After having had a very disappointing stay at Aman’s other tented camp, the bedraggled and poorly maintained Amanwana, I was apprehensive about Aman-i-Khas. Thankfully, Aman-i-khas was a better experience than Amanwana, but it had the opposite problem. Whereas Amanwana’s accommodations were unacceptably tired and worn, Aman-i-Khas’s tents are in superb condition, very stylishly designed by Gathy. By day, they are filled with a warm, soft light that makes them a pleasure to inhabit. There is apparently a heating system, too, but somehow not sufficient to warm them in the morning, so they were quite chilly once we emerged from the covers.

I really appreciate the all-inclusive laundry—such a nice perk.

But whereas Amanwana partially atoned for the poor accommodations through impeccable service and good food, Aman-i-Khas had uneven service and the worst food I have ever had at an Aman resort.

At Aman-i-Khas, we frequently had to ask for things that in other Amans have been anticipated. No staff ever seemed to come to the small pool area, so we had to go find someone from whom to request drinks, and even then had to wait for quite a while for service. Our batman/butler was uneven—very responsive at times, less so at others.

There’s a mandatory daily food supplement that must be paid, and for each meal there were typically two options. They say that if you are not happy with the options you can request something else and they will make it if they have it, but it felt like those were just words they were trained to say, and when we did express desire for other options, the staff seemed flummoxed and uncertain how to proceed. I mean, if every lodge in Bhutan is able to conjure up a separate menu with multiple options for each meal, I would expect Aman-I-Khas, which is much less isolated than Amankora, to be able to do a much better job with its food. A chicken entrée we ordered was absolutely inedible, the chicken so tough and coarse that none of us were able even to chew it.

The resort looks quite different from the photos online—the woodlands have grown up within the resort since it was opened, and when I mentioned that to the GM, he said that he’d been trying to get Aman to post updated pictures on their website, since it’s much more lush than it appears.

And we did enjoy the game drives in Ranthambore Park, which was very beautiful. No tiger sightings (we did two drives), so that was a slight disappointment, but none of us were especially fixated on that, and we did enjoy being in such a beautiful natural environment.

So I’d rank this on the low end of the Aman resorts I’ve experienced—a step above Amanwana, ultimately, but not a place to which I’d ever return.