Originally Posted by
vuittonsofstyle
To see the difference between the before and after of Amanresorts, take one example at Amanpuri over the festive season. In the AZ days, many guests ordered magnums of Champagne, but they were set behind the scenes and poured discreetly. The new Aman flaunts the magnums and jeroboams on the tables.
I'm not sure that's so representative of the difference between "before" (amazing) and "after" (very good but not always amazing). I think there were plenty of Amans serving and flaunting special occasions and events, celebrities, and accoutrements in the old day--but there wasn't social media to make it so easy to flaunt. Now, with social media, it is far easier and far more likely--both from Aman and from the guests.
I think the before "remote Zen-like retreat" ambience of Aman is what has changed. The after new urban retreat model just doesn't execute the Zen-like service despite the Zen-like hard product. And everything has flowed from there. In the old days, occupancy was much lower on average--and it was easier to execute the Zen-like ambience and high level of service. Now, occupancy is higher on average, much higher for some properties, making it harder to achieve the Zen-like ambience and service. And Aman no longer creates destinations by finding remote locations that can become spectacular; Aman more often than not is chasing the destinations now.