Hotels: Cool vs Comfort

The problem with uber cool hotels is that beyond the surface they really aren't functional for many everyday travelers. While my full review of the Hyatt Andaz Napa will be forthcoming this post will serve as a mere observation of my first 24 hrs. as a guest at this property.
This would be the second time an Andaz property has disappointed me.  I had been looking forward to my stay at the Andaz Napa as the highlight of my wine country trip and now I can't wait to get to a more standard amenity orientated hotel like the Westin Verasa.   I had used  my suite upgrade from my diamond status for this paid stay.  After a let down occurred at the Andaz West Hollywood I triple checked this reservation because it was for four adults and I knew going in this the hotel wasn't conducive to having rooms accommodate more than 2 people.  I was prepared to book two paid rooms and use two suite upgrades but the hotel assured me they could accommodate my party.

Let's stop here and take a step back to reflect; as in what is Hyatt thinking with this Andaz brand in Napa ...people come here to drink wine and relax.  What kind of people, mostly couples, not many kids but more and more groups of friends are booking stays in response to trending marketing efforts promoting "girls weekends" or "golf getaways".  After all, that's why I'm here, to drink great wine with my friends.  The hotels market to this, but I feel they fall short.  Try to find a room at the Andaz with two queen beds, doable but hard, their suites will accommodate 4 but two are on a sofa bed. Now try to accommodate 4 non-coupled adults.  I arrive, check in, friends and I hang in the lobby for an hour drinking complimentary wine then go to our room which I saw on the iPad check in clearly state "diamond suite upgrade".  We arrive at room 210 and the first of the party enters stating "this isn't a suite".  I'm still in the hall but it isn't long before I see she is correct.  Back to the lobby I go.  The  lack of front desk means you find the roaming person who checked you in but she is not readily available and another "host" as they are now called looks at his iPad and says "your award stay was upgraded to 2 double kings", great, but this isn't an award stay and I used a suite upgrade.  Original "host" returns and frantically types into iPad, no suite available but she's going to send my 6,000 suite upgrade award points back to my account.  I should have shut up and left as that would have been 6000 new points since I did not upgrade with points. Apparently, uber cool does not mean uber smart. Rather than waste precious wine drinking time I leave my phone number indicating we're going out, get back to me when you have the issue resolved.  Before I get back to friends with the update my cell rings, apparently a suite becomes available (amazing) but two of us must sleep on a sleeper sofa as rollaways don't exist here. I knew about the sofa bed sleeping when I booked but chose to overlook it given the suite would provide extra elbow room a regular room would not.  I come to find out the only advantage the suite had was a fireplace and soaking tub, neither of which we would have used.  The suite size according to the host wasn't much larger than our current room and there was no extra bathroom.  Given the choice between our room with two king beds or suite with sofa bed the group decides to stay put.  Honestly, it really came down to the bathroom; the suite still had only one bathroom.  The Westin suite we booked has two bathrooms but remember they aren't uber cool, they chose functional features for their guests.  After dinner we come back to a comped bottle of  Gloria Ferrer sparkling Sonoma Brut.... with four glasses and a note about how our room rate will be discounted for the stay and I'll be reimbursed my suite upgrade.  I'll admit they tried to make amends and I did succeed.  However, none of this would have needed to occur had someone taken the time to address my needs more closely. After all I did call three times, and not once was it ever mentioned that rooms with double kings existed or that perhaps my party would be accommodated more comfortably in another way.  Why did Hyatt wait until it was too late too inform me they couldn't accommodate my request?
Fast forward 12 hrs... I'm functioning on the west coast on east coast time.  I awake at 5 am and make my way to lobby to use a computer as mine is dead and the charger packed plus, there are 3 sleeping women in the room and I just want to get out quickly and quietly (hickory hardwood floors while nice and more sanitary than carpet make quiet almost impossible).  I discover there is no business center in uber cool hotels simply two Apple desktops sitting on a counter in the open lobby to serve guests, no problem until one finds out only the first 15 minutes are free then you must use a credit card to pay for WiFi.  "What?" "Seriously?" Wi-Fi is totally free in the hotel with your own device and there is no password access but I have to pay to use a lobby computer?  So I wrote this post from my iPhone.   Finally, the furnishings in uber cool hotels look the part but are uncomfortable and hard as hell!  It reminded me of a comment made by Jennifer Aniston right after her split from Brad Pitt ....Aniston later admitted that she never cared for Pitt's modern—and somewhat uncomfortable—design style. When asked what she liked about being on her own, Aniston quipped to Vanity Fair last year, "I can have a comfortable couch."   Hyatt, I'm not divorcing you but being cool isn't part of my travel agenda so bye bye to Andaz for me.  I'm not a Westin fan but I must say I can't wait to get there, to relax on their comfortable lobby sofas and sip my wine.