Great Stay at Amanera
 

Pre-Arrival/Booking I've had my eye on Amanera for a while since they've opened... after my visit to Amanzoe last fall; when it came time to plan our next trip I really wanted to stay close and beachy... I contacted the GM of Amanjena, Nicolas who put me in touch with a reservations manager at Amanera. He did mention that they were in transition between GMs and would try to put me in touch with the new GM when he started, which must have (understandably) slipped his mind because it was several months later when Xavier Moulin finally started. Nonetheless, the reservation manager that I dealt with, Flora was excellent. She sent over a list of rates and inclusions for a package (Romance at Amanera) that I was interested in. Furthermore, she offerred a one level upgrade at booking if I booked a Hill Casita to aPool Casita. In addition, I was also able to book via the Citi Prestige Conceirge as well to capture additional savings. The package I ended up booking included:Daily Breakfast Welcome bottle of wine and petal turndown One romantic bath during stayMerengue/Bachata Couple's Dance Session once per stay60-minute Couple Massage with Palo Santo Blessing once per stayOne Amanera Candlelit dinner once per stayRomantic sunset cocktails at hole 17 once per stayFurthermore the rate also included roundtrip transfers/VIP immigration at Puerta Plata airport. Note that the terms called for a 3 night deposit with a 3% cancellation fee; with the balance charged 14 days prior to arrival; however I was not charged a deposit (and the entire balace was indeed charged 14 days prior to arrival). I did ask if I could pay to upgrade the 60 minute massage in the package to a 90 minute, which they did complimentary which was nice.About one month prior to arrival, Flora contacted me and informed me that the golf course was deemed unplayable and had to close for emergency repairs. I inquired about any possible alternatives, which apparently the nearest appropriate course is in Punta Cana, which wasn't feasible. I was definitenly disappointed because my wife had considered perhaps taking a lesson that that was no longer an option. I didn't press too much but did get the feeling that they would have been willing to waive the cancellation fee if I had chose to go elsewhere... given that our primary goal was R&R we kept our reservation.One week prior to arrival I was contacted and offered the following transportation options (by a different agent). Transportation to and from Puerto Plata and Samaná Airport is $250 +18% each wayTransportation to and from Santiago International Airport is $350 +18% each wayTransportation to and from Santo Domingo Airport is $450 +18% each way ·Transportation to and from Punta Cana International Airport is $650 +18% each wayAs well as the following helicopter option:I expressed my confusion to the agent because I had thought that our package included transfers from POP... she replied back immediately saying yes it did and apologized. Furthermore Flora emailed me the next day apologizing that she had been out of the office and for the confusion. Arrival/Checkin We arrived via Jet Blue from JFK and were met at the gate by an airport agent with our names who whisked us to immigration. Afterwhich we were offered the choice to wait in the lounge while they gathered our luggage or wait at the belt. Waiting at the belt, our luggage arrived and our VIP escort completely bypassed the customs line where everyone was getting their bags scanned. He escorted us straight to the waiting Amanera Mercedez GL, driven by Emmanuel (who would come to drive us a number of times during our stay). We were offerred cold towels and welcome water for our 1 hr 20 minute transfer to Amanera. Furthermore they had two different snacks (nuts and dried fruit), an iPad loaded with resort info, and a mobile hotspot. It was a very well equipped transfer and quite comfortable indeed (we may or may not have soozed part of the way). On arrival our luggage was transferred directly to our villa while we were given a welcome drink (Amanera Sunrise) and a tour of the property.It was delicious and refreshing. Some combination of pineapple juice, grenadine, and some sort of carbonated beverage (sprite maybe?) My wife proclaimed it her favorite Aman welcome drink and would go on to order it later on in our stay. During our arrival process we met Mark (whose last name I don't know and whose postion I did not get) but he had come over from Amanyara to help with the transition and Ray (F and B manager) who also came over from Amanyara. We did not meet the GM; nor did we ever see him. It was very reminiscent of Amanyara/Amangiri where the GMs weren't out and about... must be a North American Aman thing... Nonetheless, we had a quick tour of the property and were brought to our villa for the remainder of our checkin (which merely involved signing two pieces of paper and having our passports scanned). Waiting for us in our villa was a bottle of Champagne, some plantain chips and two welcome letters, one of which would prove to be our only interaction with the GM... Room Loved the villa. Probably almost my favorite Aman room. They had upgraded us again one more level to a Bay View Pool Casita, which was great. So Hill Casita booked but room type ended up being a Bay View Pool. In terms of amentities though almost all the casitas are the same, save the presence of a pool and the view. But, back to the casita. One feature I was super glad to see was the ability to actually close the living room off from the bedroom. Therotically, if I so desired, I could bring my kids here (but I wouldnt want to inflict that on anyone or myself). It really was a true suite. Very comfortable room, great view. Pool was great. Great size, much wider than the one of Amanzoe. One minor drawback was that their wasn't a ton of privacy in the outdoor space. They put up a bit of a bamboo screen, but it was only partial... Hopefully as the vegetation matures that'll improve but some of the casitas/pools were very exposed. I think actually our Bay View Pool casita was the most private, but it still had some exposure.. Bathroom was very functional; would have loved to have seen a Toto toilet like at Amanzoe though. I actualy thought Amanzoe's his and her toilets was a bit over the top so I'm glad Dolphin toned it down a bit here... Loved the included mini bar that seemed to be constantly refreshed. Three snacks were offerred; the cheese sticks were amazing... Dining The food ended up being better than I expected. Breakfast was tasty each morning with our favorite items being the avocado toast and the ham and cheese sandwich. Simple stuff but tasty. We had breakfast each morning in the room (well on our patio), which was a delight.. one morning our eggs weren't as warm as I would have liked but for the most part eerything was great... I'm a huge mango fan and each morning enjoyed a plate of it. Do note that they charge a tray charge for room service, even though breakfast is included...We typically ate lunch every day at the Beach Club, except for one day where we ate at the other end of Playa Grande. The Beach Club lunches were our favorites... with a special love for the ceviche (thanks Besvisor for the rec) and the prawn tempura tacoes. Special shout out to the salads here.. very solid. very fresh. Loved the use of avocodoes.. ACtually loved all the avocado action we got here.. amazing...Dinners were a mixed bag. Honestly, nothing stood out as exception. Executive chef is Italian and the Italian dishes were solid. Also liked octopus we got one night. The empanadas were good, but those are pretty hard to screw up. We ate at the beach club one night (it was only open one night we were there) and they had an Asian theme. That was quite disappointing unfortuantely.. Should have known better to eat Asian in the Dominican...I will say that while we didn't have a ton of dessert, the carmelized bananna ice cream was incredible.. Did I mention incredible... I also got a cake on my birthday that was solid but did I mention the caremelized bananna ice cream was incredible? Activities Favorite activity: Sitting on the beachSecond favorite activity: sitting by the pool (either own or resort)That's what you do here. That and long walks on the beach. There's a little public beach area at the entire opposite end.. takes about 15-20 minutes to walk there.. we ate there one day and it was pretty good.. definitely cheaper than Amanera and I felt that we were getting the you are staying at Amanera rip off menu pricing....We also went on a stand up paddle boarding trip that was a complete bust... we had booked the excursion prior to arriving.. the day before we spent some time at the beach and inquired about paddle boarding; when was the best time (apparently morning) and the beach boy apparently took that as meaning we wanted to paddle board on the beach the next day. So somehow our trip got canceled, which was awkward when I called to inquire about dry bags 15 minutes before our trip time.. they managed to get things organized and we departed on our trip 30 minutes later than planned... it was an ok trip; little rough to start as you start in the ocean.. once you get into the laguna it's a lot easier. However, it was billed as a 2.5 hour roundtrip excursion and we were roundtrip in about 1 hr 15 minutes. I complained to Mark, who waived the charge completely which I felt like was appropriate...We had the dance lesson with Teiolo which was um very difficult for me; though not my wife... it was basically an hour of me looking confused and shuffling my feet around aimlessly.. I guess if you're into that sort of thing... Spa/fitness The Spa is located about 7-8 minutes away and they take you by car. I think when the golf course is open it'll be possible to walk or take a golf cart there.. there might have been something lost in translation but I think that they definitely said something like don't walk on the golf course; they used chemicals to burn the grass off....But I digress.. Spa treatments were excellent.. excellent.. I got two massages (same therapist) and loved it (and I typcially get massages about once a month from the same therapist who knows my body). My wife got a massage and also did a rituatl (scrub, wrap and massage) and also felt that the treatmetns were top notch.. definitely far superior to the ones we got at Amanyara...Before I arrived, I was under the impression that the facilities were temporary and that they would be builidng a formal spa (and that still might be the case).. nonetheless I love the casa; it had a great Dominican feel and the rooms were quite comfortable.. no steam/sauna/watsu pool thoug....They definitely tried to recognize my birthday! The Fitness room had my personal favorite machines, Life Fitness.. however I didn't use any of them once I'm happy to say! Service Ahh here's what everyone's been waiting for... for the most part it was well intentioned and good.. I liked how most of the employees were Dominican (versus at Amanyara there were a lot of SE Asian imports)... As I said before we never say the GM... and I'll get it out of the way- we were asked for our casita number... 3 times.. I nearly died... but in the end these two non-Aman issues really didn't affect our stay... I've just gotten to a point where need to get over that sort of stuff and enjoy the stay. Definite highlights were Mark- great face for the resort; though he's heading back to Amanyara soon so I don't know who's going to take his place... and Emmanual (driver)- definitely a young guy but very eager. I do think that English may be a bit of a barrier with some interactions (and Mark did ackowledge that)... we had solid service by the pool and by the beach.. someone alway was there with water and service.. when we would go for a walk, someone would greet us with cold towels and water as well.. Restaurant service was solid; our favorite water learned our water preference pretty quickly.. housekeeping was for the most part invisible; however, I think we threw them off by not leaving at convenient times... but they kept the casita very very clean... we got our little gifts each night (which are our faorite) and also got romantic turn down/bubble bath on two nights... I already mentioned the whole paddle boarding issue and I was happy with the way they resolved things.. all and all it was good, very warm but I wouldn't say it was super polished... for the most part I would say it ranked above Amanyara, Amangiri and Amanjena but below the SE Asian Amans and probably equal to Amanzoe.. (though front office at Amanjena was awesome)It was my birthday during my stay and I think they hotel did a good job of ackowleding it..I will say we did encounter a drone, which was flown from Amanera property.. complained to someone and they shut it down quickly... turns out they were scouting for a famous singers next video... Checkout/Departure They offered to come to the casita to finalize the check out but I prefered to do it in the office. The folio was correct which was nice. Our bags were tagged and we were offered a little to go box of treats. We left the resort at 11 AM for a 120 PM flight which was more then enough time with VIP departure service as well. As customary, we were seen off by a good number of the team... Overall Great stay. Very relaxing.. probably my favorite North American Aman. Would definitely return.. I'll leave you with some more pictures of the resort...

Excellent review!

Thanks much for posting. Amanera is definitely high on my to-do list :)

Nice photos.

Wow, you got this one up fast. Thanks for the detailed review and all the pics, glad you had a great time.

Both the breakfast shots and the views make me want to go...

Thank you very much, and it looks like a great place. Where's the upload of you dancing, though?

Great photos . Is there a " lobby" arrival area ?
The place looked deserted , were you the only guests ?

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indeed, greatly appreciated. i think its the first full report here.

YES!!! I've been waiting for this, as we're considering going in a couple weeks. This all but confirms we will.

A big and hearty "THANK YOU", Flying!

Great review - seems like they're definitely doing something right over there!
Also curious about occupancy - it seems eerily empty / quiet.

Thank you very much. It had been on my to do list since they opened and I'm glad that I made it

Thanks

Yeah usually I procrastinate for a while but I got in a groove last night and started writing.. however, as you can probably tell I kind of pooped out in the end. I mean look at that overall... that's the mark of someone who just wanted to be done.. I'll probably come up with some more thoughts in the next couple of days though....

Favorite part of my day was eating breakfast on our patio every day and finishing my last cup of coffee in the pool.. we spent a lot of time in there.. forgot to mention but we did use the Bowers and Wilkins bluetooth speaker they had in the rom a lot...

We had a great time... no such upload exists because thankfully the alcohol prices prohibited me from achieving such state..

There's a portico for arrival next to the front office which is staffed 24 hours a day.. I'll try to find a picture of it..

I did try to just take pictures when nobody else was around but yes it is indeed quiet.. I think it's a bit of a shoulder season.. while we were there they had 7/25 villas occupied... though the week later they were 100% full I think.. I very much love the low occupancy as I tend to hate people for the most part... Sorry DSI, you'd probably hate it... i think the busiest the beach ever got was a total of 4 couples...

thanks!

Glad to be of help. hope you guys have fun...


One thing I think I didn't really make clear was how rough the ocean was; and I think that this was really not the roughest season.. we only went in twice... definitely not a great place for water sports (and I don't think the surfing is that good because the break isn't very long)... the beach is just for sitting... for this reason I think our next trip would be Amanyara before, just because we loved; absolutely loved the beach and ocean... so calm and relaxing...

Another thing is weather- prior to leaving the forecast was awful- rain and thuderstorms every day. Thankfully our days were for the most part clear (though you can see the clouds in some of the pictures). we did have a really spectacular storm one night though.

Also after checkin they asked if we needed anything and I mentioned that we liked tea- they send us quite a spectacular amount of tea and a kettle very quickly...

I'm sure I'll come up with more stuff...

FDW

Thanks so much! Great review! So glad you had a nice time.

My impression is that Amanera is a very impressive looking beach resort with amazing villas/casitas and with good--but not superb--service and average to good food/beverage.

After our most recent stay at Amanbagh with a similarly amazing villa in a beautifully amazing setting but average to mediocre food/beverage ethos, I am less drawn to Amanera than I was even before. Amanbagh even had a higher service standard...and I still would not crave to return as so many others seem to.

Amanera is unquestionably beautiful but seems to lack the soft product strengths that matter most to us. Believe it or not, I think returning to Mukul (with its fantastic food/beverage and excellent service) would be preferable for us.

I'd return to Amangiri in a heartbeat, however...as there is no other Aman or comparable luxury resort like it anywhere in the world.

You make fair points, but I think Amanera comes much closer to the experiences we had in SE Asia than the other North American Amans... I really would describe the service as genuine and warm... I really liked how everyone seemed mostly to be a local citizen as well because i think that that's what Aman has always done well- incorporate locals into the resort and build a sense of home.. Those feelings were definitely absent at Aamngiri and Amanyara.. i do think it will get there and I know we have had different experiences at Amangiri but i found the food and service to be way ahead of Amangiri as well.. I honetly also can't think of a Carribean based resort that really excels on service and food..

I think the biggest wild card here is management... I didn't really see their involvement beyond Mark, and he's heading back to Amanyara soon.... I just think that this is going to be the wave of the future unfortunately and just a "enhancement" that we will have to deal with...

I really would love to try Mukul at some point.. looks like an awesome resort as well.. and if service and food is as good as you say it is; then sounds like it can't be beat in this hemisphere..

I did think of you while I was at Amanera (creepy I know)... almost everytime I looked at the thermostat.. I wanted to crank it down and see how things went but my wife was already cold as it was at 21 celsius....

Sorry!
FDW

Thanks a lot! Hotel shares a typical Aman-problem, not all villas offers a pool.

Thank you for the beach/water update. That does put a bit of a damper on things. We LOVED Amanyara (I think we had far better service than others), in particular location - that beach and water are just lovely.

Although now bhrubin has me wondering about Mukul ... decisions, decisions.

Don't want to de-rail the thread but how did you compare the "crowding" of Amanera versus Amanyara? We, like DSI, get a little sad when the only people we see at the resort for days at a time are each other.

I am the outlier on these sorts of issues on FT, I think. I have to say that I don't actually agree with many of your points. Sorry!

You and most others, especially on FT, tend to judge Amangiri and Amanera (and other non-SE Asian Amans) against the SE Asian Amans, and therefore have wildly unrealistic expectations IMO. In case anyone hasn't noticed, Amanresorts has more resorts outside SE Asia...and has for some time now.

We also had excellent but not mind-blowing service at Amangiri (and Amangani), but I judge Amangiri against the top resorts in North America, not the SE Asian Amans. Amangiri (and probably Amanera) wins heartily against almost all of the other top N. American resorts. I have a different perspective here, and I think it's far more realistic, I'm afraid.

I can't see the Grand Canyon or Monument Valley from a SE Asian Aman. I could see the beach and a wonderful seaside view from a SE Asian Aman (Amanpuri, Amankila, and Amanusa) as well as Amanpulo...and most still would say that Amanpulo crushes them. Many would say Amanpuri now isn't like an Aman of the past, either. So much for SE Asian Amans being the be-all, end-all as so many FTers want to pretend!

I think your "local citizen" expectation fails you when the resort happens to be in your own country/region--since the local citizenry aspect no longer has comparable impact. American employees at an American Aman do offer the comparable local citizenry aspect you want elsewhere...but that somehow still dissatisfies. That therefore inherently biases you against Amangiri and Amangani without you realizing it IMO.

Ironically, Amangiri's food/beverage was quite comparable and in some cases even better IMO than that of some of the SE Asia Aman properties...but few seem to address that point. I recently stayed at Amanbagh, and I thought its food/beverage was woefully mediocre. Amangiri was much better. Of course, Amangiri's food/beverage isn't quite as amazing as some other top resorts in N America...but then few of those are in places as remote as or offer experiences as unique as Amangiri, either.

Most people comparing SE Asian Amans to other Amans also make the mistake of comparing SE Asian Amans from 10 years ago to Amans elsewhere NOW. Therein may be the reason for false inequivalency.

This statement actually reinforces the points I am trying to make. Comparing Amanera to other Caribbean resorts is appropriate, since it is a Caribbean resort..and you're right! That's also why many herein aren't overly fond of Amanyara, as well.

I have to disagree here. I don't think the biggest wild card here is management, since almost no one is going to say Mark's home Aman of Amanyara is a bastion of epic service or of amazing food/beverage, either! It isn't management that is the problem there but the "local citizenry" culture of service that is the problem. There is a reason that Caribbean (or Miami) hotels and resorts aren't known for their service..and that's because service isn't a big part of the culture. You better be careful what you wish for with your hope for "local citizenry" I do believe. :D

You can have excellent management as much as you want...but that doesn't change the local expectation for providing service.

SE Asian Amans had done so well for service because it inherently is a huge part of the SE Asian culture to begin with. And because they've had years to inculcate that into the staff as well. And because they are smaller properties (I'm looking at you, Amanpuri, where service seems to have slipped from expectations based 10 years ago or longer). Japanese culture has a similarly high service expectation. Nowhere else.

It sounds like you will love Mukul--aside from getting there! You will also love the golf at Mukul that doesn't interest us at all.

FWIW, I still will take Amangiri over Mukul, even as much as I loved both--because I love the ability to see and do things at Amangiri that will never bore me...rather than get bored at any beach resort where there isn't great scuba diving to interest me.

You and MacMyDay are always thinking of me...and still straight. My mission continues. I take the compliments, anyway. :p

quite a few topics here

its easy to ask hotel how many rooms/groups/kids booked
can book high occupancy, vs some of us booking low/no >

amans including nera are building villas. while some of us do not look forward to amans having many villas, i guess some others do look forward to it because there will be higher occupancy.

it was

there have been problems when management offsite/subpar

Not sure if that is just a typical Aman problem; more like a typical resort problem, I find all private pool properties to be pretty rare... Aman has two that I can think of: Amanzoe and Amanruya (which may not count...). i think we counted 12/25 units having a private pool. I think I managed to attach a map of the resort layout...

I will say the actual beach here beats Amanyara's beach- especially considering how vast it is.. it's quite nice to stroll from one end to the other... But agree the water was a complete damper.. I knew it would be rougher; but just didn't figure it would be this rough....

So Amanyara is a much much bigger resort. 38 Pavillions and 18 villas... Plus it was full when I was there. Amanera operates on many different levels given the different floors of the Casa Grande and the hilly nature of the resort...Amanyara has a great central focus point for the entire property; the bar/pool area.. it was quite busy, quite hopping.. I think if you are the sort that likes people than Amanyara would be a better choice.. However, I can't say how Amanera would be if it was full... we always say across the restaurant from other couples there was so much space...

No worries.. that's what makes things great here are all the different opinions.. what's important to you isn't necessarily the same as what's important to me..


My history with Amans only go back 3 years.. so I'm not one to harken back to the good old days.. I only compare to the SE Asian (specifically Indonesian) Amans because that's my frame of reference, as my first Aman visit.. I think you do hit on the idea of a culture of service that doesn't seem to exist as much outside of SE Asia and that's entirely correct.. I will say, at least what I've observed in Indonesia, is that most of the employees have been with the respective resorts for years (some at Amandari since it opened).. the hotel jobs are good jobs in SE Asia and I think that that helps with the service.. From what I observed at Amangiri is that the workers seem to be more transient (I overheard some waitresses talking about going traveling for a while)... so it really comes down to a job versus a career. My hope is that at Amanera the employees take the tack of the job as a career and really develop a strong service attitude... I could see that a reasonable foundation existed; hopefully (and this is where management comes into play)this will be nourished and cultivated over the years..

I'm not sure the dynamics at Amanyara but it seems that most of the staff is imported. I hate to say this but the only local staff we encountered was at breakfast and they were horrible...

I absolutely agree that the food in SE Asia wasn't spectacular but I found it well suited what I wanted- good simple fresh food.. Maybe we were at Amangiri too long, but I found the menu to be quite boring and not interesting.. I absolutely loved all the avocado and salads that Amanera; plus I could eat the tempura prawn tacos all day...

Finally, the service issues in the end aren't a big deal to me. I've come to accept that I'll probably be asked for my room number once or twice.. the big issue is did I have a great time: yes, absolutely yes! The actual differences are quite small between all of the Amans I've ever been to.. like the time differences with the 100 yard dash.. but it's FT, and I'm doing a review so I've earned my right to complain about something....

Mukul has always/keeps interesting me.. the travel has been a real deterrent (and I'm not a golfer).. Two stops plus the car ride might be a bit much.

Travel wise these days keeps us in this hemisphere... so might be interested in trying something new but my wife has expressed interest in returning to Amanyara.. it's just so beautiful there (and honestly maybe moreso than Amanera).. I'ld always return to Amangiri but the travel is a bit arduous from the east coast (and unfortunately I'm not the type to charter to private jet or helicopter)... Finally Amangani does have some appeal to me but given that I'm not super outdoorsy I'm not sure what I would do beyond siting by the pool..

Forgot another service note:
They always were very eager to offer to call a cart for us; even though we loved walking everywhere.. In addition, one night we were looking at the library for a copy of Uno (our beloved vacation card game) but couldn't find one.. I asked at the bar if they had one and the bartender insisted on going down to the beach club to get a set for me. I kept telling him it would be okay but he wouldn't accept no for an answer...

Absolutely loved your report and review of Amanera. It sounds really promising and it appears they are well on their way to become the best North American Aman for service.

I am wondering when they will build a proper spa. For such a latest generation Aman the spa does not really wow me. I wonder what Third Point's approach is with this resort.

Hopefully the new GM will make a few appearances with future guests...

Thanks for this wonderful report!

Not sure in this Resort-type and category (for example many FS (Seychelles, Mauritius, Samui etc.), Six Senses, Banyan Tree). What´s also significant is the surcharge. 600 per nicht for the pool is quite something.

sold to JV including >
discoverylandco.com/communities/
spa may wait until villa buyers want
beach pool/cabana/room may happen

Think you could forgive some of the older Amans for not having all pool villas (product of the time and all that), but for a resort built so recently, they really should have incorporated them.

I do highly recommend Mukul. The only thing against Mukul is the challenge in reaching it. But it's a steal of an experience once you're there compared to any Aman or high end villa cost at any comparable resort in Hawaii, Mexico, or the Caribbean.

http://www.flyertalk.com/hotel-revie...ont-villa-1215

That's a good question.... I meant to ask and never got around to it... I'm not a huge spa person (just mainly into the treatments) so forgot to... I don't have a good feeling for the future time table of construction.. that being said the spa didn't feel as temporary as I thought it would...

your welcome

Might have something to do with the local competiton- there's not a ton of all pool resorts in the Carribean (ie know Riveria Maya has a higher proportion) but I appreciate that they do offer a range of room types.. I would seriously doubt that they would offer the same entry pricing if it was all pool... plus I was able to not pay for a pool and get a pool which is a huge benefit.. the spread is actually less than at Amanyara ($850), Amanpuri ($850), for a private pool and so forth..

It would be great for them to have a beach pool especially given the ocean really is too rough to swim in.. they do have a little wading pool next to the restrooms (for some reason it's label kids club on the map)

I also think that they wouldn't want to position themselves as too much competition to Amanyara... the hard product is already better; if they offerred a private pool with every room type then moreso...

FDW

everything is a tradeoff. if all pool, higher rates. see zoe (and giri?) peak, they could charge even more because they sell out. seems yara sells out a lot too.

FlyingDoctorwu continues to note comparative advantages of nera and (so far) aman

original dolphin plans had (small?) beach pool and zoe style cabanas (and huge main pool) also dropped to 24 pavilions from 36>40

Sure! But with the prices they charge (you need definitively humor) a pool should be included. Sometimes it seems they think they can write every rate on the tag and people will pay. As people pay understandable and I would do it too. But at some point I´m out.

Indeed

havent you paid a lot more for suites? but obviously primarily for eastern US
26 high end bedrooms, huge beach with only tiny 'hotel' at the other end
everything is a tradeoff, not to mention construction/staff costs elsewhere

banyan tree and six senses are very different, even FS seychelles/samui larger
whatever happens with aman, brand will retain unique property scale
some care about it, others dont. some like its low occupancy, others dont

zoe is part of porto heli, whereas nera only sold 1 2BR and maybe few other
part of why ruya is closed may be because of construction/operating costs

Hotels will (and should) charge whatever the market will bear. That's capitalism. That's the way it has to be. If Amans can charge premium rates and people pay them and the hotel sells out, then the hotel isn't overcharging...regardless of what we otherwise may think. Supply AND DEMAND are the important items here that you are forgetting. For good...or bad. :o

As I said understandable. I know about marketrules, studied it for a while. But also I mustn't buy it.

Yes I did and I will do. Will also mist likely pay Aman rates. Nevertheless I see this sceptical.

So glad to read your report. When you walked down the beach did you eat at the local place that serves you on the beach and which person did Aman recommend? Did you look at Playa Grande Beach Club(http://www.playagrandebeachclub.com/) when you were down at that end? I have been on that beach many times and the ocean does lay down often and is flat and calm.
Did they really do the swan towel on the bed at turn down? I learned that in 1980's hotel school and just hated it. I loved that Amanresorts did not do the type of thing they teach in Swiss hotel schools. I hope table tents are not coming soon in the bar.
Lounge chairs around the pool, are they set up with towels and cushions, or do you arrive at the pool and they bring that out? How bout around your suite pool, do they set up your lounge chairs with towels?

That's what we experienced also. This is why the GMs at 'Yara import the help from 'Pulo et al. But I wouldn't use the word 'horrible'. I would use the phrase 'non-existent' to describe the service. I'd also add 'sneering'.

The problem at 'Yara is similar to Bora Bora. There just isn't enough population base to staff the resorts properly at the pay the resorts can pay.

Off topic: Did they get the flies under control at 'Yara?

They're doing a great summer promotion too. Rates are incredible.

Yea especially with the regular crowd. Know a few who used to do Amanyara multiple times each year - now they've all switched over to Amanera.

So by that definition, the Asian Amans wildly overcharge based on the paltry 30% occupancy rates throughout the year, even with their low-season rates.

I immediately spotted the 'swans' on the bed and the petals in the bath - amazingly tacky stuff and not Aman at all. I also thought some of the food looked a bit iffy. Otherwise a nice-looking property and thanks for the thoughtful report and photos.

Really wish they had a beach pool.. they do have a very shallow wading pool, almost like a kids pool in front of the restrooms... seems like kind of a wasted space though.. wish they had done something more substantial...

I like room rates starting lower without a private pool.. it gives you something to upgrade into..

I think $1100 is their starting low season rate.. maybe I'm jaded, maybe I'm out of touch but I don't think that that's a terrible starting rate for a new build Aman... I think Amanyara starts more...

we dd walk all the way down there... Amanera didn't recommend any place in particular but we ate at #20 (are there really different restaurants, or different guys selling from same restaurant).. it was quite good; however, the beach vendors were pretty aggressive.... we didn't go back into the Playa Grande Club though.. Good to hear about the ocean sometimes laying flat...

The swan towels were one night for our "romantic turn down" I know it's a little cliche and cheesy but it's also cute in that retro kind of way.. Do note that Amanyara also did the same for their romantic turn down as well..

Maybe I misspoke about the service at Amanyara; I think your description is much better..

It seems like there are less (maybe zero?) resorts nearby Amanera; maybe that will halp them have less competition (plus maybe their attitudes want get tainted...)

I can see why.. hard product at Amanera is leaps and bounds past Amanyara; plus it does seem to be actually cheaper for what you get... impossible almost to get a view of the ocean and a pool at Amanyara

Yeah it was a little over the top... the "romantic turndown"... but a nice gesture... Lunch and breakfast food was the best; dinner only ok (and the iffy looking photos is probably my phone)...

FDW

also some here with small children have said they prefer no private pool

re beach plan i posted above, i saw floorplans, but cant remember where

all your photos look great to me, thanks again for taking/uploading a lot

and that is not an exaggeration >
1 pavilion, 5 villa (2 ocean, 1 beach sala, 1 artist, 1 6BR)
looking at reservations, some villas are occupied a lot
believe 1 pavilion cant be checked / booked on web

re yara capacity, villas have about 80 bedrooms total