Aventine

Aman Tokyo Arva dinner review.

It's a new farm-to-fork Italian restaurant from Aman Tokyo. I was "suckered" into going there when relaxing by the pool and reading the Aman 30th anniversary brochure.

Everything is organic, locally sourced (when possible) and handmade. Portion sizes were generous and plated well. No over the top garnishes or dollops of sauce. Just delicious food.

The restaurant was proactive about asking about any allergies and making substitutions for the pasta dishes (charged 500 yen, but worth it) and changing a dessert to the famous Aman black fashion tea set. Aman flexibility at its finest!



According to the guide, they're inviting guest chefs from Amans around the world to showcase different food cultures and bring flavors from other Amans to Tokyo. Genius.

Yellowtail crudo with 3 kinds of Japanese grown radishes. The garlic anchovy sauce was heavenly. The Japanese yellowtail better than ones we had at at a 1* sushi restaurant!

chinmoylad

Glad to see Aman Tokyo picking up.

While other hotels will always have their niche (brand loyalty) as well as supply of rooms, I wonder if with Aman's urban expansion plans (and Tokyo seems to be going swimmingly well and improving all the time), some of the other luxe hotels are starting to get a bit worried with Aman eating into their $$$.

A4K

Any NYC metro area folks invited to this event?

An Evening With Aman & The Bruce Museum.

Can anyone tell me what goes on at these things? Pretty surprised I was invited as I thought these were mostly for travel advisors.

bhrubin

I'd actually think it's possible to have the Aman effect reversed in the urban markets--that other 5* hotels will be pleased to seem like a bit of a bargain against the usually higher Aman rates, and perhaps even feel justified in slightly increasing rates to seem a bit more comparable.

Aman rates were so much higher because their original locations put them with almost no competition (and most entry level room categories could be considered equivalents to junior suites). The new urban markets offer nothing but competitive pressures on rates. I doubt the other 5* luxury hotels are really sweating the urban Aman properties. All the other hotels have to do is up their service game a bit (and not even at all in too many cases!)...and supposedly match or beat Aman at its own game.

MichelinMan

Exactly my thoughts as well.

BlackHappy

chinmoylad

Tokyo's rates have generally remained consistently much higher which is actually interesting (owing to the size of the rooms?) - but I'd be interested in seeing how Aman prices itself once it (eventually/if) gets to Hong Kong, Paris (doubt it'd be higher than what the current places are going at?), London etc. New York will obviously be the first test. I suspect if it does set up in Singapore, prices will be much higher than current top hotels there.

It's a bit 50-50 - some people would obviously prefer to pay less and get a relatable standard of service (Tokyo is a great example of course - yet, Aman consistently sells out or close to it), but what about locations where the hotels aren't absolutely amazing to begin with: Singapore? New York?

FlyerEC

Aventine

Long story short. My wife had a Customized 90 min spa treatment there last Monday and it was 90 percent good.
What went wrong.
The therapist finished the treatment 10 mins early, eerily moved her to another treatment room to change her clothes, put on makeup and didn't offer to help carry her things (the receptionist attendants usually offer to store them for you). They also have a cloak room that could have stored them on the lobby floor.

Spa manager comes, listens, berates her therapist behind the frosted glass sitting area then returns. She says the treatment will be comped but since "they are unable to meet our expectations at their spa and that may be we should consider choosing another Tokyo hotel spa for our future travels. Long time FT members will remember what happened 3 years ago when the spa first opened. A disaster and the spa manager even brought that up! The implication being that a) we're too difficult to satisfy or b) just came to mooch another treatment 3 years later. I felt that was a shot below the belt. We're not those kinds of guests that complain to get freebies. We had a very enjoyable dinner at Arva that actually highlighted many familiar Aman attributes!

I wrote Ms. Yagi about everything that happened in the spa and she gave me the most cookie cutter, Tripadvisoresque, response ever. I'm just very disappointed in Aman Tokyo right now. Not the Aman way to handle a guest who takes the time to personally handwrite you and print this off.

Aventine

Last Monday 6pm I was prepared to pay the Aman premium in Tokyo. Honestly, I thought with their hardware and upgraded service that it was time to spend for an Aman experience.I was blown away by the hardware - lobby, lounge, poolside, changing rooms. Just mesmerized. The level of attentiveness paid to a spa guest +1 was astonishing. Dinner was a delightful experience with Tokyo demonstrating Aman's renown flexibility and willingness to please. It really did envoke the memories of Aman past for me.

Just the lowly response of their GM to my personal letter probably means I would never give them a cent in the future beyond our Arva dinner. We're not perennial Junkies like some of you but we do have some stays under our belt and I can't imagine Nicolas or Ian doing what she did. They would definitely be in touch (I left two telephone numbers) and definitely write back in their own handwriting.

Aman Tokyo is done to me.

scented

I agree that this nondescript answer from her is a bit blasé.... doesn't sound very Amanresorts to me. I wonder if they do not realize you were not expecting a comp or anything else from them, but perhaps a bit sincerity. Even other, bigger groups -- high end ones at least -- ask for a phone number and time most convenient and reach out. That would be the proper thing to do. Either they don't see it necessary to care about the business (occupancy is high) or they had their fair share of influencers in the past..... (meaning outrageous requests). Either way, not really the way to deal with a GUEST, returning guest no less.

Aventine

I didn't like the spa manager essentially saying we weren't welcome there in the future when we didn't do anything wrong. Hotel was sold out but I saw something I thought I would never see at an Aman. A large Middle Kingdom tour group staying at Aman Tokyo...

Kagehitokiri

any idea how many rooms group was occupying?

re above service review >
new aman corporate may play role in some of these things
these 'results' from social media / review era arent good

Aventine

There were 10-15 people walking through the hotel's with their convenience store bags. A family with kids terrorizing the poor LL attendant and a family of 4 that was dining near us in Arva. My guess would be 10+ rooms. Most likely multiple persons in one room. I'd say they were treated to the stay by some sort of conglomerate incentive tour or Chinese SNS package room sale.

FlyerEC