Originally Posted by
traveluxe
Hi all, I’ve just returned from a week at Amanpulo where I proposed to my now fiancé. Overall the trip was lovely and of course very idyllic. However, I must admit I’m a little disappointed.
In advance of our arrival I emailed Pulo to let them know I’ll be proposing (on the beach alone). A huge disappointment came in the form of only the beach club staff later wishing us congratulations after we informed one of them of our engagement and word spread around their team. You could deem it expectant, but given my previous stays at Aman's for occasions less significant than an engagement, I found it baffling that we didn’t receive wine/flowers or even a card in the room. No acknowledgement from senior management either. At other Aman’s we’d receive multiple kind gestures. I did read that Pulo has a tendency to be penny-pinching, so perhaps this is the explanation?
On our final day the resort manager introduced himself and asked how our trip was. He’d been on vacation until the day before we left. I explained what had happened and that it didn’t feel quite Aman-like. Upon hearing this they removed an experience from our bill and handed us a gift as we boarded the plane home. He also offered to give me his business card. He forgot his business card as I was boarding the plane and offered to email me which I agreed to. 1 week later and no email…
Also the below just added to the situation:
- I had to cancel my return car transfer to my Manila hotel three times. It turned up on my bill a week after I’d asked to cancel it.
- We were in a treetop casita so had use of the beach club sun loungers. The service whilst on the loungers was abysmal. I constantly had to go and hunt someone down just to get some water. No staff were present.
- The resort was at around 50% capacity. Many beach and hillside casitas were visibly empty so it was a little disappointing we weren’t upgraded as per our other Aman stays.
- Luggage tags left on your bed as a gift on the last night. Kind of ruins the typical Aman ‘surprise’ of finding them on your luggage after checking out. Comes across as lazy and furthers the thought of penny pinching.
- Generic farewell card written on last night of course with no mention of our engagement.
I wonder if I’m expecting too much? Whilst this was a very special trip for us I can’t help but feel a little let down by Amanpulo.
I welcome your thoughts.
We went to Amanpulo for our first year anniversary and had the exact same experience as your just described. In fact, not only did they not do anything, but the service was also way below expected. They didn’t bother to clean our room, we didn’t see anyone by the pool area and had to hunt for towels and water on our own, same with the gift tags, etc.
There were also so many sand flies that we were itching for days. I was told this was endemic to the island, but I later on found out from senior management at Amanoi that it’s a budget issue. They don’t treat the sand during low season.
Anyway, I told the manager and he did nothing. This experience was so different from my first visit. Also, room had cockroach inside the kettle and they just shrugged it off.