I just got back home from two nights at the Andaz Maui at Wailea.

It's a beautiful, luxurious, attentive resort with breathtaking sunset views.

It's also very expensive, poorly located for the activities that interested me on Maui, and charges a $30 mandatory valet fee per day if you come with a car.

What are my thoughts on the service, food, room, value, and more (with tons of pictures)?

Valet
There is no self-parking at the Andaz

2013 was a year of several major devaluation announcements including:

United (kicks in February 1, 2014)
Southwest (kicks in March 31, 2014)
Delta (already kicked in on current award bookings for travel that starts February 1, 2014 or later)
Hyatt (kicks in January 7, 2014)
Ultimate Rewards (with three major transfer partners devaluing--United, Southwest, and Hyatt--the program took a major hit through no fault of its own)

But the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Update at 1:02 PM ET: I had two computers and a smartphone ready on three different-sized packages (69k, 36k, and 24k), but all got the "on hold for other customers" message within seconds of 1 PM. This is the first deal I failed to get in on.

The offers listed in this post have expired so their links have been removed. Click here for the top current credit card sign up bonuses.

Sometimes I want luxury, and sometimes I want quantity.

Last week I talked about the Three Best Credit Cards for Free Nights in Luxury Hotels.

But what about going to the other end of the award chart? A lot of times when I am traveling I just need a pillow and a roof, since I plan to be out exploring the city all day.

The offers listed in this post have expired so their links have been removed. Click here for the top current credit card sign up bonuses.

Sometimes I want luxury, and sometimes I want quantity.

Last week I talked about the Three Best Credit Cards for Free Nights in Luxury Hotels.

But what about going to the other end of the award chart? A lot of times when I am traveling I just need a pillow and a roof, since I plan to be out exploring the city all day.

The offers listed in this post have expired so their links have been removed. Click here for the top current credit card sign up bonuses.

For me, first class flights would be out of reach without miles. I can't spend $10,000 for a first class flight on an airline like Emirates.

Luckily I don't need to because I have plenty of miles, and I could fly economy class in a pinch.

Fancy hotels are similar.

According to this thread on FlyerTalk, Hyatt has tweaked the award chart category for 17 of its properties. Hyatt's complete award chart can be found here for reference. These changes will go into effect on February 7th. Room reservations booked prior to this date will still be at the previously published award level.

The complete list of changes:

At first glance, none of these changes stick out as drastic. The Hyatt 48 Lex in New York City changing from a category 4 to a category 5 might be disappointing to Chase Hyatt Visa cardholders.