I definitely don't have bad intentions; and I'm not suggesting that one doesn't visit Montenegro at all.. My experience in Montenegro actually has nothing to do with Sveti Stefan... I visited the country before the Aman opened and found that while most everyone is nice; they just don't provide the same level of service one comes to expect at an Aman.. Same happens in Turks and Caicos; people are nice; service level at Amanyara just isn't up to snuff...Now the things described here go beyond the local talent pool; it also reflects poorly on the management.. which is puzzling because the TIbbles have been highly regarded... is it possible that they are off site due to Virtuoso week? Nonetheless, that is no excuse...

The nice thing is that when I visited; there weren't any properties anywhere remotely close to providing a luxury experience... Now the Chedi and the Regent are options...

FDW

Wow.

A lot of very valid complaints there. How to explain all of the damage such as the gym and glass in the pool? Sounds like the place has been trashed by large groups on buck's weekends or something?

Are you planning to write to the GM?

Not sure what they can do about the bees and wasps though. These are a natural phenomenon and they can't exactly drench the whole place in DDT these days.

Oh wow. Not one but two horrible stays! I was planning a stay there for next spring, thankfully I read this thread before booking. The most shocking thing to me is that they're selling day passes to the pool?! Is money that tight at Aman?

Definitely will be looking elsewhere now. Thank you for the reviews, and I hope you both can get at least half of your money back.

There are a lot of complaints on FlyerTalk that seem borderline insane. I have read criticisms of hotels that to this day make me laugh at the pettiness of it; I'm sure some of you have read some of my own reviews and thought the same. Sometimes our expectations are sky high and what we deem a failure is nothing more than just a standard part of most hotel stays. The world does not always revolve around us. I opened this thread expecting to see similar. How wrong was I. This is truly awful, not just in everything you've described, but the absence of any service recovery at all. It sounds like everyone just gave up. There are a lot of people on FlyerTalk with great connections to Aman, so please keep this thread updated as to what happens, as I'm sure a few of us could help you push it further if need be.

This hotel has been on my list for years, but every time I begin to consider it again yet another negative review pops up.

Thanks for sharing and so sorry to hear!!!

I've got 3 sets of clients booked to visit next month and I'm suddenly very nervous, wonder if I should suggest them to cancel but flights are booked...will need to work with the Aman S.S. team about this. @GetSetJetSet do you mind if I share your feedback with them? does anyone care if I share this thread with their team so they can address it accordingly (both onsite S.S. managers and corporate personnel)? I really think the Aman team would prefer to know and have the chance to address the issues. I don't want to see my clients experience the same complaints in 3 weeks.

If Aman can't provide service to the Aman standard, regardless of clientele, then the Aman brand means much less. It's that simple for me.

Except in China, perhaps, where almost every brand standard is suspect, anyway. :D

That sounds like a shocking stay. GM might be offsite but no property should ever stoop so low regardless of whether GM is on or offsite, and I thought my Amanbagh stay was horrible when GM was offsite (it wasn't anywhere near as bad as this, just me being extremely critical - it was a fine stay).

Both of you need to contact Tapa immediately to take this further because this really damages what Aman stands for. And let them know that having a GM off site is not acceptable for a hotel falling that low. Additionally, I would expect very appropriate service recovery for a stay this bad.

Tapa and Jane are very good to work with so I'd be extremely surprised if they do not take these complaints seriously.

Like @BESVISOR I would also like to check if we can alert Tapa/the team to this thread for future reference to ensure these issues are taken care of - they aren't luxury hotel guests being overly critical, they're downright shocking.

Also, I would seriously raise the concern regarding day passes to the pool (although are you sure they were selling day passes vs having a ton of influencers on-site? Something else to worry about). This is very un-Aman and ruins the very raison d'etre of choosing Aman in the first place.

Allowing others to use the restaurant, I understand - most of the Amans do that (with a reservation, and I don't think you even need that at Amanfayun or some others), but the hotel pool? I don't think even Aman Tokyo does this do they (how about if you live in Tokyo and use the spa?)? Can anyone living in Tokyo confirm?

Also, always remember that just because you see a lot of positive reviews of a property doesn't mean that you shouldn't report a negative review - this is precisely why this forum exists.

You can use Aman Tokyo's pool before a scheduled spa session but I don't think you can just show up and buy pool time.

Thanks for the clarification - so even some of the most popular Amans (where you get a lot of 'outside' visitors) doesn't offer day passes. Surprising if Aman Sveti Stefan goes down that way - might have been a large group of people there for another reason (media? travel agents? influencers?).

I've been allowed pool use for day-trips to Aman when I'm not staying there, but I don't bring 10-20 people with me. Even accounting for the above, allowing a large group for a day pool use would be very poor - I would definitely raise that issue and point out that the tranquility is one of the reasons you choose to stay at an Aman.

I'd go even further - a 3* is somewhere I expect a (small/adequate) but at least a clean room - a Holiday Inn Express, for instance. Pubes in the bathroom upon check-in suggest otherwise.

Wow - pretty terrible reports indeed. I stayed at Sveti Stefan at nearly this exact same time last year (late-August/early-September 2017). My review is here (link), and I mentioned a few of the issues that the OP and subsequent poster brought up - it is disappointing to see that certain things have not been fixed. A few thoughts:

1. We too had our aircon break during our stay. We had to move rooms in the middle of the night, but it did indeed get fixed. Not ideal that this is starting to sound like a pattern.

2. We also had people barging into the private hydrotherapy rooms despite the DnD sign. Last summer they promised me they would come up with a new system to indicate the room is occupied - clearly this hasn’t happened.

3. I do want to clarify what I believe is a misunderstanding in this thread (correct me if I am wrong). Sveti Stefan, like many Amans, has always let non-guests use the restaurant. It happens more at SS becuase it is nowhere near as remote as other Amans (not that many non-guests looking to dine at Amanoi, for example). I do NOT believe that Aman sells day passes to the pool. They do sell day passes to the beach directly outside the hotel, but not to the beach by Villa Moncler. I can assure you that if you are a guest, this is a non-issue, as there is no reason to use the beach available to non-guests given the private access to the far superior Queens Beach. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Aman selling day passes to the inferior beach is mandated by local laws.

4. Housekeeping was excellent for us so this is very disappointing to hear. We also didn’t have any problems with cleanliness, etc.

5. We too were attacked by bees when trying to enjoy breakfast at the Piazza. The staff also tried to burn coffee grounds to no effect. Luckily at least last summer the bees did not extend to elsewhere on the property (our terrace, lunch/dinner, etc.). If something has changed and now wasps are everywhere, this property is a non-starter.

6. I’ve been to Amanoi, Amantaka, Amanjiwo, Amankila, Amangiri, and Amanfaun. Aman Sveti Stefan’s service standards during our stay were just as good, if not better, than the rest. I have no idea what is going on this summer, but of course it is unacceptable. Maybe we just got lucky last summer. I can’t imagine the GM being onsite makes THAT much of a night and day difference, but you never know.

We have wanted to return to Aman Sveti Stefan more so than any other Aman property (perhaps Amangiri), but these new reports give us pause. It is truly a magical resort and hard product, but if these reports reflect the new service standard, well, we won’t be returning.