Originally Posted by
Kagehitokiri
bhrubin, you do not travel during holiday periods. what if aman has 100% occupancy every day?
my point is not re 100%, it is that you would no longer have the option of avoiding such periods
I do avoid travel during holiday periods. That being said, occupancy was 100% for my most recent April 2016 stay at Amangiri. Sometimes, you can't avoid it if the property is so popular. We had a fabulous stay at Amangiri even at 100% occupancy.
As with all my luxury hotel selections, if an Aman (or any luxury hotel) can't deliver when it's at higher occupancy, then I and likely many others--gasp, even other Amanjunkies--might decide the cost/benefit isn't worth it. Then occupancy and demand will drop, and either Aman will adjust to better improve its service for higher occupancy or it won't. This is as true for Aman as it is for Pen, FS, MO, etc.
There are some hotels in every luxury hotel group that handle higher occupancy better than others. But being at higher occupancy shouldn't preclude a luxury hotel from delivering the high service that it promises. It may preclude getting room upgrades, understandably, but nothing else. I will choose accordingly--based on reviews and fellow luxury traveler feedback--and stay where I think my cost/benefit is best for me.
(existing) aman properties will always remain unique, and im not sure there will ever be a brand that competes with the 'brand' that consists of the existing aman properties, pretty much regardless of any changes made under new corporate owner
I agree with this--though I still think this is less true in the newer urban retreats that Aman is developing. Still, I always am much less partial to urban destinations than remote/rural destinations, so I do not match the majority of the Amanjunkie profile or profile of the new customer base that Aman is hoping to develop with these new urban hotels.