Originally Posted by
TRAVELSIG
I think Amansara is quite impressive in that it was the former residence of the King IIRC. If you check I do believe the Financial Times (the other FT) had a review on it a while back- perhaps in the "How to Spend It" magazine?
The Park Hyatt should be open by the time you are visiting as well- when it was the Hotel de la Paix I stayed there a couple of times and really liked this hotel although do get a room looking into the courtyard as street facing rooms are quite noisy. I also very much appreciated the former restaurant- no idea what the new management will do.
Great piece of advice on the type of rooms to request in case I do not stay at Amansara, thanks a lot about that. I would hate to get a noisy room or with an awful view and since we'll be there close to Chinese New Year, I'm quite sure it'll be packed. If I opt for the Hotel de la Paix, soon PH, I'll use a suite certificate for sure. That might be the best value in Siem Reap in that case and I might then consider flying somewhere else for an Aman stay. I would have loved Pulo but the rates are quite steep and the location makes a 3-night stay meaningless (or anything below 5 or 6 nights).
Originally Posted by
Musken
The first Aman we stayed at was Amanjena in Marrakesch 12 years ago. We stayed there after a 10 days round trip with rental car through the deserts and mountains, staying in 3 or 4 star hotels that I cannot remember the names of. One had little "caves" where we slept in, mattresses on the floor and not possible to stand up. Very romantic, though. We felt we came to heaven when arriving at Amanjena after this trip and had a wonderful time there.
One year later we went to Bali. We stayed in Amankila after having stayed in pretty good, but much cheaper hotels. One (Ubud) was called Waka di Ume or something like that and the other one was at Lovina Beach (North Bali). Damai Lovina Beach, I think it was called. Great food and pretty good service as well, but no idea if it even exists today.
Thank you for sharing, it gives me a better idea of how you felt before entering the Aman. I've been twice to Bali but only to the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel, the ex Sofitel Seminyak where I had a confirmed upgrade in a beach villa from a 99 USD per night deluxe room
and the Ubud Hanging Gardens. Nothing that would be near what Aman resorts seem to be like there. But I really heard Bali was getting more and more crowded so it's not a top priority to go back there right now.
Originally Posted by
Ericka
SeamasterLux, our experience is almost identical to Musken's. Our first Aman was 13 years ago at Hotel Bora Bora for our honeymoon. We've since been to 13 of their properites. We have stayed for 2 nights all the way up to 2 weeks. Some of the shorter stays have been driven by the lack of US vacation time, but also by the US recession. (Which we are still in, BTW)
If you like the idea of luxury hotels, I think you should give Amanresorts a shot. Even if only for a short stay. Please avail yourself of all of the trip reports on this forum for the various properties. I don't recall Sara being one of my favorites, but others may feel differently.
I appreciate the piece of advice dear Ericka. I did read all your trip reports with great interests, especially the ones on India as it used to be a total NO GO for me and I'm starting to consider something after having read your TR.
During a stay at the MO Dhara Dhevi, I met a lawyer working in Japan on holidays with his family that was trying the MO DD for the first time after many stays at the Amanpuri and other Aman resorts. He said that accommodations were similar but that service, especially regarding kids' activities, were better at the Aman. I had amazing service at the MO so I can't imagine how that'd be any better and kids wise, I'm not concerned yet
Well, I guess I'll have to try to find a good first Aman to test the concept.