FlyerEC

Aman Shanghai - Amanyangyun :


Ian W
Regional Director
AMAN Indonesia
&
GM
JIWO & NUSA with Michel B HM

Ernst L KILA
Jann H DARI
Andrew C WANA

John R KORA

Nicolas P N'OI ( April )
Monty B covering N'OI for now

Christophe O PULO
Regional Director , China and Philippines


Paul L PURI with Michel B HM

Astrid K SARA

Donald W ( where is Livio R now ? ) TAKA


Nicholas I JENA

Claudia S CGV

Tapa T SS

Getting rather onerous typing .. Not my forte
Think will have Kage fill in the blanks

Fliar

Is Nicholas I the person who was GM at Amandayan? If so we got along quite well - he gave me his card but I lost it. As I'll be visiting Jena (first time!) later this year I'd like to get in touch with him. If anyone has his email address, please PM me.

FlyingDoctorwu

I am more of a last name guy say. Yes Nicolas I is Nicolas Ilickovic and formerly of Amandayan and now at Amanjens. Great great prototypical GM. Does a great job at Amanjena. Shame they lost Astrid Killian but I'm sure she will do a great job at Amansara.

I will PM youhis email. He is very very responsive and great over email.

Fdw

jmann2380

Does Aman (Indonesian specifically) ask for copies of your passport at the time of reservation?

DavidO

No. The only time you might need to provide a passport is when they're arranging flights for you — perhaps to Amanwana, Amankora, or Amanpulo.

jmann2380

Interesting. If no flights where arranged or to be arranged, what would be the possible reason a Virtuoso agent would ask for copies of your passport when booking an Aman?

DavidO

Perhaps to have your passport information on file if they're planning flights or assisting with visas for this or future travels?

jmann2380

Ok thanks for the info and perspective!

FlyingDoctorwu

Amantaka requested passport copies- I'm not sure if it was to help facilitate VOA but I sent them directly...

FDW

FlyingDoctorwu

Just got an email about the European private jet adventure: Aman Sveti Stefan, Amanzoe, Aman Venice. Just wondering if anyone had any insite on the flights:

DATE FROM TO DURATION
15 September 2017 Tivat (TIV) Thessaloniki (SKG) 55 minutes
15 September 2017 Thessaloniki (SKG) Athens (ATH) 1 hour
19 September 2017 Athens (ATH) Palermo (PMO) 1 hour 30 minutes
19 September 2017 Palermo (PMO) Venice (VCE) 1 hour 25 minutes

Seems that they fly TIV-SKG-ATH, ATH-PMO, VCE... any idea why that is? The itinerary doesn't mention any stop for touring or something... The LEgacy 600 has enough range to do it non stop I would think right? That kind of takes the allure of flying private if you still have to make a stop....

FDW

Kagehitokiri

customs/immigration/border stop? edit - stops include tours at stop

trip runs $12,000 per night double (whereas about half that for single, a better deal)

€114,000 10 night trip, can be a lot less for 2 private charter flights
(whereas on the trips with longhauls etc, trip is less than charters)

legacy 600 = $25,000,000 super midsize with 13 pax range 7 times longer than ATH-PMO

a few here have chartered heavy/jumbo, rather than doing these trips. no one here does these trips right? am i the only one here who would be interested in general aviation trips using tiny inexpensive planes? (some of which may not be super comfortable interiors)

the amans where all rooms are the same would work great for these trips, vs regular hotels

US FHR 4th free
galla - apr 16 > jul
dayan - mar > jul
fayun - may 4 > jul
noi - mar > jul (4th free direct through dec 22 - Undiscovered)
re noi, not sure if FHR repeatable as direct may not be
noi low season starts in may, added spa houses this year
sean flakelar moved from noi to galla / sri lanka

FlyingDoctorwu

Granted I'm ignorant about how private jets work, but wouldn't customs/immigration typically be handled at the first port of entry? Both Athens and Venice surely have the capability to provide such.... and wouldn't it not matter at least for a Greece to Italy flight given the EU?

I do know somebody who was done an Aman private journey trip. They speak very highly of it...
FDW

quitecontrary

I've just been looking at some photos of I think Amantaka that my son 'liked' on Facebook and noticed that Donald Wong is a FB friend of one of my son's best friends!

paterwdb

You have a much more extensive travelogue than I with Aman, so I am probably less critical, but I had a terrific stay at Amangani last week. That said, a couple of things to note:
- the week was primarily personal retreat time for me, so I wasn't going on excursions and didn't have many particular demands/requests. I was going to ski one day but it was warm and no fresh snow, so I decided against that.
- I did send an email in advance asking for a room away from others, which they very generously granted a corner suite (I was on the lowest Undiscovered rate, so this was particularly generous). They were only at 33% occupancy. My other minor requests were also taken care of (specific requests for the mini bar and bedding).
- For the most part, the entire staff knew me by name within the first day, and I think I was only asked my room number once at the bar/restaurant.
- Housekeeping was always excellent twice a day, always on my schedule (I never saw them).
- One morning I had only lukewarm water in the shower. They said they had no other reported issues, but sent an engineer to my room while I was out to verify hot water was working. I dismissed it as a fluke, and it didn't happen again. They did offer to move me immediately and apologized profusely.
- The atmosphere and view made it an incredibly relaxing and restful time. I don't know any place where you have that kind of view at every place in the suite, including the shower and toilet!
- The gym is tiny with really only cardio and one strength machine and dumbbells only up to 25lbs. The spa locker rooms, however, are incredibly posh.
- When I went into town each day (to go to a real gym), the valet was excellent and responsive. They would literally see me walking toward the door and run to the garage to get my car before I even made it outside. Speaking of that, when I asked about a gym in town, they recommended one and then once I was on my way, called ahead and paid the entrance fee for me - a charge that did not appear on my bill later.
- I found the food to be quite good, but I was not eating "foodie" as I was by myself, so I stuck to simpler meals at breakfast and then a lighter dinner as well, but the meals were excellent. Twice I ordered "off menu" and the chef was very gracious and the prices were very reasonable.
- People have complained that the physical plant is "worn". I noticed the carpet (because I was looking for it) was worn and a bit dated. Other than that, I didn't notice anything at all. The place has a rugged chic feel to me. With all of that exposed wood, it felt very natural but very clean, and I didn't notice many problems.
- The biggest issue, by far, is the HVAC. You notice this in many reviews online. The floors are heated (which is amazing) but the HVAC is very tricky. I figured out I had to keep the thermostat set on 62 (the lowest setting allowed) and the fan on HIGH in order to keep the temperature of the room cool to sleep at night. If I tried to turn it up a bit in the morning to warm it up, it was very hard to cool it back down. The first night I actually slept with the balcony door open. I imagine there must be some issues in the summer months because I saw a Dyson bladeless fan in the closet, so at least they are attempting to do something to help.
- Hidden light switches! It was kind of a fun game to find them.
- GM greeted me at check in and then once mid-stay and was a very nice guy. I was pretty clear I was happy to just be left alone, and they really honored that while always being very gracious and hospitable whenever they saw me.
- Gift was a stainless steel water bottle (which I kept) and a backpack filled with hard warmers (which I left because I had no use for it).
- Did I mention the view?

Kagehitokiri

thanks paterwdb, really appreciate the current report!