India Trip Report: Aman New Delhi, Oberoi Amarvillas, Amanbagh, Aman i Khas
May 4, 2012, 5:27 pm
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India Trip Report: Aman New Delhi, Oberoi Amarvillas, Amanbagh, Aman i Khas
Aman New Delhi is an absolutely wonderful oasis. Our first four nights we were upgraded to a two bedroom suite, which was very spacious. The hotel is more overtly modern than any other Aman I have visited—from the architecture, to the art gallery spaces in the lobby and spa areas, to the dark woods and earth tones of the stone and tile in the rooms. This seems to suit the hotel well; and despite this the hotel manages to convey the feeling that you have it all to yourself like so many Aman properties do, irrespective of occupancy.
The room itself was very large, with two bedrooms, a dining area, a living area, an outdoor plunge pool, and a large bathroom space. The space always seems to be shaded and cool, which was a nice break. Even though we were told that it was uncharacteristically cool while we there, daytime temperatures still reached 38 to 40 above, and dropped to only the mid-20s at night. I think that for most Westerners, booking after April would probably not make for a very pleasant trip; we found the heat to be a challenge even where it was.
The spa space at Aman New Delhi is very large, and the treatments were good, perhaps not great, but certainly good. The treatments rooms are very large, but the overall experience is slightly compromised by sharing some of the facilities with the health club. There is also a good sized and well equipped gym for those that are inclined. We found the food to be very good too—the yoghurt dumplings are a must try.
Overall I would say I was very pleasantly surprised. I didn’t really know how well the Aman approach would translate to a city hotel, and in general, I think Aman New Delhi succeeds at that. It manages the normal Aman service standards of consistent personal greetings, never showing a bill until check out time, and a feeling of peace and comfort. Clearly the setting isn’t the same as Amankila or Amanpulo, but overall it is unmistakably an Aman, and definitely the nicest city hotel I have stayed at. (Saying that, I have none of the experience others here do with the large luxury hotels of Eurpoe or SE Asia; most times I have stayed in city properties they are relatively mundane—nothing higher end than a St. Regis.)
Oberoi Amarvillas. I am very much of two minds on my assessment of this property. In some ways it succeeds admirably, and in some ways it is a total miss.
Clearly the great strength is the view of the Taj Mahal from every room. And that is maybe part of the problem: the hotel relies on this one key thing too much. The views are lovely, but the rooms are perhaps a little small. The bathrooms in each of our two rooms (more on that in a bit) were not great; they lacked counter space, and in one the door to the shower couldn’t open at the same time as the door to the bathroom. And turning on the shower had the unfortunately tendency to spray water all over the bathroom floor. There were also subtle differences (different toilets, for example) that made me think they had tried but not really achieved exacting standards during construction. There are also minor examples of wear and tear that I couldn’t help but feeling could be easily remedied if management really wanted to deal with them.
The other incredibly frustrating thing is that there is no view of the Taj from either of the two restaurants or from the pool. I couldn’t help but feel that a better architect would have found a solution for this.
The quality of the food in both the Western and Indian themed dining rooms was good to very good—Indian dishes clearly being of a higher quality than their Western counterparts. Service was also strong, but not as personal as an Aman.
Finally, I can’t help but mention the incident that lead to us having two rooms. Our first room flooded. At 4 in the morning. During scheduled repairs to the fire control system. Hmmm. And you know it is a crisis in India when you find an Indian woman running around in her pajamas trying to deal with the problem. The most frustrating thing is that there were about half a dozen opportunities for the hotel to prevent the noise or the flooding being an issue—most obviously, the hotel was only at 20% occupancy, so just proactively moving us from the wing and floors in which the repairs were being conducted would have been the right thing to do.
Nevertheless, the hotel management was clearly deeply apologetic and did resolve the situation to our satisfaction. The manager was extremely solicitous, and clearly wanted to make sure we kept Oberoi properties in mind for future trips and I did appreciate their efforts. So, in the spirit of stuff happens, and it is how you fix problems that is probably more important that trying to pretend that you never have a problem in the first place, I have to say I was absolutely impressed.
I still left frustrated by feeling that the property could have been so much better. Although the result was really good, it is still irritating the way any missed opportunity at greatness is, if that makes sense.
On to Amanbagh, which in some ways I feel was the highlight of our trip. We spent four nights here, and I would gladly go back and spend many more. The property was complete Aman—absolutely impeccable service, wonderful management, fantastic architecture and setting—and we left with a ton of wonderful memories.
We stayed at a pool haveli which was wonderfully spacious. The room is separated into two separate structures connected by a hall; with the bedroom on one side and the bathroom and dressing area on the other. The room was lovely, very well maintained, with no real signs of any wear from time.
The architecture of the property overall is just breathtaking—the pink marble and sandstone, the pool, the main building--all are beautifully done.
The food was the best that we had anywhere on the trip, and I would say I had some of the best Indian dishes I have had anywhere were at Amanbagh. We did a few excursions, including most memorably the cow dust tour. The tour is eye opening, beautiful, and the people of the nearby farming communities really welcoming and genuine. Having said that, the poverty is incredible (equal to that I have seen in Cambodia or Nepal for example) and heart wrenching. I couldn’t help but be a bit instrospective that many of the families probably couldn’t pay for a room for a night with 2 or 3 years worth of income. Or that the bottle of champagne we had with our chatri dinner was probably a years income. Yikes.
That aside, that and every other destination was really memorable, from Bangarh to the lake walk to the temple visit. The the chatri dinner was simply amazingly well done. Private sitar player and all, this was simply excellent.
Finally, the staff and service were truly exceptional. The first night of our stay was our 10th anniversary, and we came back to our room to be surprised by 3 of the staff who offered us an anniversary blessing, song, and an anniversary cake. It was completely unexpected (I think they hid for close to an hour to surprise us) and absolutely charming and beautiful. And really the whole stay was full of moments like that to one degree or another.
Overall an absolutely amazing property. My compliments to Tim and Laeitia, I think that this is probably my second favorite Aman (second only to Amanpulo which is my favorite place on the planet!). I know I am omitting a dozen other great things about the place, like the spa, and lots of other little things. Suffice to say that it was entirely wonderful, without even the tiniest miss on the quality of service or the beauty of the property.
Our last stop was Aman i Khas. And for a tented property, Aman I Khas is about as good as it gets, I suspect. The tents are enormous—I would guess about 800+ square feet, with separate spaces for a day bed, an entry, a bathroom, a dressing area, and a bed room. The design and execution are remarkable, especially considering they are entirely disassembled and rebuilt every year.
The property is very relaxing, although I suspect that it doesn’t offer quite the isolation now that it did when it first opened due to the increasing popularity of Ranthambhore. Having said that, at night it seemed entirely apart, and we had a completely peaceful sleep until the dogs and birds woke us up with sunrise every day.
We did four safari trips organized by the property, and had the jeep to ourselves 3 of the four times. Our guides were consistently very good too. We opted not to do any other excursions except a camel ride (which, in the spirit of India, was interrupted by a tiger on the other side of the wall bordering the park, and which caused the camel handlers to escort us to the roof of a nearby farmhouse until the tiger moved off)_ The biggest reason though is the heat—it rose to 42 or 43 during the day, and we were told that the previous year it had hit 46 to 48. I have to say that in retrospect I wouldn’t have booked this late in the year. For anybody that doesn’t love the heat, I would recommend February, or no later than March.
Other elements of Aman i Khas were very good, but perhaps just shy of great. The food was not as good as Amanbagh, and was just a little better than good. (And my disappointment is a little greater given the mandatory $125 per person per day surcharge for good. For that I expect great.) The service was absolutely excellent however (the whole batman thing really works surprisingly well).
My only disappointment was that having done two or three Safari vacations prior to this, it didn’t quite compare to our African safari experiences. Subtle things, like the quality of the safari vehicles, the differences between being in a public vs. a private game reserve, the fact that you are not truly as isolated as most lodges in Africa made a bit of a difference. Having said that, I think that the fault is largely mine. Aman i Khas is a spectacular Indian safari experience that I would absolutely recommend, and it is not an African safari experience. Once I got past my own expectations, I really enjoyed it. It is unique, and special, and very Aman, and should be a part of anybody’s Aman experience in India.
Final comment: the guides Aman provided in all places were excellent, especially Jaipur (Arun is the best guide we have had anywhere, ever) and Agra. If you do the Aman experience in India, our experience is you cant go wrong with their guides.
The room itself was very large, with two bedrooms, a dining area, a living area, an outdoor plunge pool, and a large bathroom space. The space always seems to be shaded and cool, which was a nice break. Even though we were told that it was uncharacteristically cool while we there, daytime temperatures still reached 38 to 40 above, and dropped to only the mid-20s at night. I think that for most Westerners, booking after April would probably not make for a very pleasant trip; we found the heat to be a challenge even where it was.
The spa space at Aman New Delhi is very large, and the treatments were good, perhaps not great, but certainly good. The treatments rooms are very large, but the overall experience is slightly compromised by sharing some of the facilities with the health club. There is also a good sized and well equipped gym for those that are inclined. We found the food to be very good too—the yoghurt dumplings are a must try.
Overall I would say I was very pleasantly surprised. I didn’t really know how well the Aman approach would translate to a city hotel, and in general, I think Aman New Delhi succeeds at that. It manages the normal Aman service standards of consistent personal greetings, never showing a bill until check out time, and a feeling of peace and comfort. Clearly the setting isn’t the same as Amankila or Amanpulo, but overall it is unmistakably an Aman, and definitely the nicest city hotel I have stayed at. (Saying that, I have none of the experience others here do with the large luxury hotels of Eurpoe or SE Asia; most times I have stayed in city properties they are relatively mundane—nothing higher end than a St. Regis.)
Oberoi Amarvillas. I am very much of two minds on my assessment of this property. In some ways it succeeds admirably, and in some ways it is a total miss.
Clearly the great strength is the view of the Taj Mahal from every room. And that is maybe part of the problem: the hotel relies on this one key thing too much. The views are lovely, but the rooms are perhaps a little small. The bathrooms in each of our two rooms (more on that in a bit) were not great; they lacked counter space, and in one the door to the shower couldn’t open at the same time as the door to the bathroom. And turning on the shower had the unfortunately tendency to spray water all over the bathroom floor. There were also subtle differences (different toilets, for example) that made me think they had tried but not really achieved exacting standards during construction. There are also minor examples of wear and tear that I couldn’t help but feeling could be easily remedied if management really wanted to deal with them.
The other incredibly frustrating thing is that there is no view of the Taj from either of the two restaurants or from the pool. I couldn’t help but feel that a better architect would have found a solution for this.
The quality of the food in both the Western and Indian themed dining rooms was good to very good—Indian dishes clearly being of a higher quality than their Western counterparts. Service was also strong, but not as personal as an Aman.
Finally, I can’t help but mention the incident that lead to us having two rooms. Our first room flooded. At 4 in the morning. During scheduled repairs to the fire control system. Hmmm. And you know it is a crisis in India when you find an Indian woman running around in her pajamas trying to deal with the problem. The most frustrating thing is that there were about half a dozen opportunities for the hotel to prevent the noise or the flooding being an issue—most obviously, the hotel was only at 20% occupancy, so just proactively moving us from the wing and floors in which the repairs were being conducted would have been the right thing to do.
Nevertheless, the hotel management was clearly deeply apologetic and did resolve the situation to our satisfaction. The manager was extremely solicitous, and clearly wanted to make sure we kept Oberoi properties in mind for future trips and I did appreciate their efforts. So, in the spirit of stuff happens, and it is how you fix problems that is probably more important that trying to pretend that you never have a problem in the first place, I have to say I was absolutely impressed.
I still left frustrated by feeling that the property could have been so much better. Although the result was really good, it is still irritating the way any missed opportunity at greatness is, if that makes sense.
On to Amanbagh, which in some ways I feel was the highlight of our trip. We spent four nights here, and I would gladly go back and spend many more. The property was complete Aman—absolutely impeccable service, wonderful management, fantastic architecture and setting—and we left with a ton of wonderful memories.
We stayed at a pool haveli which was wonderfully spacious. The room is separated into two separate structures connected by a hall; with the bedroom on one side and the bathroom and dressing area on the other. The room was lovely, very well maintained, with no real signs of any wear from time.
The architecture of the property overall is just breathtaking—the pink marble and sandstone, the pool, the main building--all are beautifully done.
The food was the best that we had anywhere on the trip, and I would say I had some of the best Indian dishes I have had anywhere were at Amanbagh. We did a few excursions, including most memorably the cow dust tour. The tour is eye opening, beautiful, and the people of the nearby farming communities really welcoming and genuine. Having said that, the poverty is incredible (equal to that I have seen in Cambodia or Nepal for example) and heart wrenching. I couldn’t help but be a bit instrospective that many of the families probably couldn’t pay for a room for a night with 2 or 3 years worth of income. Or that the bottle of champagne we had with our chatri dinner was probably a years income. Yikes.
That aside, that and every other destination was really memorable, from Bangarh to the lake walk to the temple visit. The the chatri dinner was simply amazingly well done. Private sitar player and all, this was simply excellent.
Finally, the staff and service were truly exceptional. The first night of our stay was our 10th anniversary, and we came back to our room to be surprised by 3 of the staff who offered us an anniversary blessing, song, and an anniversary cake. It was completely unexpected (I think they hid for close to an hour to surprise us) and absolutely charming and beautiful. And really the whole stay was full of moments like that to one degree or another.
Overall an absolutely amazing property. My compliments to Tim and Laeitia, I think that this is probably my second favorite Aman (second only to Amanpulo which is my favorite place on the planet!). I know I am omitting a dozen other great things about the place, like the spa, and lots of other little things. Suffice to say that it was entirely wonderful, without even the tiniest miss on the quality of service or the beauty of the property.
Our last stop was Aman i Khas. And for a tented property, Aman I Khas is about as good as it gets, I suspect. The tents are enormous—I would guess about 800+ square feet, with separate spaces for a day bed, an entry, a bathroom, a dressing area, and a bed room. The design and execution are remarkable, especially considering they are entirely disassembled and rebuilt every year.
The property is very relaxing, although I suspect that it doesn’t offer quite the isolation now that it did when it first opened due to the increasing popularity of Ranthambhore. Having said that, at night it seemed entirely apart, and we had a completely peaceful sleep until the dogs and birds woke us up with sunrise every day.
We did four safari trips organized by the property, and had the jeep to ourselves 3 of the four times. Our guides were consistently very good too. We opted not to do any other excursions except a camel ride (which, in the spirit of India, was interrupted by a tiger on the other side of the wall bordering the park, and which caused the camel handlers to escort us to the roof of a nearby farmhouse until the tiger moved off)_ The biggest reason though is the heat—it rose to 42 or 43 during the day, and we were told that the previous year it had hit 46 to 48. I have to say that in retrospect I wouldn’t have booked this late in the year. For anybody that doesn’t love the heat, I would recommend February, or no later than March.
Other elements of Aman i Khas were very good, but perhaps just shy of great. The food was not as good as Amanbagh, and was just a little better than good. (And my disappointment is a little greater given the mandatory $125 per person per day surcharge for good. For that I expect great.) The service was absolutely excellent however (the whole batman thing really works surprisingly well).
My only disappointment was that having done two or three Safari vacations prior to this, it didn’t quite compare to our African safari experiences. Subtle things, like the quality of the safari vehicles, the differences between being in a public vs. a private game reserve, the fact that you are not truly as isolated as most lodges in Africa made a bit of a difference. Having said that, I think that the fault is largely mine. Aman i Khas is a spectacular Indian safari experience that I would absolutely recommend, and it is not an African safari experience. Once I got past my own expectations, I really enjoyed it. It is unique, and special, and very Aman, and should be a part of anybody’s Aman experience in India.
Final comment: the guides Aman provided in all places were excellent, especially Jaipur (Arun is the best guide we have had anywhere, ever) and Agra. If you do the Aman experience in India, our experience is you cant go wrong with their guides.
