Amanemu -- consoldiated thread (Shima area, Japan)
Mar 3, 2016, 3:56 am
#16
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Europe
Posts: 2,600
Lovely report and pictures. The last picture leaves me wondering what happened there. The 'garden' is private indeed, but it looks sad and depressing. Nothing inspiring about the view, the landscaping, everything looks so dull. Nothing like the pictures on the website. Frightful.
But I have a feeling reading your report that the service will be very good indeed.
But I have a feeling reading your report that the service will be very good indeed.
Mar 3, 2016, 4:25 am
#17
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,298
This is strange .
I don't get any photos uploaded in all the various devices I have .
Any alternatives ?
Also although Nagoya is the nearest airport on the aman website , any ideas of the ease of transport from Osaka ?
Am I the only one who think the new Aman website is pathetic ?
I don't get any photos uploaded in all the various devices I have .
Any alternatives ?
Also although Nagoya is the nearest airport on the aman website , any ideas of the ease of transport from Osaka ?
Am I the only one who think the new Aman website is pathetic ?
Mar 3, 2016, 4:42 am
#18
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: London
Programs: No program whatsoever
Posts: 284
This is strange .
I don't get any photos uploaded in all the various devices I have .
Any alternatives ?
Also although Nagoya is the nearest airport on the aman website , any ideas of the ease of transport from Osaka ?
Am I the only one who think the new Aman website is pathetic ?
I don't get any photos uploaded in all the various devices I have .
Any alternatives ?
Also although Nagoya is the nearest airport on the aman website , any ideas of the ease of transport from Osaka ?
Am I the only one who think the new Aman website is pathetic ?
I have mirrored them below, if it's useful for anyone - Hopefully I have epitopeX's blessing, if not happy to remove.
http://imgur.com/bEgYz2s
http://imgur.com/DmDjO7X
http://imgur.com/DezrQV8
http://imgur.com/zAI47bV
http://imgur.com/THeZoMo
Last edited by 0bsidian; Mar 3, 2016 at 4:49 am
Mar 3, 2016, 7:23 am
#19
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: NJ
Programs: UA LTG, AA LTG, Bonvoy LTP, IHG Plat, LHW Sterling
Posts: 2,405
I will be spending 2 nights in the Toba/Ise area in October and am staying at an expensive Ryokan at the moment. Considering a stay at the Aman, but have never stayed at one before. Thinking this may not be the best one to choose for a first stay.
I can see this would be a great weekend destination for wealthy Nagoya/Kyoto/Osaka residents to play some golf, but not sure I see the draw for a foreign tourist. If someone can sell me on it… I’m listening.
Mar 3, 2016, 8:03 am
#20
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: IAD/DCA
Posts: 31,797
scented, publicity photos are mostly 2BR villa
bearbrick, when photos dont show, try quoting post
schriste, could visit aman for some kind of dining / spa
4 spa treatment rooms (+ watsu & 2 onsen) = guests-only ?
interesting
http://www.nemunosato.com/en/access/
car >
"nagoya west IC" 2 hr 25 min or 2 hr 40 min
"kansai international airport" - add 1 hr 5 min
train / car / boat >
chubu airport - 2 hr 15 min ("high speed boat 45 minutes") wonder re charter boat
kyoto - 3 hr (2.3 hr car)
tokyo / kansai - 4 hr
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansai...tional_Airport offers LAX/SFO
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%...tional_Airport
bearbrick, when photos dont show, try quoting post
schriste, could visit aman for some kind of dining / spa
4 spa treatment rooms (+ watsu & 2 onsen) = guests-only ?
Don a traditional kimono and discover spaces in the Ise Grand Shrine where few have access A guide will escort you to the main sanctuary where you have the opportunity to view aspects of the sanctuary rarely seen by outsiders
ama female freedivers who collect pearls, shellfish, seaweed, and sea urchin Dine on a special Amanemu menu with an ama in her hut, an amagoya, and discover an ancient way of life in one of its few remaining homes
tempura and sashimi caught by your own hand Fish with an expert angler from the sheltered shore or from farther out in the water by boat and the Amanemu chefs will do the rest
Amanemu’s own boat
ama female freedivers who collect pearls, shellfish, seaweed, and sea urchin Dine on a special Amanemu menu with an ama in her hut, an amagoya, and discover an ancient way of life in one of its few remaining homes
tempura and sashimi caught by your own hand Fish with an expert angler from the sheltered shore or from farther out in the water by boat and the Amanemu chefs will do the rest
Amanemu’s own boat
http://www.nemunosato.com/en/access/
car >
"nagoya west IC" 2 hr 25 min or 2 hr 40 min
"kansai international airport" - add 1 hr 5 min
train / car / boat >
chubu airport - 2 hr 15 min ("high speed boat 45 minutes") wonder re charter boat
kyoto - 3 hr (2.3 hr car)
tokyo / kansai - 4 hr
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansai...tional_Airport offers LAX/SFO
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%...tional_Airport
Last edited by Kagehitokiri; Mar 3, 2016 at 11:40 am
Mar 11, 2016, 12:24 am
#21
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2012
Programs: Marriott Lifetime Plat, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 115
Finally got to sit down and put my thoughts together about Amanemu...
Room:
Very good indeed. Simple and elegant. Outdoor terrace is quite small, but given the outdoor temp of 4 C, we hardly spent any time there. Mori suite, their entry level room, is supposed to be "garden view" only, but our suite has a tiny bit of sea view, which is both good and bad. The good part is that we do have a bit of seaview, and the bad part is that the garden is not really a garden but simply some Tsubaki bushes.
The second garden, located opposite to the outdoor terrace, is a very clever design element in my opinion. This garden blocked off the main road of the resort, resulting in both better privacy protection and more natural lighting into the room. And this garden is quite Japanese in design so you wouldn't see lounge chairs and tables there. Both gardens would be better in half a year, when the greens are given more time to grow.
Food and Beverage:
Unfortunately Amanemu completely failed this one.
There's one restaurant in Amanemu and food is quite disappointing. We had dinner there on the first night and we waited 75 min before our food was served... And the food themselves were terrible. Sushi platter was not fresh; grilled scallops had sands in them; and steamed fish still had plenty of scales on the skin. We ended up writing GM an email about the poor experience we had and GM took of the entire meal's bill off.
SPA:
This is the highlight of the property. Their SPA facility is located farther way from all rooms and reception area. The facility is very well designed and treatments were wonderful. Their therapists, at least my therapist, really need to have further English training though... She wasn't able to communicate "I'll wait for your outside", and after some painful attempts, she simply pointed at herself and pointed the door... Hopefully this will be improved shortly.
Service:
Service overall was very warm and genuinely friendly. However, there were quite a few glitches throughout the stay... The main problem was over promise and under deliver. They promised to arrange rental car for us, and then on the next day, when we arrived at the rental car station, we were told that all the cars were sold out... And they didn't offer us a ride to a farther away rental car station. We had to take the train to Ise Station and rented our car there. Then after we rented the car by ourselves, we contacted Aman and asked if they would help us return it the next day. They said they would. And the next day we found our car still sitting there, 1 hour before rental period expiring and the rental car station was 45 min away. I had to escalate the situation so they would return the car immediately.
Overall I think they were really willing to help, but it really took some pushes to get the ball rolling. Inter-department communication was quite weak too. Quite often I found staff not really aware of what was going on.
Housekeeping:
Good but not as good as other Amans. They forgot to stock body lotion in the room and I had to ask for it. They also missed one night's turn down service. Efficiency was good but not as good as other Amans.
Activities:
They only had very limited activities at this moment. We didn't use any of them as we prefer having a car and driving around, which I highly recommend. And the Yokoyama Observatory is not to be missed, although that is not on their activity list. The panoramic view of entire Ago Bay from Yokoyama Observatory was definitely a highlight. Mikimoto Museum is also nearby and worth a visit.
Let me know if you have any questions
Room:
Very good indeed. Simple and elegant. Outdoor terrace is quite small, but given the outdoor temp of 4 C, we hardly spent any time there. Mori suite, their entry level room, is supposed to be "garden view" only, but our suite has a tiny bit of sea view, which is both good and bad. The good part is that we do have a bit of seaview, and the bad part is that the garden is not really a garden but simply some Tsubaki bushes.
The second garden, located opposite to the outdoor terrace, is a very clever design element in my opinion. This garden blocked off the main road of the resort, resulting in both better privacy protection and more natural lighting into the room. And this garden is quite Japanese in design so you wouldn't see lounge chairs and tables there. Both gardens would be better in half a year, when the greens are given more time to grow.
Food and Beverage:
Unfortunately Amanemu completely failed this one.
There's one restaurant in Amanemu and food is quite disappointing. We had dinner there on the first night and we waited 75 min before our food was served... And the food themselves were terrible. Sushi platter was not fresh; grilled scallops had sands in them; and steamed fish still had plenty of scales on the skin. We ended up writing GM an email about the poor experience we had and GM took of the entire meal's bill off.
SPA:
This is the highlight of the property. Their SPA facility is located farther way from all rooms and reception area. The facility is very well designed and treatments were wonderful. Their therapists, at least my therapist, really need to have further English training though... She wasn't able to communicate "I'll wait for your outside", and after some painful attempts, she simply pointed at herself and pointed the door... Hopefully this will be improved shortly.
Service:
Service overall was very warm and genuinely friendly. However, there were quite a few glitches throughout the stay... The main problem was over promise and under deliver. They promised to arrange rental car for us, and then on the next day, when we arrived at the rental car station, we were told that all the cars were sold out... And they didn't offer us a ride to a farther away rental car station. We had to take the train to Ise Station and rented our car there. Then after we rented the car by ourselves, we contacted Aman and asked if they would help us return it the next day. They said they would. And the next day we found our car still sitting there, 1 hour before rental period expiring and the rental car station was 45 min away. I had to escalate the situation so they would return the car immediately.
Overall I think they were really willing to help, but it really took some pushes to get the ball rolling. Inter-department communication was quite weak too. Quite often I found staff not really aware of what was going on.
Housekeeping:
Good but not as good as other Amans. They forgot to stock body lotion in the room and I had to ask for it. They also missed one night's turn down service. Efficiency was good but not as good as other Amans.
Activities:
They only had very limited activities at this moment. We didn't use any of them as we prefer having a car and driving around, which I highly recommend. And the Yokoyama Observatory is not to be missed, although that is not on their activity list. The panoramic view of entire Ago Bay from Yokoyama Observatory was definitely a highlight. Mikimoto Museum is also nearby and worth a visit.
Let me know if you have any questions
Mar 11, 2016, 12:47 am
#22
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: England
Posts: 1,361
Thanks for the write-up, epitopeX. Your feedback sounds oddly in line with what I would expect in Aman Tokyo, i.e. not great. Forgetting turndown when you're paying ~£1000/n just isn't acceptable, nor having such poor quality food; this is Japan, probably the greatest food nation in the world - it surely can't be too hard to get right. The lack of English in the spa reminds me of Amanoi, but the staff cared so much and were trying to hard that it really didn't bother me.
I'd still like to try it, but I think I'll wait for more reviews later in the year before deciding whether we go around this time next year.
I'd still like to try it, but I think I'll wait for more reviews later in the year before deciding whether we go around this time next year.
Last edited by MacMyDay; Mar 11, 2016 at 2:52 am
Mar 11, 2016, 2:18 am
#23
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Enroute to ? & likely flying in ' A ':)
Programs: TPPS, UA, EK ...; Marriott BONVOY , HH, GP, GC..
Posts: 4,217
Thanks for the write-up, epitopeX. Your feedback sounds oddly in line with what I would expect in Aman Tokyo, i.e. not great. Forgetting turndown when you're paying ~£1000/n just isn't acceptable, nor having such poor quality food; this is Japan, probably the greatest food nation in the world - it surely can't be too hard to get right. The lack of English in the spa reminds me of Amanoi, but the staff cared so much and were trying to hard that it really didn't bother me.
I'd still like to try it, but I think I'll wait for more reviews later in the year before deciding whether we to around this time next year.
I'd still like to try it, but I think I'll wait for more reviews later in the year before deciding whether we to around this time next year.
Patience ..
N'oi spa team ' s English should be ' way better ' by now ( with in house English lessons courtesy of .. Ask Sean
) , already some improvement by our second stay . They are a pretty good team even with new masseuse with new treatments .We should , hopefully , hear from various FTers staying at N'oi this month .
Mar 11, 2016, 3:16 am
#24
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Europe
Posts: 2,600
Ditto , I ' d better wait till at least next year then
Patience ..
N'oi spa team ' s English should be ' way better ' by now ( with in house English lessons courtesy of .. Ask Sean ) , already some improvement by our second stay . They are a pretty good team even with new masseuse with new treatments .
We should , hopefully , hear from various FTers staying at N'oi this month .
Patience ..
N'oi spa team ' s English should be ' way better ' by now ( with in house English lessons courtesy of .. Ask Sean
) , already some improvement by our second stay . They are a pretty good team even with new masseuse with new treatments .We should , hopefully , hear from various FTers staying at N'oi this month .
Mar 11, 2016, 4:12 am
#25
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 60
Ditto , I ' d better wait till at least next year then
Patience ..
N'oi spa team ' s English should be ' way better ' by now ( with in house English lessons courtesy of .. Ask Sean ) , already some improvement by our second stay . They are a pretty good team even with new masseuse with new treatments .
We should , hopefully , hear from various FTers staying at N'oi this month .
Patience ..
N'oi spa team ' s English should be ' way better ' by now ( with in house English lessons courtesy of .. Ask Sean
) , already some improvement by our second stay . They are a pretty good team even with new masseuse with new treatments .We should , hopefully , hear from various FTers staying at N'oi this month .
Mar 12, 2016, 10:40 pm
#26
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: SFO
Programs: United global services, BA gold,
Posts: 839
Finally got to sit down and put my thoughts together about Amanemu...
Room:
Very good indeed. Simple and elegant. Outdoor terrace is quite small, but given the outdoor temp of 4 C, we hardly spent any time there. Mori suite, their entry level room, is supposed to be "garden view" only, but our suite has a tiny bit of sea view, which is both good and bad. The good part is that we do have a bit of seaview, and the bad part is that the garden is not really a garden but simply some Tsubaki bushes.
The second garden, located opposite to the outdoor terrace, is a very clever design element in my opinion. This garden blocked off the main road of the resort, resulting in both better privacy protection and more natural lighting into the room. And this garden is quite Japanese in design so you wouldn't see lounge chairs and tables there. Both gardens would be better in half a year, when the greens are given more time to grow.
Food and Beverage:
Unfortunately Amanemu completely failed this one.
There's one restaurant in Amanemu and food is quite disappointing. We had dinner there on the first night and we waited 75 min before our food was served... And the food themselves were terrible. Sushi platter was not fresh; grilled scallops had sands in them; and steamed fish still had plenty of scales on the skin. We ended up writing GM an email about the poor experience we had and GM took of the entire meal's bill off.
SPA:
This is the highlight of the property. Their SPA facility is located farther way from all rooms and reception area. The facility is very well designed and treatments were wonderful. Their therapists, at least my therapist, really need to have further English training though... She wasn't able to communicate "I'll wait for your outside", and after some painful attempts, she simply pointed at herself and pointed the door... Hopefully this will be improved shortly.
Service:
Service overall was very warm and genuinely friendly. However, there were quite a few glitches throughout the stay... The main problem was over promise and under deliver. They promised to arrange rental car for us, and then on the next day, when we arrived at the rental car station, we were told that all the cars were sold out... And they didn't offer us a ride to a farther away rental car station. We had to take the train to Ise Station and rented our car there. Then after we rented the car by ourselves, we contacted Aman and asked if they would help us return it the next day. They said they would. And the next day we found our car still sitting there, 1 hour before rental period expiring and the rental car station was 45 min away. I had to escalate the situation so they would return the car immediately.
Overall I think they were really willing to help, but it really took some pushes to get the ball rolling. Inter-department communication was quite weak too. Quite often I found staff not really aware of what was going on.
Housekeeping:
Good but not as good as other Amans. They forgot to stock body lotion in the room and I had to ask for it. They also missed one night's turn down service. Efficiency was good but not as good as other Amans.
Activities:
They only had very limited activities at this moment. We didn't use any of them as we prefer having a car and driving around, which I highly recommend. And the Yokoyama Observatory is not to be missed, although that is not on their activity list. The panoramic view of entire Ago Bay from Yokoyama Observatory was definitely a highlight. Mikimoto Museum is also nearby and worth a visit.
Let me know if you have any questions
Room:
Very good indeed. Simple and elegant. Outdoor terrace is quite small, but given the outdoor temp of 4 C, we hardly spent any time there. Mori suite, their entry level room, is supposed to be "garden view" only, but our suite has a tiny bit of sea view, which is both good and bad. The good part is that we do have a bit of seaview, and the bad part is that the garden is not really a garden but simply some Tsubaki bushes.
The second garden, located opposite to the outdoor terrace, is a very clever design element in my opinion. This garden blocked off the main road of the resort, resulting in both better privacy protection and more natural lighting into the room. And this garden is quite Japanese in design so you wouldn't see lounge chairs and tables there. Both gardens would be better in half a year, when the greens are given more time to grow.
Food and Beverage:
Unfortunately Amanemu completely failed this one.
There's one restaurant in Amanemu and food is quite disappointing. We had dinner there on the first night and we waited 75 min before our food was served... And the food themselves were terrible. Sushi platter was not fresh; grilled scallops had sands in them; and steamed fish still had plenty of scales on the skin. We ended up writing GM an email about the poor experience we had and GM took of the entire meal's bill off.
SPA:
This is the highlight of the property. Their SPA facility is located farther way from all rooms and reception area. The facility is very well designed and treatments were wonderful. Their therapists, at least my therapist, really need to have further English training though... She wasn't able to communicate "I'll wait for your outside", and after some painful attempts, she simply pointed at herself and pointed the door... Hopefully this will be improved shortly.
Service:
Service overall was very warm and genuinely friendly. However, there were quite a few glitches throughout the stay... The main problem was over promise and under deliver. They promised to arrange rental car for us, and then on the next day, when we arrived at the rental car station, we were told that all the cars were sold out... And they didn't offer us a ride to a farther away rental car station. We had to take the train to Ise Station and rented our car there. Then after we rented the car by ourselves, we contacted Aman and asked if they would help us return it the next day. They said they would. And the next day we found our car still sitting there, 1 hour before rental period expiring and the rental car station was 45 min away. I had to escalate the situation so they would return the car immediately.
Overall I think they were really willing to help, but it really took some pushes to get the ball rolling. Inter-department communication was quite weak too. Quite often I found staff not really aware of what was going on.
Housekeeping:
Good but not as good as other Amans. They forgot to stock body lotion in the room and I had to ask for it. They also missed one night's turn down service. Efficiency was good but not as good as other Amans.
Activities:
They only had very limited activities at this moment. We didn't use any of them as we prefer having a car and driving around, which I highly recommend. And the Yokoyama Observatory is not to be missed, although that is not on their activity list. The panoramic view of entire Ago Bay from Yokoyama Observatory was definitely a highlight. Mikimoto Museum is also nearby and worth a visit.
Let me know if you have any questions
Mar 14, 2016, 8:39 am
#28
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2012
Programs: Marriott Lifetime Plat, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 115
I ran into a college classmate at Amanemu (what a small world...) on its opening day, and she also commented that her ￥20,000++ dinner Omakase was a huge disappointment. With her omakase and our a la carte experiences, I think it's better to avoid having dinner there all together.
Breakfast is not included so far (it's not part of Virtuoso or FHR yet). There were three breakfast options: Full Japanese (￥4,900++pp), Japanese Short Menu (￥2,800++pp) and western (￥4,900++pp? not sure). We tried both Japanese options and felt that they were ok but nothing really special.
Mar 14, 2016, 9:18 am
#29
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Jakarta
Programs: Krisflyer PPS, SPG, Hyatt GoldPassport, Shangri-la Golden Circle, British Airways ExecClub
Posts: 1,245
Isn't it amazing nowadays how luxury hotels/resorts can get away by charging so much yet delivering so little? And here we are talking about an Aman, a chain so well renowed for top notch service and F&B ( of which I had two excellent stays in the past at two of their properties ) and yet in this case appears to fall well short in both.
With the generation change, it is now more hardware than software in a lot of cases. So nowadays, unless I am more or less sure I will be getting my money's worth, I'll rather pay less for a B&B or a corporate chain that deliver all the basics then to spurge on a supposedly high end property only to end up feeling very short-changed. Just my 2 cents.
With the generation change, it is now more hardware than software in a lot of cases. So nowadays, unless I am more or less sure I will be getting my money's worth, I'll rather pay less for a B&B or a corporate chain that deliver all the basics then to spurge on a supposedly high end property only to end up feeling very short-changed. Just my 2 cents.
Mar 14, 2016, 10:45 am
#30
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: IAD/DCA
Posts: 31,797
how are 24 suites and 4 villas are laid out?
(number of suites per building, villa location)
how 'far' aman is from rest of nemunosato?
if one does not care about number of rooms, nonguests, etc
chains can be overpriced in expensive markets (like japan)
nemu starting with flat rate except weekend, holiday, august
and aman tokyo is not fully dynamic rates, at least so far
(so better than dynamic rates over highest peak dates)
not always
(number of suites per building, villa location)
how 'far' aman is from rest of nemunosato?
if one does not care about number of rooms, nonguests, etc
chains can be overpriced in expensive markets (like japan)
nemu starting with flat rate except weekend, holiday, august
and aman tokyo is not fully dynamic rates, at least so far
(so better than dynamic rates over highest peak dates)
not always
Last edited by Kagehitokiri; Mar 24, 2016 at 6:02 pm