Originally Posted by
behuman
Amankora has huge building problems. Soundproofing is inexistent and the woodworks are poorly done. The floors at the Gangtey lodge ar literally falling apart...
...The GM is a surely individual who ignores his guests leaving it to the resident managers who I experienced to be nice people - including the "Norvegian girl" who was at Gangtey before.
Also absolutely unacceptable are the extremely cramped communal dining arrangements at Paro, Gangtey and Punaka. In Punaka however the palace is three storeys and meals can be served privately in the upper rooms. In Paro they have an outside fireplace where this can be done also.
have there been recent changes...? when were you there? can you clarify why your negatives of GM and communal dining at paro/punaka outweigh your positives?
may 31 2009
Originally Posted by
bigmerv
Aman - Kora, Dari and Kila
Just back from a wonderful stay at the above resorts.
Originally Posted by
bigmerv
staying at Amankora in Punakha and Thimpu
jun 1 2009
Originally Posted by
Groombridge
...I spent 10 nights at Amankora last October, and thought it was one of the top 5 hotel experiences of my life. I went to all 5 lodges...
GANGTEY: very small and intimate lodge, with exquisite views across the valley...
PUNAKHA: the most exquisite of all the lodges, set in rice paddies, across a swinging bridge covered with prayer flags, with a wonderful outdoor dining courtyard with tremendous views. There are only a few rooms, so it's seen much more wear and tear than the other lodges; in fact, it was the only lodge that felt a bit run down...
...grand views of Paro, the otherworldliness of Gangtey, and the gorgeous intimacy of Punankha...
perhaps
KrazeeJoe can comment on his stay last month.
dec 8 2009
Originally Posted by
KrazeeJoe
On my travel to Amankora last month
from gallivanters commenter >
As we arrived in Thimpu John greeted just me (not my wife and my 2 friends) while I was behind my pc. Timing was bad and he stayed 10 seconds without really showing any courtesy whatsoever. The same for Choden, who just greeted me upon departure at Thimpu.
I regret that all the 5 lodges have the same interior. If you are in your room you don’t have the feeling that you changed hotels. It is not a question of love or hate it, as Bhutan is great. But Aman isn’t. The lack of interest that John shows to his guest, he brings, in my opinion,.over to his management team and.staff members. In Gangtey the charming lady did fine to welcome us and to say farewell. In Bhumtang we stayed 4 nights and we met the local manager for 30 seconds. Even worse is that we left this lodge anonymously after breakfast. Besides a waitress nobody was there !
We drove to Punakha, where at arrival we were greeted in her sweating jogging outfit by a Norwegian girl, who was apparently running this lodge, and just returned from her daily run. Staff informed me that at this time (very regular arriving time of guests between 3 and 4 pm, after a few hours drive from Bhumtang) she does her daily jogging. If she had no better timing. By the way, a mid 20 year old girl has in my opinion not the "layers and experience of Aman standards hospitality". She could have been my daughter..haha Again no farewell at departure and we left silently.
Than I was surprised that Punakha prepared a "lunch picknick" in order to have lunch in Paro. Why would you prepare this in Punakha as you have to drive around 3.5-4 hours and than you arrive.at Amankora Paro. Sounds logic to me that Amankora Paro prepared the lunch or picknick. At Paro we were nicely welcomed and Eduardo didn’t fail to wake up early to say goodbye at 6.30 am.
Overall comments:
- food: in general good
- spa: all lodges the same with average quality in general
- hospitality: low
I missed the personal attention and some surprises...why not set up a surprise picknick in a tent in the mountains somewhere for example, or a romantic dinner for 2 somewhere... All guest take more or less the same routings for hiking so it seems not too difficult to give it some "Aman-flavor" I have the feeling that management has a kind of semi holiday and are resting on her Laurels. I don’t think that I am under-estimating the job which has been achieved but as a regular Aman client I had expected that after a few years of running Amankora would have been more mature and more up to Aman-standards. My conclusion: new fresh wind in the management team
...
Heaven, heaven, heaven.... Robyn and Manav are the perfect Aman couple to run deeply out of their heart an Amanbagh family. They set an example with the quality of human aspects and well mannered hospitality styles.
...
EV – Spain.
included their positive comments about robyn at amanbagh for some additional context (based on varied reports here) to their negative comments about management/etc at amankora.