hubertus ..

haha.......i must not write these replies in too much of a hurry.

what i had meant to say was this :

the komodo expedition is something created by aman wana [ i ithink ] .......and yacht operators...a joint thing........the silonona is not - at least to my knowledge "manged " by AMAN.........its independent but works closely with AMAN....but has the spirit of Aman.

there was another yacht operator before the SIlonona ...with a similar yacht called Ikan Gurami. .......


there is also another yacht in PHUKET which is similarly fitted out like SIlonona...by ed tuttle ....but less luxurious.....cant remeber the name of that boat.

anyhow thx for info Hubertus

Bearbrick... maybe it's just my English that su**s
I expected the trip to be run by Amans since it was part of a package which included also the last three days in Amanwana and there was an Aman-guy on the boat who joined us for the whole trip (he was not the captain of the boat but he was taking care of the hosts).

This is exciting news. We'll be in India visiting Aman-i-Khas and Amanbagh in December/January. Right now we're booked into the Imperial but this sounds great. Any guesses as to when they'll start taking reservations?

Also curious about the resort's location on the "edge of New Delhi." How far off the beaten path is this? Will we be able to enjoy the city from this location, or would we be stuck on the outskirts limiting ourselves to the nearby monuments and whatever the property itself has to offer?

We are going to Amangalla and Amanwella in late february. Just curious if anybody here has stayed there in recent months, most reviews here are rather old.

Thanks

Michael

Sorry I was there last February so don't know if I can be of any help. Amangalla was great, rooms, service, pool, and food. You can see the Fort and what its all about in one day so.... Check out Geoffrey Bawa's Home for a great side trip close to the Fort. Forget the white tea estate and head to Tea Trails for a great experience. As much as we loved Amangalla...Amanwella just was not great. The rooms just did'nt work and if your right on the beach the folks in back of you will be looking right down on you while your shaving in your bathroom. Public areas where great just nothing to eat when you walked down to the beach club, and the beach is unswimable except for a 100 foot area that you and the other 3 guest will be using. Remeber it takes for ever to get anywhere from here and you won't want to leave the property yet there is little to keep you occupied. Hope your don't like the AC really cold in your room, we slept on towels so we would not soak the bed as it was so hot in the room. Believe me I wanted to love this place.

zigzag, thanks.

I also read your prior comments about Amanwella and at least it begs the question, what were they thinking. Still, the AC and the pool don't bother me that much. As far as privacy is concerned, would you advise to take a suite further up the hillside?

Overall I have to say I am really impressed by the pictures I have seen, esp. the public places at Amanwella, so I think I will try it, but taking your views into consideration I will adjust my expectations. The reduced rates obviously are key. My dream trip right now would we the one you did to Amankora and Amanbagh, but it it much more expensive and Bhutan is way too cold for me in late feb.

Thanks

Well I think the resort will not be full so I would take a chance and see if you get upgraded to a ocean front suite when booking a hillside suite. There are new GM's so maybe F&B will have more of a selection but with the current situation in Sri Lanka I doubt it. Get in and out of the airport quickly and take notice of the fox holes around the runway with the little men inside, their machine guns pointed at you as you taxi down the runway. I felt safe last year while there but they did close down Amangalla when the Tamil Tigers launched a attack on the navy in Galle Harbor, it really felt like a war then.

Dear Pickles,

Thank you for your respond. We had already been to Amanwana, but in some stage we would love to experience the boat. This year we decided to go for the Four Seasons Explorer, because of the time we are travelling, but hopefully can make it next year.

Many regards,
Luxusbibi

As promised, I posted a few pictures in the following link

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22891173@N05/

I realised that lots of pics of the boat interiors included shots of the guests so I am not comfortable publishing them without their consent. I have many other pics which I took with a non-digital camera and even some I took underwater. As soon as I have a little bit of time I will try to publish a scanned version of it.

hubertus
those are great pics........thanks !.......both amanwana and silonona does look very enticing indeed.........

The Aman Delhi, as it will be known, was created out of the old Lodi Hotel, which is on the opposite side of the golf course from The Oberoi new Delhi, so in a good position.
The hotel was meant to open end of 2007, but they forgot to get a couple of permits, so it is now delayed until sep 2008. It looks amazing - private pools suspended on balconies etc.

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/N...cle/index_html

A RM200 million six-star resort will be built on Pulau Besar in the heart of the world-famous Belum forest. The resort, to be built on a 2,000ha site, will be developed by Belum Island Resorts Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of the CRSC Group, into an eco-tourism attraction and island resort.

Located 200km from Ipoh, the project will be divided into four phases and it starts with construction of a RM60 million hotel covering an area of 400ha. The resort will be jointly built by Belum Island Resorts Sdn Bhd and resort operator, Aman Resorts.

Today, a memorandum of understanding was signed between CRSC Holdings Bhd's deputy chairman Datuk Lawrence Low and Aman Resorts's executive director Greg Sirois here. The ceremony was witnessed by Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Tajol Rosli Ghazali and Belum Island Resorts Sdn Bhd chairman Datuk Mohd Yusoff Kassim.

Speaking to reporters later, Sirois said the company would be careful when developing the area to preserve the environment. "In the tourism industry, it is important that we only leave footprints behind and as such, our approach has to be different in order to preserve the natural surroundings," he said.

Sirois said the resort would limit the number of rooms to between 20 and 24. The rooms would be unique and blend in with the surroundings.

The Belum Valley houses 274 species of birds, including the Plain Pouched Hornbills, 14 globally threatened mammals including the Malayan tigers and tapirs, Sumatran rhinoceros, Asiatic elephants and white gibbons. It also boasts of having 23 species of fresh water fish and terrapins.

very interesting.. hope the developer is a good one.

http://www.btimes.com.my/Thursday/Latest/20080131164552

Silly question but where exactly is this? I know where Ipoh is but where is Pulau (island, right?) Besar? Google tells me there are two, one off Malacca and one of f Mersing but they're not 200kms from Ipoh.

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story...9&sec=business

According to this article, this Pulau Besar must be an island in Tasik Temenggor, which is the largest man-made lake (15,200 hectares) in Peark and is north of Ipoh toward Thai border.