Trip report India: Amanbagh, Aman i Khas and Rambagh Palace
Mar 26, 2015, 6:38 pm
#31
Join Date: Feb 2003
Programs: UA1K, *G & Wife of UA1K MM
Posts: 3,431
What a wonderful report, Musken. It sounds like you loved Aman-i-Khas just as much as we did.
If I ever cross paths with you during your travels, I'd love to see some of your selfies. I am a new iPhone user and have a lot to learn. Do you use a selfie stick?
If I ever cross paths with you during your travels, I'd love to see some of your selfies. I am a new iPhone user and have a lot to learn. Do you use a selfie stick?
Mar 27, 2015, 6:43 am
#32
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: OSL
Posts: 2,145
I do not have a selfie stick, but met someone who had one and that made me want to buy one.
Last edited by Musken; Mar 27, 2015 at 7:34 am
Mar 27, 2015, 7:26 am
#33
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: OSL
Posts: 2,145
What a nice report. Too bad that are no pictures, as I would love to see all the wonderful places you've visited.
I have to chalk India up as a trip to do with my next wife. We should organize a guys trip to India and let our wives go somewhere else. Why should one spouse suffer?
I have to chalk India up as a trip to do with my next wife. We should organize a guys trip to India and let our wives go somewhere else. Why should one spouse suffer?
Nov 3, 2018, 6:57 am
#36
Moderator: Luxury Hotels and FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Palo Alto, California,USA
Posts: 17,843
Am currently at Aman-i-khas, having been here for about 24 hours of a 3 night stay. Haven't tried the pool, and our package doesn't seem to include alcohol but other than that, it is so far pretty much trackng Musken's report in post #2 . Done one safari, a regular group one where it turned out there were only 2 folks total in the jeep (other than the guide and driver). Tomorrow morning doing Ranthambore fort and then another safari in the afternoon.
A bit of the tent layout is slightly odd but easy to get used to. Contrary to what someone noted in another thread, the a/c unit also does heating if you set it high enough. Also, contrary to that same post in the other thread, the whole batman thing is working out very well. Food has been fine but not memorable.
One thing to note about the safaris is that they mention that the standard half day ones are restricted to one zone whereas the private half or full day ones have no restrictions. Don't worry about this at all. Each zone is huge and you will only cover a tiny fraction of it in a single safari. There is absolutely no reason to pay for anything beyond the standard. I did two standard safaris and saw a tiger on each one. The first time, though, the vast majority of the view was hogged by large safari trucks that each contained 20+ seats and refused to move to give others a chance. The second time, our guide cleverly picked a zone that is currently not allowing trucks and it was much better, the jeeps were all polite and everyone got a great look from just a few meters.
This is the smallest Amanresort, with only 10 tents. One surprising fact is that when they close for the season, they take down all the tents and remove all the furniture, leaving only the foundation, supports, and utilities. They are then repaired as necessary and rebuilt from scratch before the start of the next season. Wow, what a lot of work!
Enjoyed my stay very much.
A bit of the tent layout is slightly odd but easy to get used to. Contrary to what someone noted in another thread, the a/c unit also does heating if you set it high enough. Also, contrary to that same post in the other thread, the whole batman thing is working out very well. Food has been fine but not memorable.
One thing to note about the safaris is that they mention that the standard half day ones are restricted to one zone whereas the private half or full day ones have no restrictions. Don't worry about this at all. Each zone is huge and you will only cover a tiny fraction of it in a single safari. There is absolutely no reason to pay for anything beyond the standard. I did two standard safaris and saw a tiger on each one. The first time, though, the vast majority of the view was hogged by large safari trucks that each contained 20+ seats and refused to move to give others a chance. The second time, our guide cleverly picked a zone that is currently not allowing trucks and it was much better, the jeeps were all polite and everyone got a great look from just a few meters.
This is the smallest Amanresort, with only 10 tents. One surprising fact is that when they close for the season, they take down all the tents and remove all the furniture, leaving only the foundation, supports, and utilities. They are then repaired as necessary and rebuilt from scratch before the start of the next season. Wow, what a lot of work!
Enjoyed my stay very much.
Last edited by RichardInSF; Nov 5, 2018 at 6:11 am
Nov 3, 2018, 8:49 am
#37
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: IAD/DCA
Posts: 31,797
great to hear!
(and hope bagh is good)
two can be 8-room >
- amankora gangtey (one of five aman locations in bhutan)
- villa milocer during winter closure of aman sveti stefan island
(and hope bagh is good)
two can be 8-room >
- amankora gangtey (one of five aman locations in bhutan)
- villa milocer during winter closure of aman sveti stefan island
Last edited by Kagehitokiri; Nov 3, 2018 at 6:11 pm
Nov 3, 2018, 3:01 pm
#38
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 167
Am currently at Aman-i-khas, having been here for about 24 hours of a 3 night stay. Haven't tried the pool, and our package doesn't seem to include alcohol but other than that, it is so far pretty much trackng Musken's report in post . Done one safari, a regular group one where it turned out there were only 2 folks total in the jeep (other than the guide and driver). Tomorrow morning doing Ranthambore fort and then another safari in the afternoon.
So far, enjoying my stay very much.
So far, enjoying my stay very much.
Nov 3, 2018, 6:02 pm
#39
Moderator: Luxury Hotels and FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Palo Alto, California,USA
Posts: 17,843
Nov 4, 2018, 12:15 pm
#40
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: OSL
Posts: 2,145
Enjoy your trip. So glad to hear that you are having a wonderful time.
For the safari and zone restrictions: It is true that each zone is very large and that you can see a lot within one zone. However, if your target is to see the tigers, it might be a huge advantage if the ranger can choose zones freely because he might have seen tigers in a certain zone earlier same day or might hear rumours of where tigers can be seen at the moment, thus changing to a certain zone can be good.
For the safari and zone restrictions: It is true that each zone is very large and that you can see a lot within one zone. However, if your target is to see the tigers, it might be a huge advantage if the ranger can choose zones freely because he might have seen tigers in a certain zone earlier same day or might hear rumours of where tigers can be seen at the moment, thus changing to a certain zone can be good.
Nov 5, 2018, 6:16 am
#41
Moderator: Luxury Hotels and FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Palo Alto, California,USA
Posts: 17,843
Enjoy your trip. So glad to hear that you are having a wonderful time.
For the safari and zone restrictions: It is true that each zone is very large and that you can see a lot within one zone. However, if your target is to see the tigers, it might be a huge advantage if the ranger can choose zones freely because he might have seen tigers in a certain zone earlier same day or might hear rumours of where tigers can be seen at the moment, thus changing to a certain zone can be good.
For the safari and zone restrictions: It is true that each zone is very large and that you can see a lot within one zone. However, if your target is to see the tigers, it might be a huge advantage if the ranger can choose zones freely because he might have seen tigers in a certain zone earlier same day or might hear rumours of where tigers can be seen at the moment, thus changing to a certain zone can be good.
Nov 5, 2018, 11:16 am
#42
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Southern California, USA
Programs: Marriott Ambassador and LTT, UA Plat/LT Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 8,764
@RichardInSF I am dying to see your photos of the tigers and this property. We didn’t think it was worthwhile last Jan 2017...but your success is making me wonder if we might include Aman-I-khas on our next trip to India. So glad you’re having such good luck!
Nov 5, 2018, 2:59 pm
#44
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: OSL
Posts: 2,145
You were lucky, as were we. Friends of us visited beginning of October and did not see tigers at all.
