator as either Nicoleen or I have ever been, we didn’t get the typical “tropical vacation” feeling we’re used to. Three factors gave the Andaz Papagayo a different feel than any other tropical location we’ve visited:

The brown vegetation. As you can see from my photos, it’s a beautiful landscape but don’t expect many palm trees.
The low humidity. Relative humidity percentages dropped to the 40s and 50s during the day. Nighttime recovery was barely into the 80s. Despite walking up steep hills in the heat and paddling for two on the kayak tour, I think I barely broke a sweat the entire time.
The bay view. The resort is located in Culebra Bay so you can’t see the horizon on the open ocean. Instead, you get what could be described as a lake view.

Although we visited during the dry season and much of the natural vegetation was brown, the resort landscaping did a good job creating a lush atmosphere. Around the resort there are lots of planted trees, shrubs, hedges, and flowers. This landscaping is irrigated so it stays green all year round. The builders must have taken great care to protect the existing vegetation. The resort is only three years old but the mature forest comes right to the edge of many buildings.

During our stay the guest demographics were pretty varied. There were couples in all age groups and a few families with small children. Over half the guests seemed to be American, but we encountered people from Costa Rica, Germany, and Russia as well. This was in sharp contrast to the guests we met at the Andaz Maui at Wailea, who were almost invariably affluent, 20-somethings from either L.A. or New York. The Andaz Papagayo seems to attract laid back travelers of all ages and, of course, fellow points and miles aficionados!

Tips for Your Stay

If you have an upcoming stay at the Andaz Papagayo, here are some tips Nicoleen and I came up with, based on our stay:

There is no hot tub on the premises. Don’t expect one!
There aren’t any publicly accessible ice makers. We called the front desk to have ice delivered and it never came. If you need ice, the bartenders by the kid-friendly pool will fill up any container you bring them.
The sun in Guanacaste is not like the sun in Florida or Southern California. At 10 degrees north latitude it’s very strong. Apply more sunscreen than you think you need!
If you’re on any sort of budget, don’t hesitate to bring some of your own food and alcohol. It seems like a common thing to do at this resort.
All restaurant and bar prices will have a 13% tax and a 10% service charge added to them. We never figured out if the service charge was supposed to cover the tip, so we added a tip anyways. If anyone knows the standard tipping customs in Costa Rica, please explain it in the comments.
The whole beach basically vanishes at high tide, so mind the tide chart provided at check-in when planning beach activities.
Scenery, prices, wildlife, and weather all vary a lot depending on the time of year. Plan accordingly.
Anything left on your balcony is subject to search and seizure by monkeys! Thankfully we realized this without learning the hard way.
Have a back-up plan if you’re signed up for any activities involving the ocean. Weather and sea life conditions may cancel your plans.

🙂 Thanks for reading my review! 🙂

Costa Rica Field Report

The Andaz

We spent most of our short time in Costa Rica at the resort. Overall it met our expectations, which were high. A couple of details disappointed us, but others happily surprised us. I will do a full review of the Andaz Papagayo in the coming weeks.

Morning sun on the zero entry pool at the Andaz Papagayo in Guanacaste, Costa Rica..

That’s all I have to write for this little field report. I need to get back to sitting here, staring at the wall, pondering what kinds of tasty free foods and drinks we’re going to miss out on if we don’t have time to visit the KLM lounge in Houston.

Pura Vida!

Semi-Monthly Update (December 08, 2016)

Credit Card News

General News
There is still time to get the Chase Ink Plus business card with a 60,000 Ultimate Reward point bonus ($5k in 3 mo. spend). This card will be replaced soon with a new Ultimate Rewards earning business card from Chase. The new card is rumored to come with an 80,000 bonus. You can get the bonus on both cards, but not if you wait too long! Apparently sometime before the end of the month, you will no longer be able to get a new Ink Plus account.

Personal News
Nicoleen recently cancelled her Citi Hilton Reserve card. This was the card that got us 2 free nights at the Grand Wailea in Hawaii this last fall. The card’s $95 annual fee was due and the benefits we would get from the card for the next year wouldn’t be worth $95, so she called to cancel. According to reports on Flyertalk, there is rarely a worthwhile retention offer for this card.

Household October Points and Miles Activity

We had a decent month for earning points and miles. Here’s the breakdown:

earned 522 airline miles
earned 4,112 Chase Ultimate Rewards
earned 4,082 hotel points
earned 114 “other” points
transferred 5,000 Ultimate Rewards to Hyatt Gold Passport points
redeemed 15,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points for a one-night stay at Andaz Papagayo (valued at $546.92)
redeemed 114 “other” points (Capital One cash back) for $1.14 cash
redeemed 40,728 Citi Thank-You points for airfare worth $509.10
redeemed 35,000 United Airlines miles for airfare worth $901.40

As you may have guessed from this activity, we have some travel news! Keep reading for the details. . .

Travel News

Big news in the travel department! Those of you who follow me on Facebook have already heard the announcement. After paying the $75 annual fee on our Chase Hyatt cards, Nicoleen and I each had a free night at any category 1-4 Hyatt in the world. However, we really had nothing in mind for these free nights. As inconvenient as it was, we decided we would have to cram in another free vacation before the next summer. This would definitely qualify as a zeroth world problem.

After only an hour of looking up flight and hotel availability, we settled on the fantastic Andaz Papagayo in Costa Rica! Besides our two free nights, we booked an additional night with points to make it a 4 day weekend. Here’s a sample of what our Valentine’s Day will look like!

A refreshing beverage at one of the Andaz Papagayo’s infinity pools. Photo courtesy of VT reader Derek, a return (free) visitor.

New ValueTactics Blog Posts

– Zeroth World Problems is a look at the kinds of “problems” using value tactics can bring you. Examples are deciding where to take your free vacation, or not having your favorite beer available in the free selection during your free airport lounge visit.

Now you’re updated. Go employ some Value Tactics!

Hotel Review – Andaz Maui at Wailea

1 Reply

Our stay at the Andaz Maui at Wailea was definitely one of the highlights of our recent Hawai’ian get-away. The property is beyond beautiful, the beach is top notch, and the service and little extras made the whole stay seem extra-special. The staff made us feel like VIPs, which I guess is to be expected for the $439/night price tag. But this is ValueTactics you’re reading, so we paid $26.25/night! More on that in a bit . . .

Andaz Maui Resort Overview

The Andaz Maui is a new resort, only 3 years old at the time of this writing. Andaz hotels are part of Hyatt’s portfolio and are branded as chic, luxury boutique hotels. The property has 297 rooms and suites, several condos and for-sale villas, 5 swimming pools, multiple dining options, a full service spa, and a full service beach club. Our 4 night stay wasn’t even close to enough time to see and do all this resort has to offer.

Even if we would have had the time (and money) for a larger variety of on-site activities, the resort would have provided enough of a distraction all by itself. In fact, I spent a good deal of my time just walking around in awe, taking pictures of the grounds:

The Andaz Maui is rife with native stone and wood. Like a forest on a foggy day or a scenic mountain vista, the Maui Andaz makes everyone feel like a professional photographer. Everywhere you turn it looks like a postcard. Even the elevator waiting areas and the lobby looked awesome:

View toward the front entrance from the main lobby, where you can find the front desk, concierge, and zen garden.

The Room

Since we booked our stay with free night certificates from our Chase Hyatt cards, we were put in the cheapest room category, a “garden view king”. (For details about how we booked the room, read the trip’s main page and cost breakdown.) We stayed in room 127, which is on the ground floor, facing the pool area, in the Makai wing . The lobby is on the 4th floor so the first trip to the room felt like we were going down to the sub-basement. The whole resort is built on a hill, so what felt like a basement room turned out to be a convenient walk-out right by the pool area! I’m sure the lack of an ocean view is what puts these rooms in the lowest category, but Nicoleen and I both agreed we would take the convenience of the walk-out over the better view any day. Any besides, the view from our lanai (patio) was actually quite nice:

The room is equipped with a large flat screen TV with a fully adjustable mounting arm. The TV inputs are located in the snack cabinet next to it. I wish I would have brought an HDMI cable so we could have watched streaming TV and movies from my laptop.

The microwave and the fridge had to be requested from the front desk (via the bellman) and were subject to availability. If these hadn’t been available, we were going to consider buying one of each from Walmart and then leaving them in the room upon our departure. (I think this is where the hotel’s collection of random microwaves and mini-fridges comes from in the first place.) With a breakfast buffet price of $50 per person, it doesn’t take much math to figure out that even a few meals prepared in the room would be worth the cost of the appliances. Restaurant leftovers could also be kept this way. Luckily they were available so we didn’t have to do the Walmart appliance tactic.

Although the room didn’t have a real fridge, there was a cooler cabinet built into the desk with complimentary Hawaiian pop (yes, it’s called “pop” -deal with it), juice, and gas station-type coffee creamers, which were replenished daily.

The complimentary Maui cookies, chips, and Starbucks instant coffee were also replenished daily. In the lobby brewed Kona coffee was available every morning. If you’re a late sleeper beware though; that coffee is only available until 9:00. I missed the cutoff one morning and had to settle for the instant Starbucks.

Some other reviews I have read complained about the weird layout of the bathroom. The long, narrow shower is between the vanity area and the bedroom, with a full height glass wall looking right into the bedroom. Sliding shutter doors can be closed from the bedroom side for privacy. The vanity top is fairly small, considering the wooden slat construction which isn’t very good for setting small items on. The toilet is in a separate closet room.

I am a sucker for design and aesthetics. I can easily forgive the weirdness and the slight inconveniences of the bathroom for the sake of appearance.

The surprise little amenity kit we discovered on the vanity.

Amenities

Swimming pools

It’s no secret that Hyatt loves to highlight the cascading infinity pools at the Andaz Maui, and for good reason. These are easily the most interesting and unique pools at any hotel I’ve stayed at. And they are more than just architectural art. With a shallow depth and lots of nearby pool chairs they are perfect for wading around, swimming leisurely laps, or leaning on the infinity edge to watch the lovely Maui sunsets. We spent many hours just hanging out by the pools on our first couple days. Of course part of the convenience for us came from our ground floor room. Our drink refills, sunscreen, and e-book readers were a quick 10 second walk away.

The hot tub and surrounding pool are open 24 hours, which is a feature I would have appreciated on many hotel stays elsewhere. There is a separate pool with half submerged lounge chairs that is for adults only. During our stay the “adults only” was pretty much a joke since we saw 3 kids, all infants or toddlers, the entire time. The bottom pool is zero entry, which is a nice feature, frequently enjoyed by those 3 toddlers and their moms.

Zero-entry pool

The towel stations were well stocked and also had complimentary sunscreen and infused water available. Pool attendants put seat covers on our pool chairs upon request. We never had a problem finding open chairs by the pool. However the hotel was not fully booked during our stay and we usually went out to the pool before most other guests, so take that for what it’s worth.

Beach and Water Activities

Wailea Beach is supposedly rated one of the best in the world. From my somewhat limited experience, the high rating is definitely justified. The water was warm, clear, and the beach was 100% soft sand with absolutely no washed up plant matter. (And that’s saying something, considering we were there a week after a passing hurricane caused some rain and wind.) Great snorkeling reefs are scattered around the resort area, all accessible from shore. The beach in front of the Andaz is sandwiched between two such reefs. The surf was calm to start the day but as the day wore on it got up a bit, enough to do some body surfing by the afternoon, but never too wild to casually swim just out from the breaking waves.

The $40/night resort fee at the Andaz Maui (covered for us since we booked with free night certificates) includes most of the offered rentals and beach activities.

One morning we went on the outrigger canoe trip. It’s a 30 minute tour with a guide. (When you turn in your paddles to the rental hut, there is a chance to charge the guide’s tip to your sign-out slip.) We went a short way down the shore, past some neighboring properties. The guide pointed out some good snorkeling spots, talked about the other visible islands, and gave us a run down on what sea life we were likely to see at the current time of year. We were lucky enough to see a sea turtle- something on my bucket list for the trip. He was hanging out on the surface just ahead of us when the guide pointed him out. He then swam down and surfaced between the outrigger and my spot on the canoe, 2 feet away from me! He looked right at me and waved “hi” one time before diving down again.

We also took advantage of the snorkel gear and boogie board rental. The apparently world class snorkeling, however, was ruined by murky waters caused by recent torrential rains. Some people we talked to reported better luck snorkeling with a paid, off-shore excursion. We considered one of those tours but never got around to it.

This doctored photo shows how crummy the water conditions were for snorkeling. We did see a lot of colorful fish, but we’ll have to wait til next time for the whole experience!

Other Amenities

Another benefit included in the resort fee is complementary GoPro camera rentals, available at the concierge desk. GoPros are available from 6:00 in the morning until 8:00 at night, and are first come, first served. The camera came with a waterproof case, which was the main reason we wanted it. The photos above of our snorkeling attempt were taken on the GoPro. We also took it to nearby Makena Beach, more commonly known as “Big Beach.” The surf was much bigger here than at the hotel, and we got some pretty cool pictures with the GoPro.

The concierge gave us a map and some tips for our trip to watch the sunrise on Haleakala. If you want to call it an amenity, we also used the [mandatory] valet parking. Getting our car was usually pretty fast, under 5 minutes. The only time it was a bit longer (10-15 minutes) was when we left around 4:30 PM for dinner one afternoon. The valet drivers were courteous and always offered to put our convertible top up or down for us, depending on whether we were picking up or dropping off. One thing to note is that calling ahead to say that we were coming for our car seemed to do absolutely nothing to reduce the wait time. The valet fee is $25 per night and there is no self-parking option at the hotel. This was the only expense not covered by the free night certificates!

There is a 24 hour convenience store connected to the lobby, but most prices are even higher than you would imagine. Nicoleen went there to look for sunglasses after she lost hers and the selection was mostly Maui Jim brand, most with a $250+ price tag. On someone else’s review I saw a photo of a $24 six pack of Bud Light cans in this store.

Neither of us used the fitness center or the spa, so I can’t comment on them.

Dining

After a quick glance at the menu prices on the Andaz Maui website before our trip, we realized we wouldn’t be doing a lot of on-site dining. The breakfast is $50/person, cocktails are $17, and appetizers are in the $15-30 range. Needless to say, a dinner for two would easily be over $125 . . . and that would be on the cheap end.

We never ate a sit-down meal at any of the on-site dining choices, but we did order a poolside snack one day. Menus from Bumbye Beach Bar (located by the zero entry pool) were brought around daily to sun worshipers by the pool. Nicoleen had her heart set on the waffle fries she had seen (and smelled) others eating. And I ordered a Pimm’s Rangoon; that 10 second walk to the room to get a drink refresh was looking pretty arduous at the time 😉 The cocktail was good but unremarkable. Same goes for the fries. With tip the damage was $30. We figured it was OK to splurge a tiny bit considering we were staying at one of Hawaii’s nicest resorts for nearly free!

Cost and Value

At the time of booking (over 9 months in advance) the published rate for the room we stayed in was $439 a night. With the $40 resort fee, $25 valet fee, and all taxes that total ends up at $539.56 per night. This trip was part of our Hawaiian get-away, a trip designed from the start to get extreme value out of a few strategically acquired new credit cards. Nicoleen and I each got Chase Hyatt cards last fall. Each card comes with a sign-up bonus of 2 free night certificates, good for the standard room type at any Hyatt property in the world.

Between the 4 free night certificates we earned from these two cards, we got $2,158.24 in value! All we had to pay was the nightly valet fee, which totaled $106.40. I’d call that extreme value!

Free nights with Hyatt Gold Passport points are 25,000 per night*. Hyatt Gold Passport points can be earned with paid stays at Hyatt properties, with regular spending on the Chase Hyatt card, or by transferring points from Chase Ultimate Rewards at a 1:1 ratio.

* Recently some Hyatt properties have been playing games with their reward night availability. It may be difficult to find available reward stay (points or certificates) nights at the Andaz Maui. The Park Hyatt on Maui is also reportedly extremely nice and has widespread calendar availability for reward stays. See this Flyertalk post for more info.

Overall Thoughts and Tips for Your Stay

From the pictures posted here and elsewhere, I think you can see why everyone agrees the Andaz Maui at Wailea is an amazing property. Some reviews I have read complained about unfriendly service by hotel staff. We didn’t find this to be the case at all; in our experience everyone was friendly and courteous. It seemed like they genuinely cared about guest experiences. One night our air conditioning refused to stay on longer than 10 seconds. It was 1:30 in the morning and a technician was there to fix it within 5 minutes of our complaint. That episode was indicative of our general experience with the staff.

Other reviews I have read mention that the hotel is not kid friendly. I didn’t see anything that would have been kid unfriendly. However I do agree there is no particular draws for kids there. A lot of the beauty of the property and the quality of the service and amenities would be lost on little kids.

The Andaz Maui definitely markets to a certain demographic, and they cater to that demographic. We estimated the average age of guests was 28 (with a low standard deviation). Many were on their honeymoon. Of the 50 or so people we interacted with, only 4 were from the country’s interior. All the rest were from the East or West Coast. Of course most of the population is from the coasts, but I think it may indicate Hyatt’s success in attracting young, affluent professionals to this hotel.

If you have an upcoming stay at the Andaz Maui, here are some random tips Nicoleen and I came up with, based on our stay:

Don’t miss the coffee! The lobby coffee is available from 6:00 to 9:00 and then it’s gone.
Ask for a room with walk-out access. The better view on higher floors isn’t worth the convenience of easy access to the pool area.
Get your GoPro rental early; the first time we tried to get one they were all out the whole day. The same goes for any scheduled beach activity like the outrigger tour. The outrigger tour takes reservations and the list is sometimes days out.
Don’t sweat the mandatory valet. I wasn’t looking forward to the extra step every time we wanted to leave the property. It seriously wasn’t a hassle at all.
If you want a microwave and/or mini-fridge, request it as soon as possible; they are subject to availability. We called the morning of our check-in and the microwave was waiting in our room.
Plan on snorkeling as early in the day as possible. When the surf rises later in the day, swimming around the shallow reefs can get dangerous. We met one couple with bloody legs who were smashed against the rocks while snorkeling in the early afternoon right in front of the hotel.
Skip the $17 cocktails if you want. You’re not missing much; at least not $17 worth!
Resorts on Maui seem to really roll up the streets at night. If you’re looking for lively socialization at night, the hot tub on the 3rd tier pool deck is your best bet.

🙂 Thanks for reading my review! 🙂