Opx, the weather in august was fine
Lijiang was like a late spring in Tuscany with warm sunny days and occasionally showers.
Ringha is colder (especially in the evening).
Treks are fine especially when you have the chance to meet locals (who are very nice) in places off the beaten track. The hotel guides drive you around with a comfortable jeep. The guide in Lijiang was impossible to understand and sometimes we were so tired about asking to repeat that we pretended do understand even if we didn't. The guide in Ringha was much better.
Treks are easy the only thing is that the altitude is always quite high.
IMO you should ask to do something off the beaten track (the tourists are everywhere). As I said before, Lamayuru and the glacier of the Jade Dragon are impressive. On the other hand, the tiger leaping gorge (which is the daytrip while driving from Lijiang to Ringa was quite disappointing).

I'm thinking of returning to Amanwana next year.
I have been there three times before, but it has been a few years since we visited.
I would be interested in the views of recent visitors. Is the food good? How is service and is it well managed? Are there any new similiar quality places in that region.

Also, I am thinking of including Amandari in the trip. I wonder should I try begawan/como or the Chedi instead Or Ubud hanging gardens. I would love to know any views.

Further, I may include Amanjiwo in our plans but I wouldnt mind adding somewhere else in Java on to our plans. Losari gets mixed reviews on many forums so im not sure about it. The dharmaswangsa looks nice if we need to stay in Jakarta. Anywhere else recommended?

I hope this is of interest to amanjunkies and others.... has anyone had a negative experience with a general manager at an amanresort?

I mean an experience so bad it would put you off going back to that resort even if there was a new manager.

I read a report (I think on this forum) from someone who had an awful experience with managers at Amanpulo.

My bad experience was a few years ago at Amankila (not the current manager I should add). Although it was my second visit to the resort and a regular to the other bali resorts and Amanpuri, when we arrived at about 2am, they had a reservation for that night only and not the four nights I had a confirmation from their office at Amanusa. We arrived overnight via London/singapore/denpasar, road to Kila, arrive 2am, we were told we have to leave by 12pm and we had two pool suites!!! Not much time for r&r!!
I didnt sleep that night and asked to meet the manager next morning.

On our previous visit we stayed at the two bed amankila suite, but this was reserved when i made our reservation so we took two one bed pool suites.

The 'Manager' said that he would sort the problem out and to relax we could move to non pool suites for the next night which we did. I should say, this was over the christmas period and at this stage the manager could not confirm a room for christmas eve and christmas day despite the fact that I reserved two pool suites six months previuosly (we stayed at four seasons Jimbaran for the new year).

The delightful staff moved our luggage to non pool suites ( which annoyed me as it was a special christmas as I was entertaining a good friend and her husband and my friend had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and as it turned out was her last christmas).

The next day the manager avoided me to the point where I was talking to staff at reception asking for the manager and the staff said he wasnt around and I noticed with all the mirrors over the stairs at reception that the manager was standing on the stairs listening and turning to go back down.

The staff (manager didnt come near us) offered to move us to Amandari the next day but didnt have pool suites. We agreed to move.

We packed up and spent the morning by the tiered pools waiting to move at noon or so when a staff member appeared saying two non pool suites had become available (cancellations obviously) and the good news was we could spend christmas at Amankila.

We turned it down and went to Amandari where we had a wonderful Christmas.

That manager is no longer working for Amanresorts and may I say in my experience the Amans have some of the most outstandingly good managers.

pauldublin .... thank you for your forthrght comments and indeed sharp observations of the going ons at some amanresorts....i have had problems with a few managers at some resorts including one who sauntered to join us for a drink and i ended up paying for a drink HE ORDERED !!!... and it was me who had that horrid experience at amanpulo.

i cant imagine a manager who can duck responsibilities and hide from guests whle their staff ...[ who earns a fraction of his pay] is put out there to fend for him .....a disgrace.

for me i have come to the conclusion that ........ i wouldnt want to see any managers ....be it welcoming or sending off .......when i stay at their resort ...if they come say hello during a dinner or drinks .....thats fair enuff ..otherwise the welcomes i have had has been to say the least a waste of precious time.

bearbrick, i presume the Amanpulo manager in question is long gone as well?

the manager[s] are long gawn.....as was the one at amanjena...i am told

This may not be good news for you, but when I was at the Amankora in Paro this past May, the Manager of that lodge was the former GM of the Amanpulo, an older man and woman.

were they of dutch origin ? .... in any case its the resort i am after not to mingle with the Gms.......who are there to make our stay as perfect as possible....

With just 4 Amans under my belt, I am not quite yet up to amanjunkie status; however I am not really convinced by the Aman concept. I love the architecture, there is always a very serene feeling about these places, and personally like to be greeted by the manager. And I must admit, my 1st Aman experience was Amankila, and at the end of the day, Aman like everyone else has good and bad properties. Strangely I can understand this for some brands but not for Aman.

During a recent stay at Amanjena I had a few problems which I feel are unacceptable, but maybe I expect too much from Aman.

Reservations, confirmation arrived for my stay with incorrect arrival date. I reconfirmed with correct dates, no response. I later booked spa and restaurants and received confirmation, so assumed they had taken note of correct dates!

Arrival, the manager on arrival, as with all my other stays asks if I have ever been to an Aman before, I find this insulting, they should know that shouldn't they?

The girl showing us around didn't seem to know that we had restaurant and spa bookings, a little memo recap in the room would have been great, instead of having to go through my papers to find the times etc... I am on holiday. But there I agree I am been difficult, even if others seemed to manage this.

On our last day, I was expecting a pre check-out bill, and confirmation of departure details, I had no idea of our departure time. I was disappointed once again. I had to call reception to check that everything was ok (they had got my dates wrong at reservations). And as if it were perfectly normal, they confirmed check-out time and that a car would be waiting. We arrived at reception to check-out, and I was asked if I had called to have by bags picked up???? Is this an Aman hotel?

Strangely there was no one to see us off.

These little niggles bought back to mind other points:

Spa is really not an Aman speciality so why not get someone else in to do it for them? They rant and rave about the Hamam, which indeed is beautiful but would be even better if hot. Indeed you have to ask to get them to turn the steam on, and get the Jacuzzi going as well. By the time the Hamam is hot (end of its cycle), you have to ask them to turn it on again for you to be able to enjoy it. Same for the Jacuzzi. When you get changed by the lockers you have your feet in the urinals, seriously, and other than the bench by these lookers there is no where to sit down and relax.

Restaurants: The in room menu has very little choice, but the service is very quick and efficient. The main Moroccan restaurant has very little choice again, especially when it comes to local specialities, which we love. We tried two different Tajines and they were bland and very uninteresting. On the other hand, the Thai restaurant was very good, but that was not what I was going to Marrakech for.

Housekeeping, they didn't manage once to clean the room while we were out, although we spent hours at breakfast, and whole afternoons out of the room. Staff in general were rather noisy, a real ballet of trolleys passing back and forth, and staff shouting from one side of the reservoir to the other.

I am a difficult customer to please, but I find that if groups like six senses can do it, Aman should be able to as well. I also recognise that Asian style service cannot be found in Morocco, but I have staid in may places in Marrakech and always found the service excellent.

woops , sorry, here I am ranting and raving. Take no notice, all that just to say I am not convinced. A little back to basics is called for in my opinion.

The men's spa at Amanjena really is disappointing. I also thought the location of the urinals was absolutely bizarre (whose idea was that??), and the tepid Hamam was pointless. I was told that the women's Hamam was very good, though.


We asked them to make things which weren't on the menu (nothing complicated, admittedly), and they made them without problems. We really liked the taste of everything we ate there.

Overall we liked Amanjena a lot, although it certainly can't compare to the Asian properties I've been to. The staff did sometimes seem to be a bit preoccupied with their own conversations, but generally were very charming and helpful (although they didn't manage to call us by our names, which I usually expect at Aman). I would certainly go back if I return to RAK, although it sounds like you had a rather unpleasant time.

Bungus,

some of the mix-ups you describe certainly shouldn't happen. Overall a bit harsh, though I understand that a bad start can color a whole trip. Not so sure about the whole meeting the manager thing, but he should know that you stayed at Amans before.

I can only speak of my own experience at Amanjena last february and maybe I was just in awe of the Ed Tuttle design, but I loved it. I read one of the latest Gallivanter reports in the library of Amanjiwo where they raved about Amanjena and said that it got much better after a recent management change. My stay was with previous management.

I can't comment on the hamam, didn't use it. I would argue though that in general that spa facilities is not Amans strong suit, Banyan Tree and Six Senses are way ahead there.

I think ngfan, my new found alter ego, mentioned in his remarks from Sri Lanka that he was disappointed that there was not so much merchandise to buy and I agree, our home is full with stuff from Banyan Tree and they do a great job there, Aman is surprisingly not so much into that.

On another point you made, we received a preliminary bill the night before our departure, which is indeed helpful, however I didn't get one at Amankila and Amanjiwo.

You don't have this natural kindness like in Bali, but I was very impressed with the Amanjena staff. They have a certain pride about them that really impressed me and were very professional and efficient, light years better than everything else we had in Morocco. On our first day we were asked twice for our room number, but never again after that, and those who we had met earlier called us by our name. It is not like Amankila, but I can't complain. The communication worked flawlessly, we never saw housekeeping and where ever we went, they already expected us. On one day we played golf, we left the pavilion shouldering our golf bags, a staff member saw us and almost tripped while rushing to get our bags. They packed our bags full with bottles of water, which we otherwise would have had to buy at the golf course. Our encounters with staff members were very pleasant and one of them was very eager to improve his German by talking with us.

I have to say that dinner at the main restaurant was wonderful. The whole atmosphere is one of my greatest memories. I loved the African music and our waiter was so unbelievably good, it still amazes me.

It was my wife's birthday and she got a great cake with nice singing from the whole restaurant staff. When we returned to the room , there were candles everywhere, and rose petals in the bath. She really appreciated that.

The only thing I didn't like was the drop-off at the airport, no Aman rep there, our driver organized a porter and that was that, they should improve on that.

P.S. Just in case somebody has not seen it, my trip report incl. Amanjiwo and Amankila is complete and up in a different thread.

Michael

----Arrival, the manager on arrival, as with all my other stays asks if I have ever been to an Aman before, I find this insulting, they should know that shouldn't they?----

I've had this happen before and I usually write it off as 'making conversation'. I believe they often know the answer to the question but it's a nice way to get the guest to feel comfortable and give them something to talk about - especially for the non-manager staff members.

I definitely agree with Ericka, and actually I always felt the question as a matter of starting a conversation.
I would not define the spas as a downside of Amans. The level of service and locations may be different but in my experience it has been always outstanding. On the other hand I experienced in Banyan Tree's spa in Ringha a lack of hygiene (e.g. used slippers which I had to ask to be changed, sheets which didn't seem to be spotless) which is absolutely unacceptable (I could not relax during the whole treatment...).
The shops are not always matching with the same level of quality you would expect from an Aman (I found Amankila's boutique quite uninspired, while in Amanpuri they had amazingly cool jewels and artifacts).
The only significant flaw I have experienced with Amans happened this summer in Amankila where I have found in my room all the letters and welcome correspondence addressed to myself and to my former girlfriend (!). Luckily, the guy who took me to the room understood the point in a second and managed to make the papers disappear before my fianc�e noticed anything...

PHEW !! that was a very close one H .....!!! .......

If by "uninspired" you mean cheap, mass-produced trinkets from the Philippines, I'm grateful to have them. They're all I can afford after an extended stay in a nice Aman suite.