Many junkies stay at the various Indo Amans but when in Ubud skip Dari in favour of other non-Aman options (including FS Sayan).

This is according to Aman management.

That is an odd thing for Aman management to say - even if it's true! I wonder where the Junkies go other than FS Sayan. Hanging Gardens? Viceroy? Como Shambala Estate? Chedi Club? And why? Each to their own I suppose!

Chedi Club
Mandapa
FS Sayan

COMO Shambhala Estate
Viceroy
Hanging Gardens

Cheaper still:
Uma by COMO
Kayumanis Ubud
Any of the Komaneka
Alila Ubud

Remember, not every Amanjunkie has an unlimited budget. Many of the above can be several notches lower both in quality and in price than Amandari - and while it is a beautiful, and as a result, underrated, resort, if I were faced with a similar choice, I'd make the exact same change and keep Amanusa/Amanjiwo/Amankila, but swap out Amandari for something else.

That dovetails with reports on this forum as well. I, however, wouldn�t consider staying elsewhere. FS Sayan�s design is totally unappealing to me, and I absolutely love Peter Muller designed resorts.

In which case , just skip the Ubud stay as I mentioned a few times on various threads & make day trips instead ! Some do not belong here ( forum or thread ) ..
Stay at Kila or even Nusa .
We often pop by Dari for a meal transferring & doing our ( in ) Ubud " errands " between the 2 .
Or a pleasant evening drive from Kila to one of the restaurants in Ubud like Mosaic

Thinking about giving FS Sayan a try next weekend.

Anyone got a recommendation for an FSPP or Virtuoso agent who might be able to pre-confirm an upgrade from One Bedroom Duplex Suite to One Bedroom Pool Villa (which seems to be the next category?)

Weighing up Chedi Club (about USD$440 inc taxes for a pool villa) vs FS (USD$685 inc taxes for base category)... hrmmm tough call, much prefer the jungle feel of Sayan but Chedi seems like a bargain and everyone seems to rave about it.

I would try contacting directly the hotel and asking for it -- In the past I've secured guaranteed upgrades at FS Sayan just by asking and then booking direct.

I'm a big fan of FS Sayan but you really need to book a villa room category at least (as you are considering).

You might want to consider the fact that Mandapa is very family oriented so Aman will be better for a couple's retreat and the usual privacy, making you feel like you are the only one Aman touch which I don't think mandapa has (larger more mass and kids focused)

Agree! The vides from Amanjiwo are fabulous and it was my first Aman (currently at 9) and got me hooked. You might want to devote it 2 days.

Also +1 to Amanwana in Moyo island for something truly exclusive and you could ditch Bali all together

Or consider Nihi Sumba, Best hotel in the world last 2 years by T+L though I found it lacking in service big time

I still really struggle to see the appeal in Bali Amans given the alternatives available. There are some absolutely spectacular private villas which can be had for a fraction of the price of an entry level room at Kila. The private villa service is as good as I've ever encountered anywhere in the world.

I stayed in one particular villa a year or so ago and was completely blown away: 33m swimming pool overlooking a deserted beach, fresh lobsters caught for us by the staff, suckling pig banquet with singers and dancers, a private cinema and gym, driver, chef etc. All for $550 a night for 3 bedrooms!

REVIEW � Villa Bulung Daya, Tabanan (Bali)

Have any of you gone down both the private villa and Aman route, in Bali?
If so, what do you feel that Aman offers beyond the private villa experience to justify the premium?


To be clear I'm not against Amans in general and very much see the appeal in certain locations. I'm booked into Amanoi and Sveti Stefan next year. Both of those are in unique locations without much in the way of comparable alternatives. In Bali the competition is a lot tougher.

To answer your question, Amankila was my favorite hotel stay ever.

I wake up in the morning and go to the gym that was privately booked for me for an hour. Then I go shower, and head for breakfast where my server knows what I want to eat and brings me my favorite shake.

After breakfast, I head back to my room where my bathing suit is laid our for me and my wife, and we get dressed and head down to the beach. When we get to the beach, our Bale is prepared, our sun chairs are laid out with the correct amount of towels, and two SUP's are ready for us to take out. We spend our morning on the beach, in the ocean, with our drinks in hand and a bale when we want shade.

At lunch, we head to the volleyball court on the giant grounds and hit some balls, and then we play around on the outdoor gym for 30 minutes while we hear the ocean waves crash. We then go sit down to our prepared table at the beach side restaurant and have a huge menu to choose from.

After lunch, our favorite chairs are waiting for us by the beachside lap pool, where we enjoy swimming laps and lazing around with beers in hand.

Around 3PM, we head up to the famous 3 tiered pool, where somehow they know we are on our way and already have a Bale and beach chairs prepared for us, with water just the way we like it (1 lime 1 lemon). We order cocktails from an extensive cocktail menu, and go pick out a magazine from the massive and well stocked library to read for the afternoon.

We head back to our room to have a nap on our outdoor bed, which has been prepared for us with pillows and a sheet over the cushions.

After our nap, we have a shower and head back to one of the few restaurants for drinks and dinner. Or we head to Amankila's private Bale up in the hills and have charcuterie and martinis. Or we head down to the beach and have a private dinner with the beach to ourselves.

There is just so much choice at Amankila. Between the upper pool, the lower pool, the grounds, the beach, and then different restaurants, a great and extensive food and cocktail menu, and 30 staff doting on you, it really can't compare to a private villa.

This makes me want to extend my planned stay here - 4 nights doesn't seem like enough!

+1

To add to that, I think villas can make sense for groups or families where you need extra bedrooms. Most luxury villas in Bali were 2-3+ bedrooms for a similar price as something like Kila. I don�t need the extra space so why bother risking it with a generally unknown villa owner when I can have aman for similar prices? I like researching where to stay but I found private villas were a bit tough to weed out the mediocre from the truly amazing in Bali

I've had this discussion on here before - there are, of course, spectacular private villas. Both in hard product and in service. Some, such as Iniala (villa resort rather than single private villa, but point stands) seem to go above and beyond anything others can offer (I haven't stayed there, just from reports from this forum).

On the other hand, it can also go so sour, so quickly (see DSI's report of Ani Villas in Anguilla, a brand which was previously praised to high heaven - something which is very and most unlikely to happen with somewhere like Aman. Regardless of thoughts on old vs new onwership and whether the brand has lost its 'soul', Aman has managed to maintain a fairly good level of consistency in delivering its product and service).

That's before you even get to the general inconsistency of villas - because it is so entirely dependent on owner+villa manager, you really need to pick these out very carefully with a lot of research - which, for me, goes way beyond looking at TripAdvisor etc.

I just stayed at a 4-bedroom villa (20,000+ sq ft, 20m private pool) in Phuket. In description, I could easily write that it was much the same as your villa in Bali - it had a private cinema, a sizeable back garden, private BBQ and the works. In reality, it was absolutely wretched, one of the worst places I've ever been to and stayed at, and it was entirely down to the villa manager. However, I have no faith in the brand (of villas) as a whole because you're only as strong as your weakest link. As a result, I have no real intention of ever going back to any of their properties. Bear in mind this was a complimentary stay - I dread to imagine how they treat their paid guests! On the other hand, something like Treville in Phuket I can imagine being highly rated.

Even on the point of Phuket, even Phuket has some absolutely stunning private villas. I'd much rather go to Amanpuri personally.

Of course there are other things to consider - how many bedrooms do you need, budget etc. Villas can work out great for larger families and groups (Aman has their own villas too, at several times the price - so in the end it's a question of budget).

That's before you get to the overall discussion of villa vs resort/hotel - where you have more communal and general facilities, more dining options etc. In the end though, that's a preferential thing. Some generally speaking prefer one over the other.

But Bali Amans, Bali Amans are a whole different category. I think some of the others have already expressed why - I'll start by saying that it's the decor, the design. It's absolutely timeless. Then it's the locations (bear in mind these are old resorts - when not much was around in Bali. Some still retain their charm - Amankila, others such as Amandari and Amanusa have seen much grow around them). Ideally, rather than considering them as singular resorts, especially on a first trip - I'd highly recommend doing all three on a circuit. But what really makes it, and I will summarise it, it's the staff. Many have been at the respective resort since its inception, going back more than two decades.

Writing this from Amankila�originally was supposedly to still be at Amandari, but glad we made the switch. Granted, we made the decision to shorten Dari when we were at Jiwo, but I don�t think we would have lasted at Dari for longer than the two nights we were there.

Main impression was that the staff was just going through the motions and seemed kind of burned out and dejected. This could be because they only had 4 rooms occupied when we arrived, which is disappointing for any property. A lot of little things were just bothersome: with only four rooms, why were we constantly asked our room number? Hasn�t happened once at Kila. During afternoon tea, the staff were just talking amongst themselves and we had to seek out their attention. Despite asking them in advance for water, they failed to prepare any in the car for my hike up Mt Batur. They decided my wife is pregnant (which she�s not�I think), so the rafting company wouldn�t let her go at first. (I actually thought this was pretty funny). Most importantly, they just didn�t look that happy.

These are are small things but not something I expect from Amans. Yes, Jan and the rest of the GMs are gone for a meeting in Puri, but that shouldn�t be an excuse.