Originally Posted by
SP03
I'm also late to the Aman having only stayed at Amangiri last fall and just finished Amankora. While service at Amangiri was good, I was blown away by Amankora. I wonder if the issue is less of the lifestyle branding that they are trying to sell, but rather it's simply not possible to pay people enough to provide the level of service you get in other parts of the world, esp in the NYC market. The labor cost has skyrocketed in the US and there is not much of a service culture here as you do in SE Asia. You also can't import workers as easily in the US.
If you can't find a service worker that will acknowledge a guest and get them a drink in a timely fashion after they have a seat in the bar, it isn't because you aren't paying them enough. It is either you have no clue what you are doing (crap management) or you are hiring the wrong people. I hear what you are saying, but consider the fact that there are probably 50 hotels in NY and hundreds of bars and restaurants that could provide better service than that detailed above. And I suspect they don't need to import workers from Asia to do it.