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Review: Andaz West Hollywood – Andaz King Suite
Cah’mon Milers, you know the deal. It’s a special occasion, or maybe you’re just itchy to get away but you can’t, or you just say “screw it, I’m staying at a hotel” whatever it is….it’s time for aaaaaaaaa
STAYCATION!!!!!!!!
And that’s exactly what happened.
Miles and I had always kind of wanted to stay here, and since it was our larvely big friend special someone sexy mexy’s birthday…IT WAS ONNNNNN.
Not only was it ON – it was on with DIAMOND STATUS!!!!!
Soooo Miles and I redeemed 10,000 points + $125 and got
- Room valued around $600 – so 10,000 points worth $475
- Guaranteed Suite at booking with a Diamond Suite Upgrade ( 1 of 4 each year )
- Free breakfast
- Welcome amenity or 1000 points
- And we took the Wine and Fruit SINCE IT WAS…
Ok, so now to the nitty gritty.
Check In
Disaster. The hotel is so awesomely stylish, but check in is a disaster. Check-in should be easy, especially for a top-tier member of the chain. However, in an effort to be avant garde, chic, techy…it completely misses the point, makes check-in aggravatingly clumsy with Ipads, no clear place to ACTUALLY CHECK-IN and I ended up waiting around for about 15 minutes while 2 staff members helped guests check out. I love Grand Hyatts and Park Hyatts…this is actually my first Andaz so I was kind of expecting style over substance, and this start basically confirmed my suspicions. Typically, in fact every Hyatt I’ve ever stayed at, the check-in desk is clearly marked with a separate desk for elite members and as a result it’s very swift. This was a brain bust if anything, and just starts things off on the wrong foot.
Luckily we got past check-in
The rest of the experience was awesome. The suite is SICK, INCRED!!! It truly makes one aspire to have a big house in the hills with floor to ceiling windows. The views are just incredible. From Downtown to the Ocean. In fact, we all just sat and watched planes fly in and out of LAX for 15 minutes. The other cool thing is you can see right into the penthouse of the Sunset Towers immediately across from our room.
- incredible views
- 800 sq ft
- 2 55″ LED tvs
- incredible views
- 2 bathrooms
- enclosed balcony with two loungers with…
- INCREDIBLE VIEWS
One interesting piece of trivia is the history behind these enclosed balconies. Apparently, as the lore goes, Keith Richards threw a TV off of one of the balconies long ago on to sunset blvd. Since then, the hotel enclosed them. I have to say, I loved the floor to ceiling windows.
The thing I loved about the hotel was the room. The view….OHHHHH THE VIEW. That was pretty much the selling point. The only interaction aside from check-in that we had was breakfast the next day:
As Diamond member you are guaranteed breakfast…up to four people. Since there were only two of us and Miles – who was satiated from those bananas on the fruit plate we opted for the buffet. The buffet also comes with eggs – any style. The buffet is decent for the price. Having been spoiled by some amazing club lounges that offer really fantastic spreads, I found this one to be fine. But I don’t think the Andaz crowd or the LA crowd really buffet…so I didn’t really mind. After-all I had an eggwhite omelette and coffee with soy milk. So LA.
The food was good, the bill was huge. And it was comped.
OK enough of the restaurant
LET’S SEE THE POOOOOOOOLLLLL
One of the great things about Diamond status is the 4pm late check out. I mean, that’s pretty much an entire day of fun in the suite and on the rooftop pool. Which, by the way, has even better views than the suite. BYAH!!
At the end of the day, after check out, when the bill is paid and the aloe vera is being applied to the sunburn, the question that always pops into one’s head….would you go back?? HELLS to the YES! I live very close to this hotel and I would spend the points and cash to absolutely STAYCAY here again. THE VIEW THE VIEW THE VIEW. And the VIIIIIIIIIIIBE. It’s just cool, man…cooooooool. The rooftop pool sealed the deal. In fact, I’m even considering renting the suite again for the Super Bowl…assuming my Colts make it 😉
Looking forward it actually makes me consider Andaz compared to my usual Grand Hyatt and Park Hyatt interests.
What cards do I have that have made this trip possible?
The latter two cards earn Ultimate Rewards which can be directly transferred into Hyatt. The only program out there where this is possible. I was fortunate to sign up for them both when they offered a total of 110k bonus points.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 60k points after $4k spend in 3 months
- Worth $750 in Chase Travel℠ and way more if you maximize transfer partners
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2024
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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