FlyerEC

Yes , callmedtop & uclabruin82 , Amans do come through & especially Indon Amans

chinmoylad

Next Aman - Amanjena (September 14-16, my birthday is September 11). If anyone is around say hi!

uclabruin82

Glad to hear. We are staying at Kila at the end of August, and maybe Dari also (debating between that and Mandapa)

BESVISOR

Amanjena in June

But Kila and Jiwo in July, debating between Dari or Mandapa as Dari feels underwhelming to me and Mandapa seems to be one of the best RCs.

Sadly, the few of us here are scattered across June - August at Kila. Would have been fun!

mongobot

We will be staying at the Amankila from the 3rd to the 6th on a birthday visit. We'd be happy to say hello.
It will be our first time staying at an Aman property so we are pretty excited. We had dinner at the Amanpuri many years ago and were very impressed with the property so we are really looking forward to it.

FlyerEC

bhawono

Mandapa, A Ritz-Carlton Reserve (Ubud) - 60 keys, everyone knows how good they are
COMO Shambhala Estate (Ubud) - 30 keys, service and product-wise, I think Mandapa and COMO are more superior than Amandari
One&Only Wolgan Valley (Blue Mountains) - 40 keys, arguably the best resort in Australia
Oberoi Mauritius (Mauritius) - 71 keys, haven't stayed there but highly rated by some Oberoi insiders
Alila Fort Bishangarh (Rajashtan) - 59 keys, majestic yet intimate resort but spotty service, can be improved though
Six Senses Zighy Bay (Zighy Bay) - 82 keys, architecturally similar to Alila Jabal Akhdar
COMO The Treasury (Perth) - 48 keys, interior by Kerry Hill and supposed to be an Aman, serive is outstanding but too "cold", too "sterile"

Kagehitokiri

(US?) amex FHR 4th free current repetition

ruya - may 30 - sep 26 (direct undiscovered thru sep 30 4th or 6th 7th free)

nera - may 30 - dec 19 (direct thru dec 19 5th free seasons of discovery)
yara - jun 1 - oct 31 (direct thru oct 31 6th free season of discovery)

jena - jun 1 - dec 20 (direct undiscovered thru 'mar 2020')

pulo - may 6 - nov 30
sara / taka - may 30 - sep 30
puri - may 30 - dec 15 (direct discover 7th free apr 8 2018 / apr 23 2019 - dec 15)
dari / kila / jiwo / wana - may 15 - jul 13
galla / wella - may 30 - dec 19
noi - may 30 - dec 22 (direct undiscovered thru 'mar 2020')

anyone had problems with FHR free night not working?

aman.com/resorts/amanruya/exclusives/undiscovered-amanruya
aman.com/resorts/amanruya/exclusives/romantic-escape

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/comm...do-4-june.html

Kagehitokiri

sara, taka, bagh - also still offering upgrade at booking
giri - does as well, but with expensive package, so a wash

i think noi stopped offering it a little while ago now
presume taka no longer offers the offsite villa
did kora stop doing low season after 2015 / 2016?

Rate your favourite Amans

Klems

Hey guys, a couple of months back I had asked for advice about Aman Tokyo (see here), and got a lot of different opinions.
So I just wanted to follow up, as I just completed my 2 nights stay there, and give my impressions. Please note that it was my first Aman stay (and hopefully not the last ).

Let's start with the good. The design, of course, is what stands out the most. As many people mentioned, the lobby and lounge are simply jaw dropping, especially with this ceiling. It really hardly gets any better than that as far as my tastes are concerned.
Same goes with my room. I had a standard room, booked with Amex FHR and was "upgraded" to a better view room but with the same standard layout. I did not expect it to be so massive, this is really a huge space for something that's not a suite. I spent a lot of time on the daybed by the windows reading books or just gazing outside. The bathroom was also very nice, and the pool area is simply stunning.
Overall I think Aman did an awesome job translating Japanese luxury as everything is simple, understated and uncluttered. So all of that lived up to my expectations.

Now for the less good.

As far as service goes, I was not super impressed. The front desk staff and the concierge team were all super nice, helpful, and I have no complaints whatsoever.
However the bar/lounge area was another story. I went there on 2 occasions, once to redeem my voucher for my welcome cocktail and another to have afternoon tea. Both times, the ladies who welcomed me were very stern, unfriendly, and looked borderline like I was annoying them.
Also when I went to have that cocktail, they simply forgot about me. I sat, was given a menu and waited and waited and waited. They started serving tables that arrived after me. I was going to flag someone but I got curious and wanted to see how long it would take them to notice me. Then finally one of the bartenders figured it out and sent someone my way (no apology was offered). Honestly I was a bit annoyed at that.

Speaking of food, I had the western breakfast which was pretty nice, without being memorable. For instance, it doesn't even compare with the Andaz breakfast which was amazing in every aspect (choice and quality).

And finally the most disappointing part: sadly, and shockingly, it was the bedding. Like many other hotels in Japan, they do not have real king mattresses and they just push 2 smaller beds together, with a mattress topper on top of them. Overall it's never a good idea, but at least sometimes they can execute that properly and make it completely invisible to the guests.
But that was certainly not the case here. There was a big bump between the 2 mattresses, and it also felt like one mattress was noticeably more worn out than the other. Basically I had to pick one half of the bed, there was no way I could sleep in the middle of the mattress or across.
I hate being that guy making issues, but after my first night I had to let them know because I couldn't even sleep that well. They sent someone to my room who said they couldn't do anything about it. I suggested they add another mattress topper on top of the existing one, which they did. It made it only slightly better, but I also ended up having to use only one half of the bed the 2nd night.

So overall I'm pretty glad I did it and despite the bed issue, I thought it was a really great place to stay at. I would happily go back, although I'd also be happy to spend a little less and go back to the Andaz, which I thought was spectacular minus the very annoying location. And Hoshinoya was also a fantastic experience btw, so thanks to the ones who recommended it .

chinmoylad

Keen to read about your Hoshinoya experience (perhaps another thread?).

Yea - Aman in cities is still a bit "what?" for me - I'm intrigued to see how this goes. The 'Aman experience' just doesn't translate; and especially in a city where there are so many options, at much better rates. Generally speaking, the trend for Aman Tokyo has been that it has improved immeasurably since opening.
Delhi generally worked because it was part of a larger journey around India (although I'm sure it had a lot of repeat guests staying there just because they were in Delhi only), and Aman still maintains a good relationship with The Lodhi.

Give Aman another go - perhaps one of the more famed resorts.

bhrubin

Amen to sharing the Hoshinoya Tokyo experience! Our neighbors just went at the end of their Japan trip and had mixed thought. Please post in this thread:

Tokyo luxury hotels (newer consolidated thread)

I think many of us agree, but one of the real questions is whether or not there is sufficient demand for Aman "urban retreats" in the big cities. Thus far, there seems to be sufficient demand despite the weaker soft product. As long as Doronin sees real demand, I think he will be happy to have the Aman urban retreat hard product there to satisfy it.

The other real question is whether or not Aman's soft product is as stable and impressive as it once was before the Doronin takeover and concomitant (more urban) expansion. I don't believe the Aman soft product is as good as it once was. And my first Aman stay was in 2009. I believe the service experience is quite a bit more mixed and less impressive overall, and the food/beverage experience is even more muddled and less impressive overall.

IMO Aman used to create luxury travel destinations. Now it follows them. Aman used to create incredible properties in locations that were unknown or completely under the radar; those turned into some of the most desirable locations in the world. Aman used to be one of if not the only luxury option in most of those destinations. That no longer is the case with Aman's move into urban markets. Aman's serenity and "retreat" ambience worked extremely well for almost everyone in the remote destinations it created. That isn't the case for everyone for Aman's urban locations.

Aman used to operate at pretty low occupancy, too. Doronin seems to have shifted that model. Now more and more Aman properties operate at much higher occupancy than most Amanjunkies remember. I don't think people realized how good the service could be when occupancy is lower. I think more and more people are beginning to realize that the incredible and legendary service levels from old aren't as likely or as easily accomplished in the high occupancy environment.

That's one of the reasons I've always been more impressed with always higher occupancy (and often sold out) Amangiri than so many of my fellow FTers and other longtime Amanjunkies. Especially when people compare Amangiri to the historically much lower occupancy Indonesia Amans that almost always are the gold standard for everyone. People always seem to chalk it up entirely to North America vs Asia. I also chalk it up to high occupancy vs usually lower occupancy.

I therefore see the Aman product and brand shifted from what it once was to what it now is becoming: a still extremely impressive and authentic best-in-class hard product hotel combined with mixed soft product with a much higher occupancy model.

Agreed. Perhaps the more famed remote resorts where there really aren't any other luxury options--places where Aman truly can shine. Like Jiwo. Pulo. Bagh. Giri. Zoe. Kila. Wella. Maybe even Wana. That's really it for me. I'm still waiting for Gabon and Oca...

BlackHappy

A380 Flyer

The Datai Langkawi surely comes close to any Aman beach resort?

chinmoylad

Amanpulo....? I highly doubt that.

The others (Kila, Puri etc) yes, probably.