Kagehitokiri

could talk to gary tyson about what is possible, and frankly talk to him about amantaka as well, saying you are currently booked there under that Exclusive, and see if he has anything to say re that as well. and does he say he already has things firing on all cylinders there, or still ramping up.

at taka there are various upgrade possibilities (pool villas)
wonder if taka still has access to that offsite villa, for dinners
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxur...l#post26466063
(and if taka does not, could also ask gary tyson about it)
could also talk to taka about including some other things
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxur...ip-report.html old halibahs report was also great

at sara might ask astrid re ways to ensure best available guides

FlyingDoctorwu

One thing I didn't understand till my first Aman visit was thst there really wasn't a ton of need to plan anything in advance. At least the amans I've been to have been plenty flexible with activities. I remember completely changing our mind about what we wanted to do at Amandari and they didn't drop a beat. Some things obviously do need a bit of advance planning but they were able to pull off our Balinese blessing with 24 hrs lead time.

Fdw

FlyerEC

Amans provide lots of " exclusives " which are really exclusive to them , some priceless really .
Taka ' s cultural advisor is a prince who is extremely talented with his works exhibited in museums and art galleries , even in Europe & USA .
He grew up in the royal court as well as Paris .

Will not spill the beans here but leave what he does at Taka for you to experience yourself

Amans often do not have " competition " especially at ones which have a range of room / villa types like Puri .
Some posting have not stayed at Aman villas to experience the Aman service which surpasses even their already often exceptional service .
However , language or accent issues , can sometimes lead to comical misunderstandings .
Take these with a pinch of salt , the ones delivering are often too embarrassed to acknowledge as they may not be aware but will apologize profusely anyway .
Best liaise with the GMs / HMs / RMs if & when this happens !

You may pm me if you like the contacts for Azerai too .

DSI

Perhaps this is referring to me? But what level of amanvillas does one need to book to receive stellar service. The North American ones are of most interest to me.


QUOTE=FlyerEC;28134821]Amans provide lots of " exclusives " which are really exclusive to them , some priceless really .
Taka ' s cultural advisor is a prince who is extremely talented with his works exhibited in museums and art galleries , even in Europe & USA .
He grew up in the royal court as well as Paris .

Will not spill the beans here but leave what he does at Taka for you to experience yourself

Amans often do not have " competition " especially at ones which have a range of room / villa types like Puri .
Some posting have not stayed at Aman villas to experience the Aman service which surpasses even their already often exceptional service .
However , language or accent issues , can sometimes lead to comical misunderstandings .
Take these with a pinch of salt , the ones delivering are often too embarrassed to acknowledge as they may not be aware but will apologize profusely anyway .
Best liaise with the GMs / HMs / RMs if & when this happens !

You may pm me if you like the contacts for Azerai too .[/QUOTE]

chinmoylad

Azerai looks fantastic FWIW. Hoping to get a closer look in the next 12 months or so.

Mickidon

We went to Sara and Taka on two different trips - absolutely loved Sara and Taka was more of a best in town but not up to the level of other Amans type of hotel. As Musken said upstream, if you are looking for a hanging out, relaxing kind of resort, Taka may not be the way to go. It seemed more bare bones than other Amans and my biggest complaint, owing to the central location, was that there was a decent amount of street noise. In fact, there was a school behind our room, and it was surprisingly disruptive to jet lag required naps. We did not see people use the main pool, ever. It's a great base for LP, but not an idyllic, lazing away the days kind of property.

eamus

I am in touch with Gary T, now at Azerai. I will revert and update this thread once I have discussed their offerings with him.

FlyerEC

Glad you are with Gary

As you will have seen , Azerai is very different . It ' s no Aman & likely does not belong on this forum , except for being connected through AZ , Gary & former Aman staff . They do not claim to be the same league either but less ..
Let us know about the timing of the start of their boat cruise ( overnight ? ) down the Mekong .
Get to see the boat & how luxurious it really is ? How many cabins / staterooms ?
Similar to Taka ' s for day cruises ?
If it will belong on this forum .

[QUOTE=DSI;28134943]Perhaps this is referring to me? But what level of amanvillas does one need to book to receive stellar service. The North American ones are of most interest to me.

Just saw this .
Have not been or attempted to return to the USA ones for a long time .
Service even back then was no match to the Asian ones .
That is why even Yara , etcetera had to have team members from Asian countries like Philippines to boost the lack of Aman ethos .
Giri , from what I understand , always had issues with transient staff . It takes time to cultivate the Aman levels of service . Sadly , not seeing long term staff at these properties

FlyingDoctorwu

Just got a note from someone who is in Luang Prabang. Staying at Amantaka but went over to Azerai for dinner. They looked at the rooms and said that they are quite small. Those also note the hotel is close to a road/night market and is very noisy. Amantaka still in a different league but rates are much lower.. occupancy is quite low (4/55 rooms occupied)....

FDW

FlyerEC

Yes .
My friend said the same thing about Azerai . Rather minimalist rooms .
She was staying at her friends ' villa .

Just as Sara was formerly a home with constraints that came with becoming an Aman , Azerai had to bear with the location / structure that it inherited .
Taka too being a former hospital ..

FlyingDoctorwu

he did say service was good at Azerai as a lot of staff formed Amantaka and that service at Amantaka was a little behind as they are a new team...

fdw

FlyerEC

But of course , many of Gary ' s former team members including some from other Amans - from the exchanges when the Amans were closed for the season . So one can expect Aman standards , at least service wise
Taka ' s new team has much to imbibe , from what I gather from others , other Amans are also encountering similar issues ( some we observed personally ) .
For Amans especially with " new " GMs with no Aman background ( a privilege when AZ was at the helm , now that he is not , a real loss / void in the luxury hotels arena ) , it is rather apparent . Teams under them who understand the Aman ethos seem to be at odds with the " un Aman " style ..
It is a good thing that Astrid K is at Sara !

Kagehitokiri

is there a 'side' to request at taka, in terms of noise etc of bordering streets ?

eamus

To update:

Amansara continues to put their best foot forward. I was contacted directly by Astrid, the GM, who had some very thoughtful suggestions for making the trip a special one.

Amantaka continues to trip over its own skirts. So much so that I think we will switch to Azerai.

The calculus is something like I said upthread: I am happy to "overpay" for unique experiences, which is why Amansara makes sense to me over the Park Hyatt Siem Reap, for example. I am not at all convinced that paying <2x for Amantaka over Azerai makes sense. I understand that the rooms at Azerai are small and the location is not a remote one; there are plenty of people who have complained about noise at Amantaka although I will admit the rooms look more comfortable. If our trip were all about lazing around in a resort, I think Amantaka would have a stronger case to make (and Amanoi an even stronger one!) over Azerai. But we deliberately decided to continue our anniversary trip engaging the with the culture rather than luxurious indolence, and we are not made of money. Accordingly I think we will take the cheaper option and aim to get better value out of it, in order to avoid feeling miffed that we paid so much for a better-than-good experience at Amantaka. At their price point, Amantaka needs to blow the doors off it, and the consensus seems to be that right now, they aren't.

I respect that others have and will come to different conclusions, but I am deeply indebted to this board for educating me and for being so helpful in sharing luxury experiences and what makes them "luxury."

uclabruin82

Slighty OT, but has anyone heard anything about the Rosewood LP opening? Is it still expected to open in 2017? Thoughts on the location?

Also, for others who have been to LP, how does the Belmond compare (if at all)