Mini-Trip Report Amangiri 4 night stay April 2015

My husband and I, along with a neighbor, just returned from a 4 night escape to Amangiri to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. It was our 1st stay at Amangiri and 9th stay at an Aman property. While Amangiri isn't perfect, we absolutely loved our stay.

Amangiri Resort

The drive from PGA to Amangiri was just 20-25 min. Very easy.

The resort is as stunning as the photos and descriptions suggest.





We had suite 28: a Mesa View Suite ($1700 daily rate). Our view:




Monument Valley excursion through Westwind Air Service

It had been a lifelong dream to visit Monument Valley, so this was the high priority excursion for me on the trip.

The Aman fixed wing flight/tour of Monument Valley was around $3500--which as everyone knows is a rip.

Instead, we went independently through Westwind Air Service for a mere $299 per person.

Originally we booked for 4 of us, but since our friend's husband was unable to come at the last minute, it was just the 3 of us. Westwind ordinarily organizes such trips for up to 9 passengers, but we indicated our preference for our own private excursion if at all possible since it was our anniversary. Westwind managed to give us our own private excursion for just the 3 of us--for a bargain basement rate, if you ask me. What a deal.

We flew 45 min from PGA to Monument Valley, flying largely over the Glen Canyon Dam, Lake Powell, Horseshoe Gorge, Rainbow Bridge, and other sites along the way that our pilot, Eric, thought we might enjoy. It only took 30 min to fly back. Sorry, no photos of the Lake Powell flight as I could've cared less--though it was lovely. But here is a photo of the Glen Canyon Dam:

Be prepared: I'm handsy with my girlfriends. The perks of being a gay man. My apologies in advance for the more appropriate FTers.



The shot of our trip, IMO:

Some other shots:

Our pilot, Eric, was hilarious--we loved him. The fact he was pretty cute didn't hurt, either. He rolled with us very well; we even invited him to join us on our vehicle tour through the park, though I had to mess with him:



We would use Westwind again in a heartbeat on future trips to Amangiri to visit the Grand Canyon, Sedona, etc. It was extremely reasonable, professional, and safe. We highly recommend Eric, too. (And he is straight, ladies, despite my best efforts to convert him.)

Eric even heard we were back at PGA for our return flight home, and he drove out to say good-bye. He is so cute. That's a snickers I'm trying to swallow, FWIW. (Get your minds out of the gutter!)




Three Canyon Slot Canyon Tour through Amangiri

Even though we knew the Amangiri rates for the slot canyons and other tours were pricey, we decided to keep things simple and use Amangiri to organize our Slot Canyon Tour. Comments here on FT also contributed to our choice to do so, and that turned out to be wise. While it is more expensive, the guide really managed to keep us away from the crowds in Upper Antelope Canyon (and boy did it get crowded towards the end) and we also enjoyed the 2 private slot canyons that only Amangiri guests can visit. This tour cost the 3 of us $850.

That being said, Upper Antelope Canyon was by FAR the most interesting to us. If you can visit on your own when crowds are thin, you will save a ton of money by just borrowing the Aman BMW for up to 4 hrs or using your own car.

We were scheduled to depart at 8:30 am but moved that back to 9:30 am so we could sleep in a bit. Even so, it was a bit crowded at Upper Antelope Canyon. Still, our guide managed us very well and managed to get us some private moments at a number of spots inside. The Upper Antelope Canyon portion took us about 45 min, partly because we pushed to get out once the crowds became crazy.

Upper Antelope Canyon:

Private Slot Canyons:



A Navajo Owl in a private slot wall:




Horseback ride through Amangiri

We decided to do the horseback ride around the Amangiri property while we were there--partly because of some comments herein by fellow FTers. I almost decided against it, but I am very happy that we did it. We had a blast. This tour cost us $900. Obviously, you can do this off-property through other outfits for MUCH less. When we return, we plan to do some off-site horseback riding through other outfits--partly because of price, and partly because there are rides with even better scenery.

Dale and his son were wonderful guides--classic cowboys. The horses were wonderful, too--we trotted and rode gently for part of the tour, and even cantered around at some decent speeds, too, including the race with my husband back to the front of the resort. (We're both type A and competitive.) I'm paying for that today, as I'm flat on my back today!


Amangiri Spa

I am the one gay man who simply doesn't get spas. The whole thing is lost on me. But my husband and our girlfriend made good use of the spa. We used our Virtuoso benefit to get them both free scalp/head massages, and they even discounted their other treatments since I didn't use my free massage and our girlfriend's husband wasn't able to even come with us. Both my husband and girlfriend loved their treatments--except for the "floating in water" treatment that gave my girlfriend a rash of some kind. Perhaps she was just too high strung.

That being said, both my husband and girlfriend were frustrated with the spa layout and design. They had never been to a spa with coed changing rooms, and that bothered them both--they couldn't relax naked pre- or post-treatment, and that was something they whined about a lot. I did tour the spa with them, and I agree that it seemed a bit disjointed and closed off, with small spaces instead of the soaring/open feels that so many top spas seem to showcase today. Considering how new the property is, this spa design seemed at odds with the incredibly well designed property in all other respects.


Service flubs/areas for improvement

Food and beverage is still the place where the resort can most improve--if nothing else, to improve consistency and perhaps get a bit more polish on meal service. That being said, we were pretty pleased. We aren't looking for a Michelin dining experience in rural Utah, yet our special anniversary dinner (which was included as part of our rate at no extra charge at all) was easily a Michelin 1 star quality level of meal. The resort clearly is taking steps to improve its F&B.

We stayed 4 nights, so we didn't often repeat menu items, actually. But for anyone staying longer, the menu will get repetitive very fast. We heard that most guests stay only 1-2 nights on average, so that likely isn't an issue for most. For us, the 4 night stay was PERFECT.

Wifi is not great. I suspect being in such a remote area puts Amangiri at a disadvantage here, as it's at the mercy of the ISP. But it would be nice if Amangiri could find a means to improve wifi speed.

Our bill at the end was a bit of a mess. A cornerstone of Aman service is knowing its guests and not requiring anyone to sign for any alcohol/drinks, etc. Yet there were a number of mistakes on our bill--accidentally being charged for mineral water (which is now comp'd as part of the board), accidentally being charged for drinks that actually were our friend's, accidentally being charged for double servings of alcohol when I wasn't advised that was the case (twice), and being charged for a glass of Tokaj wine for our anniversary dinner that we hadn't ordered or been advised would be added to our bill. They remedied these all in short order, to be fair, but those are errors that never should occur in any Aman.

 

We liked our suite. It was just after the point where the building slightly angles, resulting in the remote possibility where sitting on our terrace could permit you to see someone sitting on the terrace of Suite 27. It did happen once, but otherwise we never saw anyone. (We did hear another couple further down in Suite 30+ or so clearly having sex, since they must have left their door open, which was hilarious.)

Suite 28 was literally across from the entry to the Spa, which was convenient for my husband. Our girlfriend was in Suite 31 just a few down from us (with essentially the same view). I can understand why some complain that the Desert View Suites are a bit distant if you want to reach the Spa, since you'd have the walk through the whole Desert wing, through the main building, and then through the Mesa wing to reach the Spa. On the other hand, I don't understand the complaints about people walking through the main building/restaurant in pool wear to get back to their suites; it wasn't an issue at all for us, and it seems a nonsensical issue IMO. You're at a resort in the middle of nowhere; this isn't an urban oasis resort where stuffy should rule. Relax, people.

The suite was beautifully designed otherwise. We had plenty of room and plugs, great lighting, etc.




 

Food and Beverage

Generally, we found F&B to be good to excellent. As many herein have commented, the service is incredibly friendly and enthusiastic but not as polished as you might expect for a property this pricey. We found most servers to be reasonably new to the property--there just a few months or so--and that showed a bit in the lack of polish. We had to ask a second time for a few things, the silverware wasn't laid out exactly right once or twice, etc. But overall, considering the remoteness of the location, we found service to be generally of a good standard.

The biggest issue we had with F&B was consistency in meal quality. For our lunch after arrival, I had a Humboldt Fog salad that was amazingly good. On our final dinner, the same salad wasn't nearly as good. For my first breakfast, the French toast was incredibly good--I almost ordered a second! But the next 2 mornings, the French toast wasn't as good--the carmelized sauce not being as plentiful or as textured (despite asking for more in hope that it might improve). For my final morning, I didn't even bother to order it. (To be fair, my husband loved it every time.)

That being said, we generally were very pleased with our food quality. Our lunches and dinners often found us loving our appetizers/salads/soups and desserts, while being a bit nonplussed with some of our entrees. Yet overall, we were very pleased. The handmade ice creams are incredible--I was begging the pastry chef to make more banana gelato, which was insanely good--the best I'd ever had--and the coffee ice cream was among the best we've ever had.

We had brought a wine suitcase with 6 bottles of our own wine. Corkage is $25, which is quite reasonable, but the Aman service charge brings that really to $31, FYI. Slight bait and switch, if you ask me.


AMAZING anniversary dinner in private dining room

The F&B for our 5th anniversary dinner, however, was OUTSTANDING. We loved it. I had communicated before arrival with the GM Christophe to give him and Aaron, the head chef, some guidance--but without specifically asking for anything so that I would also be surprised. Needless to say, they outdid themselves. They knew in advance what wines we had brought, and they paired the meal extremely well to our 2009 Aubert Pinot Noir UV-SL and 2005 Harlan Estate.

Outstanding location. Truly unlike anywhere else we've ever stayed. 

LAX-IGM-PGA via Great Lakes Airlines

Flying Great Lakes was the easiest, cheapest, and most direct way for us to get to Amangiri (PGA Page/AZ) using commercial flights. Our roundtrip tickets cost just $238 per person! Great Lakes flies a Beechcraft 1900D from LAX-IGM/Kingman-PGA, though we heard on our return flight that Great Lakes is planning to end its service to LAX in about a month. (That will make return trips to Amangiri more challenging, forcing us to fly United through Denver or American through Phoenix to connect with the Great Lakes flights to PGA.)

Sitting in row 4, you have tons of legroom.



LAX-IGM was just 1 hr 15 min. We made a 4-5 min stop in Kingman, AZ (IGM) to unload one passenger, and then headed onto PGA. IGM-PGA was just 45 min.

The view at PGA:


 

Overall impressions--LOVED IT

While it wasn't perfect, we absolutely LOVED our Amangiri experience. We found GM Christophe to be friendly and responsive, if not always around--but this also was the first time we'd ever been to any Aman at 100% occupancy! There were more children than anticipated, but they barely made a dent in our experience--other than making us want to not bother at the pool. (It was much cooler than expected, so we didn't even bother with the pool, anyway.) Victor, the wine director, was outstanding, and spent a great deal of time checking in with us, making recommendations, and just generally conversing about Amans and wine. The entire staff was incredibly friendly and accommodating, always striving to help and get us what we wanted. While F&B wasn't perfect, it definitely exceeded our expectations--and our anniversary dinner was stupendous.

Amangiri is a gem. It deserves its accolades. For us, it is the easiest Aman to reach, and as such it likely will become a staple visit every 2 years or so to explore more of the exciting Southwest USA. Bryce, Zion, Sedona, the Wave, Arches, and the Grand Canyon are all within easy striking distance of Amangiri, and we plan to take full advantage in the coming years. Kudos! We loved it.