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Update 9/7/20: Hyatt has put out a press release regarding the Hana-Maui Resort which provides a little more detail about the property.
The hotel is open for reservations from October 1, 2020 although Hawaii’s quarantine rules will no doubt have a significant impact on the number of guests staying there for now.
They’re currently only accepting paid reservations, but One Mile At A Time reports that it will be a category 7 property rather than category 8 like I speculated in the original post below. That means it’ll cost 30,000 points per night.
When looking at the paid rates available right now on Hyatt’s website, they’re not displaying any all-inclusive options for the dates I checked. The only rate type with some kind of meals included is their Bed & Breakfast rate. It’s therefore not clear right now as to whether or not the rebranded Hana-Maui Resort will continue offering all-inclusive rates in the future.
Something else interesting noted by OMAAT is that even though the resort is being included in the Hyatt family as a Destination Hotels brand, it looks like it’ll be changed in the future to become an Alila property based on the property code assigned to it by Hyatt. That may or may not be good news if you’re going after another category 1-4 free night certificate which is earned when staying at five different brands for their Brand Explorer challenge and have already stayed at a Destination Hotels or Alila property.
For World of Hyatt members with Globalist status though, a rebranding from Destination Hotels to Alila is great news. That’s because one of the benefits of Globalist status is Best Room Available (my bolding):
Globalists will receive the best room available at the time of check-in at Hyatt hotels and resorts, including Standard Suites and rooms with Club lounge-access. The best room available will be determined by the applicable hotel or resort in its sole discretion and may vary from stay-to-stay. The “best room” may, but will not necessarily be, of a room type/category higher than that booked by the Member. Best-room-available benefit includes only Standard Suites (where available), which are defined as rooms within each participating hotel’s or resort’s introductory suite category. Premium, Specialty, Premier, Presidential, Diplomatic, and other suites other than Standard Suites are not included in this benefit. Not valid at Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, Destination Residences, or Hyatt Residence Club hotels and resorts.
A change from Destination Hotels to Alila would therefore suggest you’d have a much better chance of a room upgrade at the Hana-Maui Resort.
Similarly, Globalist members aren’t entitled to Club Lounge access or its replacement of a complimentary full breakfast at Destination properties, nor 48 hour guaranteed room availability. Changing to the Alila brand would restore all these benefits, making it much better value for those with top-tier status with Hyatt or for whom a stay was booked using the Guest of Honor feature.
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Hyatt has announced that’s it’s going to be taking over management of the Travaasa Hana hotel in Maui from September 1, 2020.
The property is going to be renamed the Hana-Maui Resort and will be incorporated under the Destination Hotels brand.
What’s particularly notable about this acquisition is that the Travaasa Hana not only offers à la carte stays, but all-inclusive stays too. The difference between the two is that all-inclusive stays include a chef-prepared breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, along with a $175 resort credit per person per night which can be used towards spa treatments and private classes. (n.b. if the text in the image below is too small to read, you can find the table here.)
As you can see, a stay at the Travaasa Hana doesn’t come cheap at the moment (although it’s currently closed due to COVID-19). With single prices starting at $725 and double prices starting at $1,025 for an all-inclusive package, those prices no doubt get even higher at certain times of the year.
Sure enough, the rates listed above don’t appear to be available at any time in the next 16 months. Most nights cost a minimum of $575 for two people based on the à la carte pricing, rather than the $525 listed.
For a couple of weeks over Christmas and New Year, the minimum price for an à la carte stay for two people increases to $625. For an all-inclusive stay over that period, you’re looking at $1,735 per night before taxes and fees.
As a result, I’d expect this to become a category 8 property once it’s bookable with points with Hyatt. That means you’d be looking at paying 40,000 points per night which would still be very good value if that was for an all-inclusive stay like the Ventana Big Sur is now, but average value if the award nights only get you an à la carte stay.
If award nights were booked in to the à la carte package rather than an all-inclusive package, it’ll be interesting to see how the property deals with Globalist benefits, particularly free breakfast. Not all Destination Hotels properties offer free breakfast to Globalist members, so it remains to be seen what’ll happen at the newly rebranded Hana-Maui Resort. If points stays are for the all-inclusive package though, free breakfast wouldn’t be an issue seeing as you’d be getting three farm-to-table meals per day as part of the package.
My guess is that some of the activities at the resort will become bookable as FIND Experiences which give you a 1.4cpp redemption value if paying for them with World of Hyatt points. If you book an all-inclusive stay, that might not be necessary seeing as you get a $175 resort credit per person per day, but could be a good way to reduce your out-of-pocket expenses on à la carte stays.
Questions
What do you think? Are you excited about this addition to the Hyatt portfolio? Have you stayed at the Travaasa Hana in the past and if so, what was it like? Let us know in the comments below.
h/t reader Mo
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Just finished a stay here. They are not fully on the Hyatt methods. Was given a garden view with a peep at the ocean. After complaining to Hyatt Twitter they moved us to a room with ocean view.
The property is very spread out and your car will be parked such you have to cross 2 roads to get to it. They do come and pick you up for anything you need on the property. We did get Globalist breakfast. Ate at food trucks for lunch and dinner at the hotel. I found dinner to be quite good.
We had stayed at the Ventana Big Sur prior to this stay and Ventana Big Sur is in a completely different class and level than the Hana resort. We loved the Ventana Big Sur and could either take or leave the Hana Maui.
I have valuable status with a few chains and more and more I am seeing this:
Lounge closed until further notice
Restaurants either closed or greatly pared down.
Whole floors closed (where the nicer suites are).
The whole chasing status thing isn’t worth it.
We stayed here for 2 nights a few years ago; got a great deal of $99 per night on SkyAuction. I still see it on SkyAuction occasionally but the minimum bid is much higher now. We adored the place; it was very quiet and peaceful, so I’m excited to possibly stay there again via Hyatt points. I highly recommend staying at least 2 nights to soak up the surroundings.
If you are OK with a $475 hotel ($525 for 2 people), then the extra for food and incidentals is a good deal. Back out the $175 credit per person and that makes meals only $75 which is a bargain.
I hadn’t realized that there are exclusions to Globalist breakfast. “Globalists get free breakfast at all hotels except those that don’t feel like offering it” just doesn’t sound as compelling.
It sounds like a nice addition for Hyatt. You drive the famous “Road to Hana” to get to this resort. This was once a Sheraton resort which operated in standard resort hotel fashion and was not all-inclusive as it was more recently. I stayed there about 25 years ago and the bungalows were attractive and spacious and the ocean view nice. It’s a very quiet area and there was a neighborhood nearby with homes and a restaurant, but it was very laid back and classic Hawaii. As I recall, you needed to take a shuttle to get to the beach. I like the all-inclusive idea, but would probably only pay points to stay there. This link has numerous photos of what it looked like when I stayed there, but I think these are fairly recent photos, so it doesn’t look like much has changed.
Edit: Link removed due to comment below which suggests the site has been compromised.
Don’t click that link, think its been compromised, immediately redirected me to install god knows what
Thanks for the heads up – I’ve removed the link from the comment.
I’m loaded down with a full suite of security software that warns me of compromised websites, but it gave me no warning at all on the link that I included. I suggest searching Google for “Hana-Maui Resort” for photos.
What software? Sounds interesting.
Norton 360, but there are many other providers.
A normal security program will warn you that a website is malicious and advise you not to access it, asking you to download some additional software just to so you can access the site sounds suspicious. I double checked the link you mentioned and my security program has no problem (provides no warning) with it.
Only real question is if they’re adding air conditioning to the rooms.
Hi Stephen – Thanks for the heads up on this interesting development. Philly and I stayed at Travaasa Hana a few years ago. We loved the property, location and accommodations. Food was ok, not great. We’d love to return. I’ll have to look to see if I have some pictures, and if so, I’ll try to post an article on Middle Age Miles this week. ~Craig
Great – can’t wait to see the post if you find the photos 🙂
I will be a Globalist, I hope, soon. But I doubt that I’ll be going to Maui any time soon. I would be willing to spend 40,000 points a night with free breakfast.
A little surprised it’s not going to become a Miraval resort (also owned by Hyatt). Travaasa Austin was purchased by Miraval and is now Miraval Austin. Miraval resorts have their own award chart.
Interesting, too, that it’s reverting to its original name before Travaasa purchased it 10(?) yrs ago.
I have wanted to spend a night or two there for years but could never stomach the price. The closest I have gotten is eating lunch in their restaurant which has beautiful views. I am excited to see this!
Why would someone pay $1100/night for 3 meals and $175 resort credit?
That’s for two people, so $550 per person per night which makes it a little better. I’m not sure how much meals cost there, but if you were going to eat in their restaurants then $375 for three meals (if valuing the resort credit as good as cash) might still be cheaper than paying for them separately.
I’m with you though, I’d certainly never spend that kind of money even if I had it!
There aren’t many other dining choices in Hana (& certainly no other fine dining options) so is a captive commodity for a well-heeled crowd. If already done the Road to Hana, I would probably approach from the other end, 360, from Haleakala. So desolate & beautiful.