Fliar

Although not our intention, due to delays in its completion we ended up being the first paying guests at Amangyangyun, Aman's latest property to open in China and my 21st to visit. The resort is currently set to officially open on January 8. We were the only guests during our stay.

We were picked up by a very comfortable S class Mercedes from Pudong airport. There was water on board (but no towel or snacks, and also no reading materials) and wifi was available. Late morning there was little traffic and we arrived just under an hour later. (In very bad traffic it can take up to two hours, apparently.) The drive (largely by motorway) takes you through the industrial suburbs of Shanghai - the world's factory. Pretty it isn't, but it certainly is impressive. The resort itself is in an area with exclusive residences. Although there may be places of interest to visit nearby, they were not evident during the drive.

On arrival a welcoming committee awaited us and we were swiftly taken to villa 1. Words fail to describe this. I'll let the pictures do the talking. Suffice to say that it combined beauty with comfort. Hundreds of mature trees were trucked in from 700 kilometres away and the residences were rebuilt stone by stone from their original village. The quality of the furnishings (all custom designed, some made by the owner's company) is astonishing. The Vola hardware in the bathroom adding a subtle, modern touch, while still in keeping with the traditional atmosphere. The outdoor pool (about 10 metres, I'd say), the jacuzzi, the ponds...it was all very impressive.

Something not shown in the pictures is that there is a well-stocked minibar (Millat juices, East Imperial sodas, Valrhona chocolates) and a coffee machine in the spacious kitchen.

Food was excellent. At night we had regional Chinese food, which was deliciously spicy, along with excellent wine from Yunnan province (neighbours of the famous Ao Yun vineyards, owned by LVMH, which I also had the pleasure of tasting at a Hennessy event in Auckland a few weeks prior). For lunch the next day we had Italian food - the restaurant is led by an amicable and professional Italian gentleman and Chef Andrea does a fantastic job with the food. Currently the chef from Aman Venice is there to help for a few weeks.

We had a tour of the facilities under construction and from what we could tell, the spa, the 57-metre outdoor pool and the indoor pool, the cultural centre (with lots of activities like calligraphy, meditation and so on), will look fabulous. We also had a look at the hotel rooms (gorgeous, modern) and some of the privately-owned villas (complete with elevators, wine cellars and bank vaults!).

There are a few very experienced people here (some from Aman, such as Joe (not 100% sure about his name, sorry, the F&B manager from Amanfayun and previously Beijing), the FoH manager from Amansara, who is helping to set things up for a few weeks, - and some from 4S or other high-end resorts, such as Benoit, the GM). Chinese staff seem very eager to please. As of yet they are lacking in sophistication but the willingness certainly seems there.

It will be exciting to see the resort with all its facilities up and running. We have already booked our next stay for June.

(All pictures below are of our villa, including the pool)










Children's bedroom










Super spicy and super delicious



The calligraphy classroom



A bank vault in one of the privately-owned villas

FlyingDoctorwu

Thank you for the report. Very impressive looking. Reminds me a bit of Amanjena (not the architecture or anything) but the feel- A resort that was completely constructed...

is that the Antique villa with 2 bedroom room type?

thanks
FDW

FlyerEC

Thanks for your encouraging report and clear photos .
When will it all be up & running ? Will the spa be ready in January for opening ?

For January , I suppose swimming in the main pool will not be practical anyway

callmedtop

This looks very impressive, and I'm trying to fit in a visit for lunch during my stay in Shanghai next month. Thanks for your report as it certainly helped give some context to the property. It looks like Aman has finally updated their reservation system for YY and it is now bookable online. Rates start at around $800 USD in Jan/Feb for the Discover package, but goes up to $1K+ during the more attractive months of the year.

Shame it is so far from downtown (which we all knew) - I wonder if I really should give up 4-6 hours of my time just to check it out.

Thanks again!

bhrubin

Thanks so much for the photos and details!

While AmanYY looks beautiful, I’m still struggling to see the appeal for a property that has no real sights to see nearby and is 1-2 hrs drive from downtown Shanghai. This reminds me of Amanemu in Shima, Japan—a beautiful spa and wedding destination resort intended for wealthy Japanese getaways rather than the typical luxury Aman market.

callmedtop

Couldn't agree more - just like Amanemu, I doubt I will ever actually stay here, but I am very curious to see these recreated villas and historic trees that they transplanted hundreds of miles. I think a day trip will more than satisfy my curiosity.

bearbrick

Thks for an AYY scoop !
Am definitely looking forward to stay at YY
you mentioned theres still construction going on , which part of the resort will that be at ?
did it impact your stay ?

chinmoylad

Other than the story behind the place, yep - that's exactly what it feels like. Bear in mind Shanghai and neighbouring Hangzhou and Suzhou have plenty of wealthy potential clients that would do frequent weekend stays at a place like this (plus the weddings aspect as you said), along with those coming over for short/long weekends from other nearby cities - or at best, Amanjunkies staying in main Shanghai and then deciding to spend an extra 1-3 nights to relax at the end of their stay.

I'm awaiting more photos from Aman, but other than the slightly out of context placement for it, it does look nicely constructed. Thanks for the photos @Fliar!

In main Shanghai itself - curious to see the all-villa Capella. It's in a very good location - I should have checked it out but had too much to do last time.

Fliar

The resort was not nearly ready with what seemed like hundreds of construction workers milling about, mostly in the spa (which I understand they are hoping to have ready by the opening date of Jan 8) and the private villas. FoH, restaurants, public pavillions etc were all done with no workers. None of it impacted our stay (there was no noise to speak of and the workers were not in areas you'd be in unless (like us) you go for a walkabout).

BTW, we stayed at the Puli for a night afterwards. A 4* hotel with 5* rooms in a nutshell.

ps pool temperature will be 24 degrees, even in winter (and then of course there's the indoor pool).

A380 Flyer

This would have been better if they built it somewhere relevant like Xi'an. Shanghai is an awful location for an Aman. I give it 5 years before it is sold off by the chain and becomes a Six Senses.

callmedtop

This property in Xi'an would be a hit at least for Western tourists - I would certainly go. It seems like Aman is very clearly going for the local weekend market, as noted above.

ridefar

My guess is that they are going for the villa market and the rest is secondary. That seems to be consistent with many newer Amans. Somebody with some insight into hotel financials versus hotel plus villa/residences financials could change my mind but it is certainly enough to make me suspicious about their financial objectives. Put another way: if Aman was selling shares I wouldn’t touch them with a ten foot pole.

Musken

Looks great, but agree about location comments meaning I would probably not want to stay.

BESVISOR

Agree with others on its similarity with Nemu...but will want to squeeze in 2 nights between the city and Amanfayun.

BESVISOR

Working with the team at AmanYY now on a booking and they are very responsive and great to work with...do wish they were a Virtuoso Preview property, though.