KL808

Just wanted to chime in that am here now.

As described above all Pros is still true. Love the ninja cleaning crews 😂

Paul L is still here as well greeted upon arrival yesterday.

Drove myself here from Athens on a rental.

Resort is almost full above 90%. But you don’t really see many guests unless it’s bfast or dinner.

nmuva98

The asking for room numbers constantly is something Paul L. should really be held accountable for.

I stayed at Puri around 5 years ago when he was GM there and was asked for my room number literally everywhere. All restaurants, bars, pools, beach, etc. All day, every day for 4 days straight. It got a little ridiculous after awhile. Raised it to Paul directly multiple times and it was clear he couldn't be asked. Either ignored the complaint entirely or blamed it on high turnover of staff.

He's been with the company for 6 years now and this same complaint keeps coming up? Come on....

offerendum

The room-number is an ongoing issue which I also communicated.

luxefarer

Here is a POV of Amanzoe in July 2021. Indisputably iconic. One of Ed Tuttle's finest designs. Overall a great experience, but I'd be remiss not to admit a lot is left to be desired in terms of the service/experience. I found it incomparable to that of other Aman properties we visited. But perhaps this was just a side-effect of the management? Not so sure. What do repeated guests think about Amanzoe in it's totality? Has the experience changed more recently?

Zephyrous

We’ve been staying at Amanzoe for two weeks every summer since (almost) it’s opening. There was a time when it was indisputably the best hotel in Europe and has been a slippery slope ever since. Last year the service was atrocious on every level. So much so that we won’t be returning this year.

Not just incomparable to Aman service levels but generally lagging way behind a lot of other Greek hotels.

scented

Would love to hear a few details on service failures, if you can/want to share some. Booked Zoe for May...

FlyerEC

Will like to hear too , thanks , Zephyrous .

Heard issues somewhat similar to AmanSS with staffing . We were hoping to return in June but with Paul L gone , doubt our memorable experience can be surpassed . So will potentially stay at other AMANs in Asia or AmanCGV ..

Zephyrous

I’ll try to be as objective as possible. To flag that our visits have always been at highest of high seasons for the hotel (ie mid August)

The grounds are still spectacular and the location IMO is the best location in Greece. And that’s where the positives for an Aman end.

F&B: it has consistently gone downhill through the years. Amanzoe used to have the best breakfast and, for the first time ever this past summer, even that was no longer it (albeit it still was good - though we did have to wait 1+ hour one time). Also to add that when it first opened up it had interesting (and rather unknown) Greek wines to explore, which gave way for the Cloudy Bays and Whispering Angels of this world.

Hard product: starting to feel tired

Beach Club: was very busy - I think the constant adding of villas to the resort doesn’t help for the rather limited number of amenities at the beach. For the first time I came across people “reserving” loungers. Literally we were the first people at the beach a couple of times and we couldn’t sit at the front because others had already “reserved” the loungers (ultimately rectified as I made a fuss about it). Lunch at the beach was again a let down because as per usual large groups from yachts would join (personal friends of the owner I suspect) and having a table of 25+ next to you makes you feel as a guest in someone else’s party.

Service: here was the true failure. Aside from the usual of constantly asking for room number:
- after so many stays and still they couldn’t get the mini bar stocked up with our preferences (our only requirement has only been Diet Coke, sparkling water + ice)
​​​​​​- room wasn’t done one day at all (went to the beach at 10 am and came back at 4 pm)
- I asked them to book a table at a restaurant that I’ve been going for years. I told them that if they can’t get a table to give them my name as I know them very well. They failed to get a table. I contacted the restaurant and got a table myself - they never told them.
- Another day I told them in the morning to book us a restaurant and transport. They never confirmed so about an hour before our time to depart for the village I called to ask if everything was set. They gave me a “let us check” answer. When we eventually got to the restaurant they told me that Amanzoe hadn’t called in the morning but rather after the time that I called to check (ie an hour before we were due to go there for dinner).The only reason the restaurant accommodated the reservation is because, again, we have been going there for years and recognised our names otherwise it was so last minute that they wouldn’t have.
- Another evening we were due to go across to Spetses. We always had a wonderful water taxi captain who has accommodated us over the years even at times when it was close to impossible to get transport (high season + lots of weddings of rich Greeks = not so great availability). Instead of booking us with our usual boat, notwithstanding the fact that I explicitly asked for that, they booked us on another boat. Which would have been fine had we not waited for 45 minutes on the pier (typically the boat is there to meet you once you get out of the car) and every time we called the hotel the answer we got was “the boat is 3 minutes away”. The only reason we managed to cross was because another boat took us (completely unconnected to our booking). Otherwise we were ready to give up and ask for a car back to the hotel.
- overall: every request (which I should add is fairly reasonable as we are fairly laid back) was met with “we will see what we can do” but then never actually following through.
- management: never present and no service recovery

Lastly and without wanting to sound like a prima donna. We have been staying there for years, and I would expect any luxury hotel to at least know somewhat what we like (usually Aman’s have a tendency to anticipate what you like even if you haven’t stayed with them before). Never got the sense that this was the case. In fact it was as if we were staying there for the first time.

scented

Thank you so much for taking the time to write down all these details for us... really helps me understand but to be honest, all this sounds terrible. I am very surprised they let things slide that much. No excuses, despite high season - they should know better and they've been heavily booked for years. Amanzoe certainly emerged as a winner from Covid in terms of revenue... Greek was open for the most part of the pandemic and many took the chance and made Zoe their home.

I am not too familiar with the labour market in Greece in recent years, if they were suffering from the same hiring problems... but would not believe they laid off many, also seasonality is a factor here. But no excuses, all of your points are valid and this is so very disappointing to read.

I will keep the booking for now but if it's that bad, I would definitely move to FS Astir Palace.

FlyerEC

Thanks much , Zephyrous , for being specific and telling it as it is . Am actually not surprised .

It was still quite amazing in September 2019 when Guillermo V was still covering as HM . Paul L and him made an incredible team . Arrived just after a “ buy “ out and we had the beach to ourselves
However , even then there was no service there , even getting them to place extra towels on the loungers took awhile ‼️

Paul likely was not on property during your stay as he had personal matters to attend too in Switzerland . He was away a few times last year .
Hope he is still taking time now to grieve for the loss of his father , etc .

Had heard from others as I implied on earlier post that many staff were actually not up to scratch but the Greek employment laws were such that their hands were tied . Such is the state of affairs .
When we stayed , Guillermo had to personally help to get things rectified . When Paul came on board , he contributed to lots of impressive improvements from what one can gather . But there is only so much he could do to stem the tide of rot .

Real pity that they are both no longer with AMAN .

Sure hope the new GM has some understanding of AMAN , particularly if newbie comes from who knows where .
Lots of hiring misses in recent years including the consultants hired by HQ who do not know the history of AMAN . Yes , paying probably millions in making history of charging the iconic to run of the mill 🙄

uclabruin82

FlyerEC curious if a new GM for Amanzoe has been hired?

FlyerEC

Yes , sad to say that Ernst L is no more covering Indonesia but pleased to share that he is at Zoe !!

chinmoylad

Yes, Ernst from Amankila! Great addition and sad to see him go but an incredible property for him to take over too - hopefully he'll bring his excellent and thoughtful touches to it.

uclabruin82

Well, just booked an 8-night stay there for this summer and had a brief email chat with Ernst. Very much looking forward to it

BESVISOR

Not sure if I'm more nervous or excited for our visit to Amanzoe in a couple of weeks.
Seemed like service was in free fall but now that Ernst is there, I feel a bit more relaxed. But we shall see!