Kagehitokiri

re aman GMs

external hires >
- tokyo
- beijing
- puri (from como, though harish is also there)
- wana

pending >
- ruya
- bagh

Aventine

I always wondered why they never put Hisayo-san there. She's at Emu now anyway.

Kagehitokiri

tokyo and beijing are cities and puri is the largest, although also original
wana was one of two asian resorts to not do free night, along with pulo

seems jeff hired feb/mar 2014, where was Hisayo then?

Kagehitokiri

is hoshinoya tokyo really opening in july?
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showth...1712549&page=5
facade will impact view

speaking of - http://hoshinoyafuji.com/en/ opened oct 30 2015? with 40 villas

vuittonsofstyle

The difference with Marc Handl is that he was brought up in Japan, so I think he should better understand service ethics

ProTraveler

I stayed at the property during its pre-opening, and there were several service inconsistencies that I chalked up to the fact that the staff was still finding their bearings. I'm curious what types of issues you experienced, especially under the property's new leadership.

hailstorm

This was my first stay at an Aman, but I'd heard tremendous things about them in the past, so perhaps I'm grading on an unreasonable curve. Having said that,

1. Did not extend Virtuoso room upgrade despite online availability (the whole place seemed quite empty during our stay)

2. Nobody came in to refresh the room/room amenities while we were out for breakfast.

3. Asked someone in the library if they could assist me in getting a book I couldn't reach. He told me (in Japanese) "I'm just the maintenance guy, ask someone in the concierge." and went back to his work (a few minutes later, he did ask someone else to help me without additional prodding)

That, and the evening restaurant offerings were disappointing. Not bad, but given the really high quality of ingredients that they would using, should have been so much better. Breakfast was better...to their credit, the white omelette that I ordered was one of the best I've ever had.

There was a lot to like about Aman Tokyo, and I'm glad I stayed once, but there's nothing there to make me a repeater ("Junkie"?)

Arrow29

Have ended up changing my upcoming booking from the RC Tokyo to MO. The rate for our dates dropped significantly (which I found out quite by accident) and the price seemed too good to pass up. As others have said, I'm sure one can't go wrong with either, but MO was always one we wanted to try so am looking forward to it!

Aventine

I'm sure you'll enjoy it just as much as you would have RC.

ProTraveler

As other posters have stated, excellent service at the Aman Tokyo should practically be a given, and it is a shame that the property has yet to produce the true "Aman" guest experience. I too am glad that I was able to see incredible architecture of the property, but do not see a return visit in the foreseeable future.

Aventine

I think excellent everything should be a given at Aman Tokyo. All the ingredients are there but needs someone to put it all together. I wouldn't say I'd never go back but will be interested to see how Mr. Handl runs the place.

TOMFORD

I stayed at the Hoshinoya Kyoto and loved every minute of it. Definitely will check these other two. The Fuji property looks beautiful, but as all Fuji properties, is so inconveniently located

RA-wannabe

Hoshinoya Tokyo's facade looks horrible. Why would anybody in the right frame of mind cover the fantastic view of Tokyo?

MikeFromTokyo

I suspect that is some type of temporary scaffolding covering the building while it is still under construction.

Phaze

Unfortunately, your suspicion is incorrect:

"Such a location calls for a suitably grand facade"

"The exterior of the structure is shrouded by a metal lattice of komon patterns. These patterns are traditionally featured on kimonos and are designed to be difficult to discern from a distance, while revealing their elegance up close."

Check the picture, too.

Looks far from grand and elegant to me.