The food is exceptional at COMO Shambhala but I do not get on with the accommodation unless you take an entire 4-bedroom Villa. Otherwise, there are privacy issues with the shared pools. Don't forget that this resort was originally built as private villas, so it remains quite disconnected layout-wise.

Pausanias, didnt you say you like aman, and how are your expedition cruises different?

culture is a huge part of aman, discussed constantly
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxur...ch-2013-a.html

Yes, I like Amanresorts and I may be one of the founder members of the Amanjunkie club - Amanpuri in 1989 and Amandari in 1989 or 1990 etc, plus 8 or 9 others since with several repeat visits. The last were Amantaka and Amansara two years ago. By the way, I really dislike people abbreviating the hotels to Puri, Jiwo etc: that isn't the Aman way. I dislike that as much as people putting the definitive article before the hotel,for instance, 'We stayed at The Amanpulo.' Ugh . . .

Anyway, as I get older and even more widely travelled (a modest 140-odd countries now), I find expedition cruising the most convenient way to get seriously off the track. The hotel goes with you. You don't need a harbour or even a jetty. You get ashore by zodiac. You have maybe 100 like minded souls with you - and that's a crucial difference. At an Amanresort, or any hotel really, you rarely have a conversation with much less share a dinner with other guests. On these ships your travelling companions are part of the experience. And then there are the places you get to visit. In the past few years I've been to so many places without an airstrip, without a hotel - Pitcairn, Henderson Island, St Helena, Tristan da Cunha, innumerable islands in Vanuatu, the Solomons, PNG etc.

I find this terribly exciting - but it is also true that I often end these trips with 3 or 4 days at an Amanresort or somewhere like the Four Seasons Hong Kong where I'll be at the end of my next expedition trip which sails from Auckland to Bali via Norfolk Island, Isle of Pines (my all-time fave tropical island), Vanuatu, Solomons, PNG, West Papua, Bandas, Rinca. I've done this route before and it's stunning and I'm looking forward to two ***Michelin dinners at the end of it all.

A pet peeve I share, though perhaps I'm not as strongly averse to it.

I'm no linguistics expert, but: such truncations take the "peaceful" out of the name ("I stayed at Hill, then went to Soul"-- it sounds like a bloody W!) and eliminate the verbal cue that orients the word in your brain by attaching it to the brand and experience.

I abbreviate only when referencing multiple properties in posts on FT, or in other informal written communication. In such cases I always use an apostrophe to replace the Aman prefix. I think this is acceptable because it would be cumbersome to write out the full names of many properties in a list, and I view this as no different form other common abbreviations such as FS for Four Seasons, etc.

'The Amanpulo' is simply incorrect, as the is not part of its name. In some cases however, I find it acceptable to use the before the name of an hotel. If referring generally to a Four Seasons hotel, I will say 'I stayed at the Four Seasons' (omitting the location). Another case when I will use the is when a name does include the in a foreign language. For example, I might refer to Le Meurice as 'The Meurice' when speaking English.

Particularly on an internet forum, abbreviation is perfectly acceptable if not used excessively or in an awkward manner. Critiquing another poster's writing style is in poor taste, and that I dislike.

That's probably enough linguistic analysis for this thread. Let's all silently say "Aman," uh, "Amen," and then return to the topic.

RichardInSF, moderator, luxury hotels

No kidding

Just being a pedant.

I suppose I only abbreviate the names in very informal situations, or when posting here on FT (though those might be one and the same).

But, saying this is "not the Aman way" seems a touch much, no?

Back to the topic at hand, I think we ought to have one, big Bali thread. How many different ones do we need? Too, while it's lovely, as 'Sanias (just teasing!) points out, there is much, MUCH more to Indonesia.

It's a great point to consider (and it might well be a great candidate for the wiki thread feature just added if I had the slightest clue how to do one) but it's still not the topic at hand here! Please, let's try to stick to the OP's question.

Fyi, the abbrevation discussion is being continued in the presidential suite thread.

individual threads can be specific

there is also the aman thread