On this site is there a comprehensive linked list of former Aman resorts? Also, interested in how they came to be Aman Resorts and then what went "wrong".

Never found a comprehensive list.

The ones I know are:

* Carcosa Seri Negara (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
* Mahakua Hacienda de San Antonio (Colima, Mexico)
* Chateau de Bagnols (Bagnols, France)
* The Strand (Yangon, Myanmar)
* Milton Park (Australia)

AFAIK, most still are hotels, with different management.

What happened each time I guess is that owners expect a better ROI (including refusing to invest more in the property), and/or want their historically significant properties managed by a local company.

not sure what (google) search terms to suggest ("former"?) but lots of discussion in aman threads, and sometimes other threads - recently india IIRC. (re umaid bhawan)

...

it could also be aman making the decision.

with owners id think itd be more an issue of management decisions, not just when its about money. and of course management fees are always an issue, like FS etc. or in terms of metrics - not wanting to wait, or wanting increased occupancy.

thinking about metrics, maybe there was a difference between aman owned and managed.. that would actually be a valid point, to a certain degree.


2000 - revenue $61MM ebitda $30MM (ebitda per room = $75K, vs $4K for FS)
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/13610023-post102.html

* Carcosa Seri Negara (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
* Mahakua Hacienda de San Antonio (Colima, Mexico)
* Chateau de Bagnols (Bagnols, France)
* The Strand (Yangon, Myanmar)
* Milton Park (Bowral, Australia)
* Umaid Bhawan Palace (Jodhpur India)

What do all these ex-Amans have in common? They are all historic properties. Aman has never lost a new-build.

Thanks. Forgot Mahakua; Loved that place. Chatea De Bagnois and The Strand don't seem Aman-worthy.

Oh no, I promise you that when Aman managed Ch�teau de Bagnols it was superb! Wonderful service. Then the owners got rid of Aman for Rocco Forte and finally Andrew Davis of Von Essen.....lower and lower....

The Strand, when it opened, was unique in Myanmar, but perhaps not up to Aman standards, which is probably why it was demoted to GHM.

Which is why I suppose some of the issues may have had to do with maintenance or improvements Aman suggested. For sure, none of these buildings, however good looking on the postcard, have the same infrastructure than a "built to spec" Aman property.

On the other hand, it may also be they never dared the shame of letting go of an AmanXXX despite its flaws, i.e. they only got rid of what they could get rid of without damaging their image

To be fair, they all left Aman for entirely different reasons, but Aman definitely has a much better track record with custom builds.

* Carcosa Seri Negara (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) - Government owned. Huge problems with getting investment for maintenance - torn table cloths, etc etc. Aman passed it on to GHM, who I hear had similar problems. Aman has to equal quality or it is not an Aman.

* Mahakua Hacienda de San Antonio (Colima, Mexico) - The owning Goldsmith family felt that Aman were not attracting sufficient number of guests. Sadly, at the time of losing the management contract, the number of guests had starrted to rise. One wonders how well the Goldsmiths have done operating it themselves! Biggest problem was that Aman did not have a second resort for its guests, who all wanted a beach destination.

* Chateau de Bagnols (Bagnols, France).
Owned at that time by Lord & Lady Hamlyn, who had quite a say in the running of the property. Suspect a clash of personalities. Also, Lady H insisted on vetting the GM and only ever got on with Ex-Rafael GM, Hans Zimmermann. Aman lost the contract after Zimmermann retired.

* The Strand (Yangon, Myanmar)
Not sufficiently Aman in standard, so passed it on to GHM.

* Milton Park (Bowral, Australia).
Long time ago, but think it was all about low occupancy and the usual Australian unwillingness to invest in on-going quality.

* Umaid Bhawan Palace (Jodhpur India).
Owner Maharajah of Jodhpur still great friends with opening GM Fran�ois Richli, but felt that Aman wanted to change too much, like knocking down walls. Not really done in an historic property. It was never really suited to being an Aman.

How could you all forget ..BURNHAM BEECHES near Melbourrne , Australia ?..... if only they could have renovated it - it would have been a wonderful Aman ...a 1st Generation Aman .

I KNEW I was missing one! Well done for remembering. Same story, though.

The Lodhi, New Delhi, India

I visited the Strand in Yangon shortly after it opened and at the time it was certainly worthy of Aman standards.

Gosh you must be really old considering it opened in 1901 I was there in 1980 so much later

Good point- shortly after it reopened with Aman

GHM has pulled out of The Strand.
http://www.ghmhotels.com/strand-holding-page.php