FlyerEC

spylaw4 ! W e were almost going to be neighbours , in 14 , but have had to postpone .
Be sure to ask them for any regional specialties you ' d like to try
Have a marvellous time . Hope those breezes are not like the December ones which had everyone indoors .

Been discussing getting a telescope since opening . Sean F is seriously working on getting one before we stay - when it gets ' cooler ' again .
The Recreation manager , Richard D , was from Pulo & is a quite an expert , he trained the Pulo team before moving to N'oi .
He ' ll be able to suggest other activities too .

spylaw4

Now that is a shame, FlyerEC!
Sorry to miss you as we shall be sadly departing 30th to HAN thence for LHR via HAN on VN direct. Reasonably comfortable new 787.
The wind is really strong right now, but R says it will die down 'soon'! Still the sun is strong which is great.
I'll post a report on the trip once back in London.

FlyingDoctorwu

Can't wait! Anyone know how the weather in October is? Rainy right? Too rainy???

Fdw

eamus

Thank you to everyone who has posted here, this has been extremely helpful. Our 15 year anniversary is coming up, and I really want to visit this property, and Amanusa. I don't believe that there is a nonstop flight between the two, but if anyone has advice other than simply VN via SGN or HAN I would be grateful if they could chime in.

spylaw4

Have a look at this quick search result:

http://www.worldweatheronline.com/ca...erages/vn.aspx

Whether the weather is too wet for you I leave up to you!

Re flights DPS - CXR - I don't think there is one as yet. Garuda fly DPS - SGN (via Jakarta AFAIK). Sean F indicated that they were hoping for a SIN - CXR connection sometime which would be good.

eamus

I see I posted upthread .... but our plans have developed somewhat and I have a different question. We are booked on flights into HKG and I am working on logistics from that point. I am currently planning on us spending three nights in HKG (FS or Pen) and then 2-3 nights at the Park Hyatt SGN, before 4 nights at Amanoi.

I am wondering whether anyone has taken a car transfer from Ho Chi Minh City to Amanoi and what it was like. Although my wife has been to Vietnam twice before, I have not been at all and am interested in seeing some of the countryside. We are more than willing to drive ourselves, but so much the better if someone else can do it for us reliably. We would fly back, but a drive there seems like it might be worthwhile. Any views??

deer

It's a scenic drive indeed, with much different cities and landscapes to see!
You have catholic villages with colourful lit churches - and then in the next village you have communist red flags, that's very funny. And you have different vegetations, flat land, hills, sea - very interesting. I would highly recommend doing it once!

Important: You definitely should opt for a car with driver! It's a 7 hour drive, so you should start at 9 or 10 in the morning.

eamus

Thank you! If SWMBO approves, I will work with the concierge to find a good and reputable company. There have been rumblings about going to Amansara instead.

BESVISOR

Just confirmed 4 nights at Amanoi for end of December to review the property.

Reached out to GM (Sean F) and took forever (over 2 weeks) to communicate a few emails...ultimately passed off to someone else. Which is fine but would have preferred if it happened sooner. Feel very unwelcome and disinterested. Not that I think I'm "special" or require the red carpet to be rolled out but feels different than some of the other Aman management I've encountered...no warmth, in fact, feels like complete apathy. Debating if it's worth going at all.

Anyone with recent stay at Amanoi can share if they feel the same regarding service and management?

scented

Your post makes me wonder. This is the first time I ever hear of anything like that, doesn't sound like him to be honest. Amanoi under Joy and Sean has some of the best management anyone could ever experience. It is warm, caring and enthusiastic.

He is one of the 'last' GMs that was hired under old ownership. I wonder if his contract will be renewed or not. We shall see.

If I may ask, you are staying "to review" the property, which translates into you are being invited for a comped stay? In that case, others may very well get priority. No offense.

callmedtop

Joy is by far the sweetest hotel employee I've ever met, and emailing back and forth with her was very quick and speedy. I also exchanged a few emails with Sean and he was relatively prompt.

On property, Joy was literally a dream. Sean was gone for the majority of the stay but we did chat for quite a bit on my last day. Great guy.

BESVISOR

Thanks for your feedback! I hope you're right and I'm wrong in this case.

I've only read/heard the same high remarks for Sean...However, I can tell you that communication has been difficult and definitely not warm, caring or enthusiastic. There were times where emails weren't responded in 5 to 7 days so I simply had to email other staff members at the resort.

Example:
After initial email/questions were unresponsive for 7 days I followed up and received feedback 2 days later. No acknowledgement of the delay. Fine, no problem, at least I know someone's responding.
Then I replied with feedback and another question...another 5 days pass by before I finally had to reach out again to others at the resort...again, glad to see an email from someone on-behalf of Sean but no acknowledgement of the delays or anything.

Yes, I'm a Virtuoso agent so I'm paying a slightly discounted rate (~$900 for Ocean View) due to being peak season to go inspect the site myself for clients. If I'm receiving a discount then I'm completely fine being 2nd class citizen, to some degree, no big deal...but I'm simply talking about replying an email back to me in a timely manner and showing a welcoming attitude...I'm not asking to be upgraded to an Ocean View Pool Pavilion over a guest/returning guest paying full nor do I feel entitled to anything other than great service that is expected with Aman or what I'm paying for. Maybe I'm being sensitive but the entire point of any site review/inspection is to see how a property operates/treats all its guests, regardless the rates to be had by the guests.

Hopefully, this is just a misunderstanding on my part as I do have high hopes for this resort based on what everyone has discussed within this thread. Think this would be great a alternative to clients that frequent Bali often but begin to find Amankila a bit tired (though, it will never be tired for me, love Kila!).

FlyerEC

Sean & his wife , L , are quite on the ball & earnest in developing N'oi to be an Aman as she should be . Has been tasked with working out the many challenges facing this pioneering Aman for Vietnam . In a national reserve and in community not known for service from recent political history & whatnots .
He has always been prompt to reply unless we asked for information which needed some checking / verifying .

That being said , he is often travelling & can ' t respond . But the manner you described the replies seems odd from him .
Perhaps this is one of the new Aman standards , like the generic fonts for every Aman now - chain like .
In my case , the GM at another Asian Aman has not responded after 2 months , & instead the hotel manager replied on his behalf . This only after some prompting from another team member
Hmm , your visit is end December over the holidays ??

As for Kila , also waiting to hear from new GM . Love it there too . Think many of us miss Tracy .

Wonderful that Joy came to join him to beef team up .
It was a delight that the duo did a surprise meal for us as special chefs ^
Waiting to return , as sadly aborted a couple times this year .

BESVISOR

Thanks for your input FlyerEC!

Again, so many here like yourself speaks highly of Sean and Amanoi. So I will just re-evaluate after my visit. Everyone can have off days/weeks...we're only human But the lack of acknowledgement troubled me. If anything were to go wrong at a property for my clients I would certainly want the resort to acknowledge it and address the issue promptly. This did not give me confidence in that regard.

Yes, we're reviewing Aman Tokyo 12/19 - 22, 12/22 - 24 in Kyoto (RC + FS) then Amanoi 12/25 - 29. Do you advise against late Dec to visit Amanoi? I'm under the impression it's low 80s in the day and cool at night...with chance of moderate to strong wind at times. My wife is a teacher so I'm kinda stuck on her schedule.

Thought about Amanemu, but it really just didn't appeal to me after reading the many negative reviews of the food and the less than "wow" location, unlike many other Amans.

FlyerEC

Well if you can say
" But the lack of acknowledgement troubled me. If anything were to go wrong at a property for my clients I would certainly want the resort to acknowledge it and address the issue promptly. This did not give me confidence in that regard. " , how do you think I feel about a non response from the new GM from one of our favourite Amans ?
This , by the way , is not Kila which I am referring too .
Must be off months in this case ?

Thinking of Nemu too , perhaps wait for the trees to mature ..
Also awaiting too for a reply for suggestions on best time to visit .
So this might be another new Aman trend on receiving tardy replies ( if at all ) with new GMs ??

And , yes , December when you plan on visiting can be extremely windy . We were there early Jan & it was rather gusty . Those who were there Boxing Day through New Years , literally had to be " boxed in " / stay indoors as the winds were just too strong .
Should go & report about your stay
But with weather these days , you may just have great weather sans winds ..