Pre arrival and arrival

The team at Amantaka was really great before our arrival, assisting us with everything we needed in order to plan our stay. Always quick, helpful and friendly answers – and upon arrival we found that everything was done exactly according to our wishes. We flew British Airways business class via London to Bangkok (slept really well upstairs), and after one night in the airport hotel (convenient but nothing special at all), we took the 10 o’clock flight to Luang Prabang with Bangkok Airways which took around 2 hours. We were met at the airport by a representative from Amantaka collected our suitcases while we took care of the visa application. The new airport is open and everything went smoothly. The car was waiting outside and the drive to Amantaka took just a bit more than 10 minutes. Cold towels and water available, just like we are used to. Upon arrival at Amantaka we were met by Gary the GM and other members of the team. We were served a very nice welcome drink while Gary sat with us to tell us about the resort and Luang Prabang. We were then showed to our suite where the quick paperwork was done. A nice bottle of champagne was waiting us in the suite – the perfect way to start a holiday. They also had a wonderful little booklet with our program for outings, spa treatments and special dinners in it. Everything perfect.

Accomodation

We loved our Khan pool suite, very spacious, plenty of places to put all our things, a really comfortable bed (with mattress topper!) for us in the main bedroom and an extra bed for our son in the living room. Very large bathroom and wardrobe area, a nice freestanding bath tub and a separate shower room. Shower had good but not great pressure. Lovely shampoo and other toiletries, just a bit hard to get the product out of the bottles (Heinz ketchup, you know, either nothing or a lot!). Outside we had a lovely private, walled garden with lots of sun where we found comfortable loungers, a table for three and our own private pool. The first two days it was not extremely hot, actually a bit chilly at night, so we asked for the pool heating to be put on. This turned out to be extremely efficient, so we asked for it to be turned off again later during the stay, as it was almost too hot in there. Good to know for visits when the climate is colder.

Service

Service was very good, warm, personal and friendly. The GM Gary was always around to greet us and have a little chat when we went out for or arrived back from activities. Other senior management also came by regularly to take very well care of us. All requests answered and taken care of quickly, no problems with language, nothing to complain about at all – and that is the way it should be. We really felt at home at Amantaka.

Food

All meals are served in the main restaurant, poolside or in your own suite. There are fixed menus with plenty of choices for breakfast and lunch, and a new dinner menu every night where one can choose between Lao or international food. We preferred the Lao food, though after a couple of days we sort of felt like something else since there is not as much variation in the Lao kitchen as in for example the Thai or Chinese kitchen. We had two private dinners during our stay, one Lao menu and one international, both really delicious. The private dinners were set up in our suite’s garden, complete with lots of candles, a private waiter and one day even our own musician. Room service is extremely efficient, of course partly because there is no long walk or drive between kitchen and suites like in other Amans. I had my morning coffee in less than 3 minutes no matter when I called for it and also drinks, lunch and snacks came in almost no time after we ordered it – no mistakes either.

Spa

My son and myself had two massages each. They were his first ever massages, and because of this and because he is so young, we had the massages in one double spa suite. We both truly enjoyed it, but I must admit that having a massage completely on my own is more relaxing so I do not think that I will make it a habit to bring him along every time. ;-)

Gym / pool

The gym has all the equipment one would need and good air condition/cold drinks and towels etc. While the main pool looked inviting, we actually never tried it as we so much enjoyed our private pool.

Activities

The highlights of our trip, were all the activities. We started the first day with a walk/tuk tuk drive around the Luang Prabang town to see a number of the beautifultemples. Our very knowledgeable guide also showed us the morning market and the former royal palace. A good way to get to know the town before further exploration on our own. In the evening we visited thenight marketwhere we had the chance to buy a number of lovely and very cheap souvenirs. Quite touristy compared to the morning market, but still a nice visit. It is close enough to walk there or Amantaka will send their tuk tuk to take you there and/or to pick you up. On day 2 we went to cruise theMekongriver with the beautiful Aman boat. We truly enjoyed the boat, the picnic lunch Aman style with cold white wine, the scenery and also the cave with all the Buddha statues. However, I found that there was not so much of the local life to see. I had read about children swimming, fishermen etc. but found it to be really quiet this afternoon. In the evening we had a privatebaci ceremony. A lovely and beautiful ritual. Next day it was time for the visit to the bear sanctuary and the nearby waterfall. Our son (especially) really enjoyed hiding food for the bears and watching them find it, and the nice woman working there showed us around and gave us a lot of information. The waterfall was beautiful but relatively full of tourists. We had our first of two private dinners this evening after seeing a traditional dance performance by the Amantaka pool. Lovely set up of the dinner outside our suite with lots of candles, our own musician and tasty Lao food. Day 4 started with anearly morning markettogether with a chef from Amantaka who was able to explain everything about the different ingreients. It is a very friendly and clean market compared to similar markets in other Asian cities, and we very much enjoyed it. We ended this by a visit to a local coffee shop to try the Lao coffee and local “donuts”. We went to a traditional coffee place where we would never have sat down alone and liked it a lot. After breakfast in the hotel, we went for a short private visit to a temple currently under restoration where we were shown and told about the work in progress. From there we went on to Amantakas wonderful organic farm where we enjoyed acooking classin a beautiful open traditional house with views to the sticky rice fields. Following the instructions from one of the Amantakas chefs, we were able to make a very tasty meal of four or five traditional dishes which we enjoyed later on in a beautiful private bale. On our last full day, we started with a very early morning wake up call to givealms to the monkspassing by just before sunrise. As this day was Amantakas 4th birthday, the hotel management had invited the monks to enter the walls surrounding Amantaka and to pass by just in front of the main entrance where we and other guests plus a number of employees were waiting with sticky rice, cookies, fruits and other alms to the monks passing by. A very memorable experience. After breakfast we went by car with a driver and a guide to visit three remotevillages in the mountains45 hours drive from Luang Prabang. The primitive houses and the lives and every day routines of the people living there was shown and explained to us and we were able to take loads of pictures of everything. Another great private meal in the evening, another night in the comfortable beds and we were packing our suitcases and on our way to Amansara on the 2 o’clock afternoon flight.

Others

Beginning of October was a beautiful time of year to visit Amantaka. The rain had more or less stopped (some rain at night two or three times), and we had beautiful sunshine most days, maybe a bit cloudy in the morning, but clear later on.

Conclusion