vprp

I stayed here at the Aman Kyoto and I felt it was quite secluded. On the map, it looks like it's right by the Living Pavilion but the Takagamine Pavilion is elevated (doesn't quite reflect on the map). We often took a golf cart to the room and didn't have any concerns over being too close to the Living Pavilion. The photo below shows the seating area in the bedroom. If you look out the bottom right hand corner of the window, you can see the roof of the Living Pavilion through the trees.

Kagehitokiri

good to hear it sounds private. the 2BR villa buildings definitely look big. sounds like an example of elevation making a big difference and not being able to really see on maps. sometimes luxury properties could try getting photos that illustrate it.

although no real living space (like 2BRs have) seems like hotaru (3 rooms? book all 3?) is relatively far from everything else, as it is northernmost building. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Am...!4d135.7306341

bing maps still offer angled view, but has not updated after aman kyoto construction yet

louisc

I've searched for 20+ dates next year online for Amandari (As late as October 2023), and not a single search yields any results for the "Village suite" room type. Potentially renovating them? Cant think of any other reason they would not be showing up.

A4K

My guess would be renovation or they are just decommissioned for the time being, I would email them to ask.

I was there in June and I would estimate about half of the suites were shuttered, all but one of the "Village" suites. I am not sure work was actually being done on them or if they were just not being maintained for the time being.

Kagehitokiri

can see calendar for each individual specific categories >
aman.com/resorts/amandari/accommodation/suites/village-suite
reservations.aman.com/?chain=16840&locale=en-GB&arrive=10/03/2021&hotel=62465&room=SKV
available dates >
dec 29
jan 6
jan 19-21
aug 12-15
jan 1-31 2024

9 village - see above
10 valley - only sold out date = jan 4
8 pool - only sold out date = aug 11-13 , sep 9-10
1 asmara
1 ayung
1 amandari
1 villa
asmara, ayung, amandari pretty wide open
seems villa can't be searched individually

hypnos8

Short from doing a full review, I just wanted to offer a quick data point on Aman Le Mélézin, since it tends to get so little attention here.

We just finished a weeklong stay and came away very pleasantly surprised. Having found so little information in advance and being used to the tropical Aman resorts, we assumed it might all be a little cramped and dreary, but far from it. We typically don't enjoy rustic Alpine interiors, but here the infusion of Asian design elements worked really well for us and created a very cozy yet sophisticated atmosphere. We were in a Chambre Village which is actually a small suite with nice views over both the Bellecote Piste and the village. For us it was the perfect sweet spot and the only downside was that storage space is spread across a number of pieces of furniture (but there is plenty in aggregate).

The team was what made the place stand out and service was both highly competent (as you might expect in France, but not always at an Aman) and yet warm and approachable. We particularly enjoyed meeting some of the Amanzoe team again who apparently make up a significant share of Le Mélézin's staff. The only hiccup worth mentioning was that one night the fire alarm came on at 4am and when guests startet pouring out into the lobby, the staff was quite nonchalant about it, suggesting it might be a false alarm. The next day, this was not mentioned again and some of the staff did not even seem to be aware of the incident. While the alarm may not have been the hotel's fault, I think an acknowledgment of the issue by management and maybe even a small gesture would have been well received.

As for the food, we were quite happy to dine at Nama. As part of our half board package, we had also tried out all the restaurants at Les Airelles, which had left us somewhat exhausted. Yes, the kitsch chalet look was actually quite fun for for a change, food was well executed and the staff was trying very hard to please. But the concept and service was all just a bit overwhelming and while I do not like buffets in general, a buffet to which you are supposed to go accompanied by a waiter makes things even worse to me somehow...
So the much more relaxed atmosphere at Nama was a real treat for us. Still, the bar & restaurant had quite a vibe to it (for an Aman at least) with quite a few guests, lovely live music and even some electronic music for breakfast.

To conclude, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay and Courchevel and the town felt much less vulgar than expected (though it was still early in the season and there are very few Russians this year). However, everything in Courchevel was just obscenely expensive (14 EUR for a single espresso, anyone?). The only way this worked out for us was with the "Call of Courchevel" offer, which is great value with a free guaranteed upgrade and the inclusion of a ski pass or daily massage.

The trouble is we now feel we can never fall back behind the exceptional skiing in Les 3 Vallées. We used to go to Switzerland in the past (Davos, Flims/Laax and Andermatt) and it just does not compare. Maybe we'll install ourselves in one of the more affordable neighboring valleys next time (Méribel looked nice) or try Cortina (though we would miss the ski in/out convenience of Courchevel).

I hope this may be helpful to some and please let me know in case of any questions!

Kagehitokiri

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxu...ad-2023-a.html
first reply is another le melezin report

switzerland is about off piste skiing like verbier (french side) and zermatt
in france there is Val d'Isere, has airelles hotel
in austria there is lech / zurs / st anton

aurelio lech only 10 rooms, not sure if they book "club" rooms in 8BR chalet
switzerland also crans montana, LeCrans hotel 13 rooms and 4 apartments
france also megeve, includes FS and zannier, latter 12 rooms and chalet

Pierre&Cédric

I didn’t know Sveti Stefan had been closed for so long! It was my first stay ever at an Aman property. The sveti stefan suite was magical.

livefromtuscany

it won’t open in 2023 either. Shame. It’s one of the nicest places on the Adriatic coast.

Kagehitokiri

edit - above closure discussion continued here >
Report on my stay at Aman Sveti Stefan

cant recall structure of lease of aman sveti stefan

(owner is same as aman venice, also a lease)

in worst case scenario aman corporate may also invest to keep open. i heard aman invested in tokyo [as part of opening] . didnt hear re ruya, but it also reopened after long closure. [ruya didnt open for season in 2017? did open 2018.] aman corporate also received recent investment. interestingly, aman sveti stefan and aman venice were originally leased by aman corporate under zecha. for sveti stefan it was prior to DLF acquisition, not sure about venice.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxu...ad-2023-a.html

SP03

Are you doing their itineraries in the Amankora Lodges?

I wonder what's an optimal time there. I'm considering the 13 day itinerary during Paro Tshechu in 2024 .

SanDiego1K

Yes, I chose the 7 day trip and will be there over Paro Tshechu. I leave in less than 2 months. I found the Aman team extremely easy to work with. They gave me dates for the major events as I knew I wanted to chose an itinerary that included one of them. Following are the tentative dates for the following festival:

• Paro Tshechu – 2 to 6th April 2023
• Thimphu Tshechu – 24 to 26th September 2023
• Crane Festival at Gangtey – 11th November 2023

The Paro Tshechu dates suited my schedule best.

It's interesting, I received a note from a different Bhutan travel agent early this week saying that tourism numbers are substantially off what the government had anticipated on reopening the border. They wrote of seats still being readily available around the dates of the Paro Tsechu when that would not ordinarily be the case this close in. Still, I am glad that I had Aman book my flights as soon as the airlines scheduled flights. We will fly in and out of Bangkok as that offered the most dates. Business class appears to be sold out for the dates of our travel.

From the agent I mentioned:

Tourism arrivals are unfortunately low. While we are actually doing pretty good, the most of the other tour operators are reporting very low booking numbers. Flight seats for spring Paro Tshechu festival (2 to 6 April) are still mostly available. It used to be quite common for flights to be packed as early as 5 months before the festival start, so you can imagine the difference.

We are not surprised, though. The grossly negative effect on arrivals was something we predicted after the 20 June 2022 abrupt and ill-conceived tourism reform. However, the authorities in Department of Tourism (formerly known of Tourism Council of Bhutan) are still in denial.?? According to the recent news reporting, they attribute drop in arrivals to the lack of information about Bhutan being open for tourists. Well, they can't say otherwise without acknowledging their grave mistake.

SP03

Thanks for the info. I think I will do spring over Paro Tshechu next year. With so much time on the road between lodges, I think 13 nights may be a bit more relaxed. Looking forward to your trip report.

jinyoungkim7

Any recent stays at Aman Tokyo?

vprp

Stayed in November but going to be back next week. It's my top choice in Tokyo. For that stay, I was in a base room which is very large especially for Tokyo. Prefer the palace garden view. I do agree you have to fix your expectations for a city Aman. The lobby and food and beverage outlets are crowded due to the amount of external visitors but it doesn't quite bother me. For my stay next week, I will try the corner suite.