Amangiri (Utah)

As promised here is our review after our stay this month. We booked the Terrace Suite through Amex and received the free breakfast, room upgrade, 2 spa treatments and a free dinner for 2.5.

The resort is 15 minutes from Page, AZ just shortly after the Utah state line. It is nestled on 600 acres of stunning desert and canyon land which was federal land until sold under the previous US administration. Drive from LV is about 4 hours. The road is signposted, there also is a Amangiri sign which is a lot harder to spot.

We arrived at the gate after dark and you need to drive for about 3-5 minutes on the property before you get to the resort. The drive is very scenic and the resort is invisible until you are almost at the main entrance. A welcoming party was right there to support us with our luggage and we were given a hot drink and hot towels as a welcome. In summer this would be a cold drink and cold towels of course.



Main entrance to the resort

The main resort building houses many communal resort facilities. The restaurant, reception, library, fireplaces and casual sitting areas are all arranged in a giant open plan room with views on one side and the pool on the other side.



View from the library area to the open kitchen



Library area



Sitting area at fire place with views

The kitchen is open and you can sit right at the counter "bar style" and watch the chef prepare your meal or use one of the tables facing the pool. This being Utah, there is no "proper" bar.
There is also a private dining room which can be useful when traveling with a larger family or if privacy is needed.

From the main building, two wings reach out into the desert: The desert wing is from the entrance to the left and has a very enclosed, castle like feel (suits 1-18 IIRC). The spa wing is at the other end of the communal building and is a lot more open. The difference is quite striking.



Desert wing. Note the water features on the wall.



Spa wing. Spa lies ahead, pool and communal building to the right.

The architecture uses brutal straight lines and use of concrete but softens the effect by the use of natural grinded stone in the concrete mix and by a clever resort layout which hugs the surrounding hills and features. Everything has been designed to provide shelter from the harsh environment while connecting you to the outdoors through carefully framed views.

We had reserved the one Terrace Suite but got upgraded to a pool suite. One thing to note is that the interior ofallsuites is virtually identical. The difference lies only in the view and in the outdoor areas. The Terrace Suite for example doesn't have a nice few but the actual outdoor terrace is larger than at the standard suites.



Typical Main Bedroom



Terrace Suite terrace



Typical Bathroom



The bathroom has dual shower heads and a bathtub. The toilet is separated from the suite by a rustic sliding door which does't provide much level of privacy.

The pool suite we used had a private heated plunge pool at the front of the suite and a private stargazing deck reachable from our courtyard.

Suites have original Eco Smart fireplaces on the terrace which provides a great touch at night or during sunset. Each suite features a mini bar but again, this being Utah you will not find alcohol in them. You can get alcohol delivered to your room however.

One thing which might interest many here is that both the Amangiri and Girijaala suites are just studio suites like all the other ones. The interior is almost identical. The main difference lies in the outdoor areas.

Amangiri Suite Bathroom. Note that showers and bathtub are located in separate interconnecting rooms rather than in one room like in the other suites.



Amangiri Suite Pool



Amangiri Suite outdoor area

Suites in the desert wing (like the Amangiri Suite) are closer to the driveway of the resort building so you might be subject to car noise. There is an employee shuttle running constantly between the main building and the service building 3 minutes drive away.

A huge heated outdoor pool sits between the main building and a rock cliff. There also is a hot tub in the vicinity and an area which can be used for story telling (it is the only area of the hotel incorporating native designs into the resort).



Main pool



More main pool

The Spa building (which also houses the gym) can only be described as amazing (sorry, no pictures). On more than 2000m2 you find a collection of treatment rooms, yoga rooms (underfloor heating), saunas, pools and almost anything you could wish for. A flotation room is under construction. The Spa area alone has the size of a small boutique hotel.

Service was always friendly and courteous. The staff was always trying to engage in a conversation with us which made the experience very personal. Many of the were bored as there were only 2 suites occupied during some times of our stay.



Sitting area near the main building

Staff is a mixture of Aman veterans with experiences at many other properties, former FS employees and people straight out of Uni.

The quality of the food was good, without being really outstanding. The menu is okay but doesn't make use of many local flavours. We had quite a few service issues with our meals ranging from wrong drinks being served to special food requests ("hard boiled egg") not being executed correctly. Service was also slow which makes me wonder how they will cope when the resort is full.

There is (almost) no parking at the resort. If you arrive by car, then your vehicle will be valet parked at the service building about 3 minutes drive away. If you need your car you need to give enough notice.

The outdoor company which organizes many activities currently has their HQ at a log cabin up the hill from the resort, 3 minutes drive away (near the service building) but is said to move to the main building in the near future.



Spa wing suites.

Amangiri is well suited for children with staff providing friendly service and the library, restaurant and other parts of the resort have been designed with kids in mind. Teenagers might find it a bit boring potentially.

Some of you might wonder what the status of the Amangiri villas is. While we were there, ground was broken for a display villa which will be completed later next year, maybe even 2011.
The location of the other villas can already be seen when driving to the resort as a small wooden frame has been build at each location to give potential buyers a chance to imagine their position.

Most villas will be a short drive away from the main building (how will they handle parking then?) and are between the main gate and the resort. The villas will not be visible from the resort and vv as a small hill blocks the view between the two parts of the land.



Plan of the resort area

Any questions, please shout.