i remember the discussions ive participated in, and the comments i was referring to. in this forum and elsewhere.

there are luxury 'remote camping' and "tiny local inns"

there are monasteries that are more luxurious than not, and can be ancient but maintained

and luxury options in connection to archaeology etc (special interest)

luxury properties are not just about what is offered inside the property

also note the poster's reference to "western" - this is just getting into mindless stereotypes

psychographic (values) is the only thing that matters, not demographic - this forum includes connoisseurs and trendsetters (ones mentioned in research by Elite Traveler)

see the quote from this thread in my now edited post

you also kind of took me out of context, by quoting one of my later comments and not my post following westmoon's which included this >
and as mentioned food can be life changing and i argue it can be related to service

amanfayun again >

I completely agree that food can be life changing (I am, admittedly, a major foodie). I also have traveled (both luxuriously and non) my entire life - and I think my visit to the FS Tented Camp a couple of years ago was a life-changing experience. The amazingly cool Thai people I met, the outstanding service and seclusion (this was a visit with no children there, luckily) and most of all, for me, the opportunity to interact every day with the elephants - it was an ideal trip. Every photo of me while there has a huge smile - a week of smiling big all day every day was life-changing...

Just a couple of suggestions:

-We just returned last week from two weeks in East Africa and stayed at all the &beyond properties in Tanzania (including Zanzibar) and Kenya. This was an extra-ordinary and life changing trip. The whole experience was unreal. Yes, it was luxury (maybe not as luxe as amans) but that's not the reason for its strong effects

-Amanjiwo in central Java - being next to Borobudur and interacting with such great people that work and live around the hotel touched my soul deeply.

I don't know...my experience at Amangani during New Years Eve holiday 2 years ago was good, but certainly not "life changing". I have had better experiences at several other properties. I think there is probably a certain "je ne sais quoi" about the Asian Amans that can't be replicated elsewhere.

I think life changing in relation to lux hotels can be described as those moments, experiences or holidays that really stand out in my memory and must admit that there is mostly an aman involved when I consider my such memories. I have stayed and had a great time in many other lux hotels but for the life long memories nothing compares to amans, even if I can also ad,it that they are not always perfect all the time.

Fully agree. It seems to me that almost by definition immersion is luxury will insulate one from anything inclined to be life changing. After all most people change only when under stress - precisely what we seek to avoid in luxury hotels!

Although I suppose I have had some travel experiences that have been very mildly life changing - in small ways like challenging my values, preconceptions and prejudices or providing moments of sublime beauty, for example - I can't think of one where it was the hotel itself that was the catalyst. And the more luxurious the hotel the less I expect it to be possible.


I guess I can only agree up to this point.

- Live changing was our first stay at Begawan Giri (now Como Shambala Estate) at Bali, as well as our first stay at Amanjiwo. They both changed our perspectives on life, on speed, on traveling, on culture.

- Mildly live changing were our trips to Laos in and around Amantaka, to Bhutan in and around Amankora - they were totally impressing indeed, and only less live changing then Begawan Giri and Amanjiwo since they happened chronologically later...

- Also live changing was our China-trip from great Park Hyatt Shanghai to unrivalled Amanfayun and to majestic Aman at Summer Palace, because it changed our perspective on China in many aspects: the impressive view on economic power, the much-better-than-expected tastes of food, the impressing historic insights by our guides, the culture, the mentality and the state of civilization in China - which was sadly in parts changed to the worse later by the events around the barbaric and totally unnecessary imprisonments of artists and intellectuals like Ai Wei Wei, Liu Xiabao, Liu Xianbin and Qin Yongmin.

aman summer palace allows access to summer palace when it is closed to public

while the kempinski great wall may not have great service, one of the villas is a 10 min walk to great wall

rates include private excursions >
- amansara
- dar ahlam
- awasi

rates include private excursions across multiple locations >
- amankora (with 7 night stay, 5 properties with a 6th coming)
+ lots of african properties

If you don't me asking, what are the other 2 passions?

What about a trip to like an African safari lodge or even to a place like the FS Golden Tent camp?

wow. la residence has unpublished villas now. 6 from $1300. with pool from $2200. no info or tariff on website. africa house at malewane has tariff on website, but no info. google will get you details. best site i see for villas >
http://www.capeportfolios.com/index....id=cp09964&k=1

Completely agree with this statement. The one trip to Tokyo that I had which changed my life forever also involved a crappy Sheraton in Yokohama. It most certainly wasn't the hotel that played a role directly, but I'll never forget that trip for so very many reasons. Challenging values and preconceptions of your live and others is what it's all about. I find though that there are often more opportunities for this if one puts themselves in places where these situations are more likely to occur. That doesn't necessarily mean a luxury property, but travel to exotic destinations seems to trigger more opportunities for life changing events, even if they are only in your mind.. and soul.

Life changing experiences for me have more revolved around who i have met, rather than where i have been

I have had life changing experiences in hotels, many of them

but did you meet interesting people?

who you meet can clearly "skew" when you are staying in very targeted properties whether hostels or business hotels.
i think thats where many of us start. OTOH along the lines of your later reference to capetown excursions, Groombridge made aman new delhi excursions sound amazing.

aman - vuittonsofstyle, deer, FlyerEC, (Musken?)
FS golden triangle - lb8001, (MikeLaw?, adamak?)
amanjiwo - (bhrubin?, zigzag?, Fliar?)
CSE - deer
africa - aesla11

aman is not about insulation. their (cultural) guides are part of the concept.

it seems there is a questioning of authenticity when it comes to luxury. perhaps thats one of the things coming up in this discussion as well. however, this is absolutely one of the biggest trends in the highest end bespoke travel - authenticity. and experiential. and group (family/friends).

agree with Cheetah_SA and ainternational re changing preconceptions, but not sure that always requires "stress" as Cheetah_SA put it, even if very little stress. (mental argument etc) sometimes there are just epiphanies.

Fair point.^