Aventine

Not to make excuses but you did get the clarification you seek. Does it really matter if it comes from the GM's mouth or not? Ian has gotten even more super busier than when we last stayed with him. I'm sure your stay will be great and you'll be taken care of!

Kimchi278

That's the thing: it totally does not matter if I had received clarification on everything. However two of the questions were left unanswered (I think because the third question was the main one and biggest "concern", so they focused on that only). However, that is why I had emailed Ian in the first place. So that there would not be oversights.

I'm sure the stay will be fine. Just need to adjust my expectations a lot.

Aventine

Sadly, we've all had to do that for Aman resorts and hotels too.

fbcooper

I was in Bali, last April/May and the Amans are very disappointing especially after staying at the Mandapa in Ubud. We had booked a Rice Terrace which was upgraded to a River Front Pool Villa with gorgeous views and absolute amazing villa, all thanks to @BESVISOR by the way who knows bali like the back of his hand. You get your own personal butler, ours was Dewa Riadi who was spectacular at arranging everything including excursions even if it was 9 pm at night and we needed something he was there in minutes. The driver they arranged was great as well and very knowledgeable as well.

As for Amandari, not only is it insanely outdated, the first night we open up the bed covers to find so many insects inside. I understand its the jungle practically but this should not be happening. The air conditioning comes only from this one area upstairs and it just sucks. The next day they upgraded us to the best room after @BESVISOR forwarded our complaints but same problem there with the insects at which point we just said screw it since our stay was almost over.

Both at Amankila and Amandari, the excursions were not arranged properly and the drivers although very nice people were clueless when we asked them to take us to certain waterfalls or villages which are famous or at least on social media. Stopped multiple times to ask directions from locals, which meant us sitting in cars far more than necessary. It was an absolute mood killer, nothing like we experienced with Mandapa.

Maybe Amandari and Amankila would have been better if we hadnt gone to Mandapa first, but experiencing Mandapa first and then the Amans just made everything else just so lackluster.

Kagehitokiri

which aman excursions did you do? included or paid?
did you talk to anyone after first driver / about drivers ?

would hope that ernst and ian would offer recovery for drivers
hope some of drivers/etc best regarded here are still there..

Nizar

Yet many on here usually advise to leave the Aman for last

Aventine

Definitely if you're looking for new hardware and fancy then Mandapa beats both Amans hands down. They definitely should have done better hiring for the drivers. Totally unprofessional to have to start/stop and ask locals for directions.

uclabruin82

Just got back home this morning from our stay in Bali. Spent four full days at Amandari and could not be happier with our decision to stay there. Being there in low season likely helps as there were probably only 8-10 suites occupied. We were in suite 15, a duplex pool villa to the left side of the resort and really loved it. the duplex layout allowed me to work at night after my wife went to sleep without worrying about bothering her. The bedroom can be loud in the morning with all of the jungle noise, but we were going to sleep by 10pm, so waking up at 6am was still 8 hours of solid sleep. Also enjoyed the privacy in the pool / bale area.
In our experience, as opposed to FBCooper's, suite the suite we were in had two seperate AC controls, one for downstairs and one for upstairs. I actually remember thinking how smart that was for a hotel built 30 years ago. Also, while clearly more of a classic design, we did not find the hotel outdated at all, except for in the gym. We stayed in the Sayan Villa at the FS 5 years ago, and I think the only place where the FS clearly beats the Aman is in the spa / gym / class offerings.
All of our excursions were organized through the hotel, and we did not have any issues with the drivers. We also did not have any insects in our bed. We did get a fair amount of little critters downstairs, but that was because we left all three sliding glass doors open more or less all day, so comes with the territory.
Finally, Jann as a GM was great. Was there for our check-in and suite tour and was very present throughout our stay and also included some tips on avoiding the touristy instagram trips with less crowded alternatives so we constantly found ourselves at temples and mountain summits with just our guides and maybe 2 or 3 other local families. Again, likely helps that the hotel was low occupancy, but this was by far and away the most interaction we have had with a manager at an Aman.
The one issue we had was that on the other side of the river, a "river day club" has opened. While the swing looks fun and we don't mind people screaming as they do this, the club has decided they also want to create a party atmosphere and play loud music. This happened on our first day and Jann was all over it, but it is a process and we will see if he will remain successful in keeping the music down at the club.
Finally, FWIW we asked one of our guides about his friends who work at the other hotels. He mentioned that his friends who work at Mandapa generally do not like it because there are a lot of tour group guests from a specific country who are not nice to the staff. He said they feel they work too hard and are not appreciated. Obviously this was not the experience mentioned previously, but I know on other threads there have been comments about the soft product at Mandapa.
Sorry if this was rambling, my mind is still adjusting to the time zone.

Aventine

Shocking that Mainland tour groups stay at Mandapa. You would think the daily rate would keep it at a certain luxury level. When we were there, they were well-off individual travelers (mainly couples) from that country.

Kagehitokiri

great ! sounds like he has adjusted to aman
have you visited amans with veteran GMs ?

fbcooper

At amankila we did the paid Nusa Penida tour, we requested 2 motorbikes to drive ourselves and we would follow the tour guide. What I dont understand, is that they made choose the bikes we wanted because we also wanted a specific looking bike for a picture, so there was a constant back and forth and then when we go there it was the tour guide and his friend and we had to ride behind them on the bikes which was just very awkward. The bikes were also not the bikes we chose. And the tour guide had no idea what we were talking about.

By the way has anyone made the hike down to Kelingking beach on Nusa Penida. I am surprised more people dont die there. Going down energy wise isnt so bad, but going back up, holy hell is that a workout. We were sore for like 2 days. Should have just hired a charter boat like one smart guy down there. I recommend getting there early before the crowds, the beach was amazing.

I did not complain about our drivers because I did not want them to lose their jobs since both were so friendly and helpful otherwise at both the resorts. Dari driver did not where he was going, and Kila driver did not seem to understand the meaning of giving us some privacy and constantly followed us around even though we asked him to stop in the friendliest way possible. Also at Kila the staff did not seem to understand the meaning of the do not bother sign as they would constantly come in.

I only ever saw the managers when we checked in and checked out, otherwise they were nonexistant. Still nothing beats having a personal butler like at Mandapa. For example the personal butler at Alila Uluwatu assigned to us was practically nonexistant. They could learn a lot from Mandapa in that regard.

But Alila Uluwatu had a nice villa as well. Not as great a view as the other hotels at least in the room we were staying. But god forbid you ever need to see the nurse at Alila, he was so useless, i honestly doubted his medical knowledge. But it was funny trying to explain to the Alila staff that we would like some cough drops, it went up all the way to the manager to understand what cough drops were even though we were showing them google image pictures.

On a positive note, the staff at Amandari were able to receive a package for us while we were out. There is this great app called go-jek, and for like 4 dollars they delivered a package we ordered from seminyak which is like 45 mins - 1 hour away.

Oh and the Amans really lacked in terms of functional electrical outlets. In this day in age when you got like 6-7 electronics you need to charge, you have trouble finding a practical outlets to charge all of them. they are just in the weirdest and unreachable of places.

Kagehitokiri

thanks ! ernst not at kila and jann not at dari ?
ian wouldnt just fire staff, unless its how new corporate owner works..

alila changed after corporate ownership changed (twice now)

some are fans of RC ubud, some amanjunkies are fans of FS ubud
pretty sure most fans of dari (and como shambhala) like 'atmosphere'

fbcooper

Both were there, very friendly but seemed very busy, I only saw them checking in and checking out. Dari did upgrade us to the Amandari Suite after the bugs in bed disaster which would have been great if it kept more updated. It was very funny, the front desk staff were apologizing for the bugs in the room and told us they upgraded us and were moving the luggage, and as she opened door there was a huge spider and then a scorpion as well in the room and a frog sitting on the window, so at that point I was just like screw it haha. Like I said if I hadnt stayed at Mandapa first or at all then the Amans would have gotten much nicer reviews as they were both very nice properties, but comparing with a newer build, I just think its an easy choice choosing Mandapa over Amandari.

Werolla

I'm interested in reading your thoughts but I've never been to Bali. My dream.

Aventine

I always make sure to ask for an extension power bar. It's not ideal but makes the best of the situation. In those days, Amanjunkies might not have charged anything!