Amanaddicted

I'm agree with you RichardInSF, rates at Aman are very high in comparison with other luxury properties and I just don't like the location. I'm just impatient to see how they have arranged their first urban sanctuary and I do hope it will be amazing if not I'll rather choose Pen which is really good and just at a few steps from Ginza. I don't know why there is no picture yet since it seems to be opened already if we trust the booking system which gives availability even for today...

RichardInSF

If I do an image search for "Aman Tokyo" on google, almost all of the photos seem to be from other hotels but one is supposedly of the Aman Tokyo. Here's the photo but I can't figure out what it is -- maybe a massage room?

quitecontrary

Looks like there's a steam room and a shower at the back and is that a plunge pool in the middle?

Amanaddicted

this is Aman Delhi... apart if they choose the exact same design...

bubb1

A (lengthy) new article in Forbes magazine today about the sordid mess in which Aman is entangled:

http://fortune.com/2014/09/04/aman-r...y-hotel-chain/

Kagehitokiri

mike_la_jolla

Hmmm. A shockingly poor piece of journalism, rife with innuendo unrelated to the Aman deal. Most of it is just a character assassination of Anamat. It very much reads like Vlad's minions wrote the whole thing. I have higher expectations for Fortune. How Vlad got his wealth is not described and that is something that needed to happen in an unbiased piece of journalism.

I have more to say, but I'll keep it to this: Between Vlad, Amanat, and AZ, I trust whatever AZ says implicitly. No person I've ever met that has dealt with him has anything bad to say about him. I'm not so sure about Amanat. But Vlad is in *WAY* over his head. I don't trust anyhting he says ...

I'll investigate who 'Stacy Perman' from Fortune is and follow up ...

Kagehitokiri

amandari architect diary was interesting re zecha >
zecha/aman acquired 50% of dari for $600K
diary is detailed, vs vague 2nd comment here >
gastroenophile.com/2014/05/whats-happening-with-adrian-zecha-and.html

they quote public records and Amanat. Doronin is not in the public record.
one detail is this - "Amanat, Zecha, and several other investors" own 22%
im curious who sold to vaturi originally, if it really was zecha, or others

luxury

My contact at Aman Tokyo informs me that the hotel does not expect to open until 2015 due to ongoing works at the hotel. They are not allowing any site visits either so I will not be able to see the hotel when I am in Tokyo later this month.

GUWonder

I know enough about this that I'm sure the key antagonists/protagonists got their spin into this story and will exploit this article in the future too. I don't want to go into the sordid personal details about the involved non-Zecha individuals -- and I can -- but none of them are saints and there is lots of irony in the statements made by each that directly or less directly made its way into the article.

Kagehitokiri

GUWonder, are the shareholders named in current court documents?

GUWonder

Some, not all -- going from memory alone. There is a limit to how willing I am to share and what I am willing to share, otherwise at some point it would push some out of the closet.

22+14

From the recent article: "By the time they finalized the $358 million purchase on Feb. 7, Doronin had proffered cash and a loan for 64%; Amanat, Zecha, and several other investors had committed to the other 36%."

If these guys can't work together -- and they can't and shouldn't -- the path of least resistance is Amanat selling out his side's stake to Doronin at some premium. I doubt that Zecha will be very involved much after -- if even that long -- by the time Amanat or Doronin or both surrender their rights on the company.

Their business lives are as much a soap opera as their personal lives.

Kagehitokiri

36% minus (14% eliasch) = 22% according to new article for "Amanat, Zecha, and several other investors"
"Eliasch invested $25 million for a 14% stake in Aman and a board seat and loaned the company...$25 million"
(kind of interesting that Eliasch did not acquire a larger stake, unless buying half of amanat's stake from him?)

doronin said amanat = 14% (but gave different number for himself vs article) (could be summarizing/rounding)

zecha was named payer of $10mm for others, but not necessarily his money (as has happened previously)

and of course bottom line is that doronin has 78% and i cant imagine amanat will get doronin share

btw i meant public records. do you know 'case name' for new york? i might ask friend re court docs

georgieasnick

I am perhaps not the only one becoming rapidly ambivalent about staying at Amans.

I think AZ really started something great but there have always been some disreputable partners (including a Suharto son if I am not mistaken who was involved in many of the Bali properties and, btw, does anyone have any information whether he is still a partner in the Bali resorts?) Currently in reading these boards, I am somewhat reluctant to book an Aman stay secondary to concerns that my money would be supporting mafia type people. I guess the connection with human suffering and luxury is always there but the more one reads about Aman resorts, the more one wonders if it is not increasing. Dornonin smacks of a Russian mafioso with his yachts and affairs with the likes of Naomi Campbell (obviously a peace loving non-violent individual) and if some of the court documents are to be believed he has the classic mafioso / criminal propensity to make death threats. I do have to say that I have spent a lot of money at Amans and I have enjoyed the beautiful properties and the service and I have enjoyed not having to sign bills etc. They have been an escape for me from quotidian life and therapeutic but I really have my doubts now....It would appear it has become far, far more morally suspect booking into Amans. Though I would not like to see the employees have any hardship if the crowd turned against Amans. Interesting that what many people point out makes their stays at Amans so wonderful is the attention and kindness of the staff. Obviously, these employees do not have NetJet accounts yet the NetJet account set craves these employees and well the 'peace' that Aman tries to deliver thru them and thru the properties. Yet is it backed by the corrupt and greedy?

Kagehitokiri

pretty sure the nonsense about suharto extended family and nusa dua (not amanusa) is the original sale/transfer of the land (for the entire nusa dua development, not individual properties) and thats it. i could be wrong, but thats what my impression is. its definitely nusa dua and not amanusa itself. i do know the ownership history of amandari. its in the diary of architect that i linked a few posts ago.

clearly amanat has motives to say things about doronin when the goals he has stated in court is to acquire doronin's share at a huge discount. obviously motive has nothing to do with whatever is actually true. but we have no idea how all these legal battles are going to end. next london date is soon.