Bali and Beyond 2014 (extensive review of Amandari)

Ever since I had discovered the Luxury Hotels Forum on FT I had wanted to have an Aman experience…I figured that the best place to experience this would be in Indonesia They run a Bali and Beyond package that offers inclusions and some price reductions as well. I knew that I definitely wanted to visit Amanjiwo in Java and Amankila in East Bali but was on the fence about where to stay in Ubud… I considered and reconsidered the FS and the Chedi Club but after much debate, I decided to go all in on Aman and picked Amandari. I worked with DavidO who also endured many many emails as I waffled considerably on the Ubud choice. In the end I stayed strong and stayed Aman…. David and the Aman team helped me though as I continued to master debate about room choice but in the end I settled on a pool suite at Amandari, Ocean Suite at Amankila and Garden Pool suite at Amanjiwo. In addition to the inclusion of a luncheon at each resort, David was able to confirm upgrades to these rooms at booking. My initial plan was to spend 4 days at Amanjiwo, then 3 days at Amandari and 3 days an Amankila. However, Amanjiwo closed during my planned visit due to a volcanic eruption so I shifted my trip there till the end. The final schedule was Amandari for 3 days, Amankila for 4 days and Amanjiwo for 3.

I corresponded with all 3 hotel’s GMs prior to arrival. All 3 were excellent in their communication. They helped me with room selection/room types and excursion ideas. All were very quick to respond via email and the GMs. I was quite pleased with their communication. I made two specific requests prior to arrival: mattress toppers and coffee in the room. All the GMs noted that the itineraries were flexible, that probably the only things that really needed to be booked in advance were certain private dining options.   

The GMs at each hotel greeted us upon arrival. Each took a nice chunk of time to talk to us before we were escorted to our rooms. The arrival formalities (CC, passport etc) were accomplished ensuite. Amandari provided a lovely chicken pot pie and ice tea, while Amankila and Amanjiwo provided some refreshments. Amandari>Amankila=Amanjiwo (primarily because of the savory treat). We were welcomed warmly at all, and given a detailed tours of the hotel and our suite

Much has been said about all the resorts but here are my thoughts: in terms of lay out I preferred Amandari.. primarily because of the village type atmosphere.. it made for lots of privacy and was conducive to wandering and exploring. Amankila is a lot of steps so if that bothers you then I would skip it it… Amanjiwo is very very symmetrical; it lacked that organic village feeling that Amandari had. The highlight of Amankila is the pool itself and it is simply stunning. We never used the resort pools at Amandari and Amanjiwo because we had our own pool but the location of the pool at Amandari is in my mind not ideal. All and all the facilities were excellent and well kept..

At Amandari we received a duplex pool suite. The suite (or villa) is very very private. Lovely pool overlooking the Ayung River valley. I really really enjoyed the pool. The outdoor tub was quite nice too. I know that there has been much debate over the merits of the duplex vs single story suite but I chose the duplex because I typically wake up earlier than my wife and appreciate a separate area to read. In reality, the stairs proved to be cumbersome and creaky thus waking my wife up when I used them. In addition I kept forgetting stuff either upstairs or downstairs so I was constantly climbing up and down. I really enjoyed how private the villas felt at Amandari. One of my favorite spaces were the day beds for lounging.

Amankila’s Ocean suite had a great view off the exterior space. Unfortunately, the marine traffic to some degree detracted but we still enjoyed it quite a bit… We ate breakfast out there every morning. We honestly didn’t spend a ton of time in the room; most of our time was spent lazing around the pool or down at the beach. However, we found the room quite comfortable. The deep sunken tub was very nice. Being one of the end units, it also felt very private.

At Amanjiwo we had booked a Brodobur suite, so the Brodobur pool suite represented a double upgrade. However, it feels to me that the suites are all pretty much the same, save for the presence of the pool.. The better view of Brodobur comes from the main building.. I think that they were doing some construction on the rooms on the right wing so most of the guests were all clustered in one area… I was quite disappointed by the lack of privacy for the pool suite- we had a view of the pool club and they had a view of us. Lounging on the bale wasn’t terribly private. The pool was quite small and the water wasn’t terribly warm (though maybe because we had just come from Amankila I was used to warmer water) Plus, on entry there is a frosted window of the neighboring suite, which was often lit up at night… I also felt that the lighting in the suite wasn’t as customizable as I would have liked. We like leaving some light on at night (for the bathroom) and that wasn’t possible…

All of the suites were in excellent condition.. everything was well kept… I think that the beds were quite comfortable with the inclusion of the mattress topper. I would say that for us Amankila > Amandari > Amanjiwo… I do think that the laid back lazy environment at Amankila helped make it our favorite… That all being said, all suites were excellent places to spend time…. I will add, that all of the Amans used toiletries in refillable containers. They all seemed to be of excellent quality but I think the ones at Amandari were our favorite.

We really took most of our meals in our villa or poolside. We only went to the main restaurants a handful of times… Amandari This was our first experience with Nasai Goreng. And, I think it remained our favorite throughout the trip. I’m a big mango fan, and they managed to bring mangoes with every fruit plate (even though it wasn’t season). We had one meal that we started in the restaurant, but due to a large number of flies we ended up moving to our villa (the waiter actually suggested it).. That meal we had a chicken pancake which was one of the best things we ate at Amandari… as well as braised pork ribs that were delicious. The departure gift of brownies was amazing.

Amankila We encountered our favorite dish at Amankila- the ayam goreng… quite tasty… at Amankila though we started to stray from Indonesian food. I had the burger a couple of times, which was always cooked to temperature and quite good.. My wife opted for the pizza she also enjoyed. It was quite nice to enjoy lunch by the pool.. we took breakfast in our villa every morning- the Morocccoan donuts were our favorite (but I could not for the life of me get them to bring me a glass of the espresso granita). I was quite impressed with the poached eggs- they always were able to make them perfect, which is no small feat for room service. Alas, I must have eaten all the mango because after the first day there was none to be had….

Amanjiwo 

I’m pretty sure we were really tired of Indonesian food at this point. The first night there we both had burgers… they were good, but not as good as at Amankila. I found the nasai goreng and mie goreng here a little on the oily side.. So probably the worse of the three. The best thing we ate here was definitely the soup one day- sweet corn soup with crab meat.. it was amazing… in fact I asked the next day if they would make it and they obliged… The Soursup martini is excellent here… One thing that they seemed to struggle with was bacon… at the other Amans it was cooked crispy, however here it was a bit soggy the first day. Even after I asked for it cooked crisp it was still not quite to the point of perfection that I would have liked. Another disappointment is that the in room dining service did not automatically come with a full water setup like at the other Amans. I finally had to specify that I would like water brought with my meals as well. A little detail, but frankly it’s the little details that really set apart the hotels at this level.

I was quite impressed overall with the food. I’m usually not much of a fan of hotel food but Aman’s overall really did a great job. The dishes I miss the most are the Moroccan donuts and the ayam goreng. Absolutely delicious. If I had to rank the F/B I would say Amankila>Amandari>Amanjiwo. One note- drinks are a little on the pricey side. Amankila would be the worse. I am a beer drinker and a Bitung at Amandari/Amanjiwo was I think 55,000 IDR and at Amankila it was 80,000 IDR. My wife is a wine drinker and I think at Amandari/Amanjiwo most glasses ran 160,000-210,000 IDR while at Amankila they were 240,000 IDR+. By booking through DavidO, were entited to an included luncheon at each site. There was not a set menu; we were merely told to inform the waiter that we wanted our virtuoso luncheon. Incidentally, Amankila also extended the benefit to dinner. Interestingly enough, Amankila (in a Hindu part of Indonesia) made an excellent burger while Amanjiwo (in the Islamic part) really seemed to struggle with the bacon.

Private Dining

We sampled private dining events at all the resorts

Amandari Balinese Feast

This was probably our least favorite. The location itself was right off of the main pool in a little pavilion; so not private at all. We were greeted with a wonderful little dance from some local girls, who then showered us with rose petals.. that was quite nice. However, the first dish was a banana root soup with kind of an odd flavor. The suckling pig was only okay (I’m sure that the places in Ubud were quite spectacular) and nothing really stood out from this meal (except for my distaste of all things banana root). This would probably rank as the biggest disappointment of the trip.

Amankila Beach BBQ

We had the opportunity to meet with the chef poolside to discuss the menu and we agreed to a more Indonesian theme, with a Western dessert… The setting is fantastic.. private beach, bon fire, candle light table… truly truly a magical setting… so private and intimate.. Now my wife and I aren’t huge seafood lovers but the shrimp that they had for a starter was probably some of the best shrimp I’ve ever had.. incredibly fresh and full of flavor.. grilled beef tenderloin was solid and the lobster was incredible.. we were a little hesitant going in with the Indonesia theme (because of all the Indonesia food we had had recently) but no regrets… it was an incredible meal.. and the chef took our love for brownies and ice cream to make us an ice cream sundae!

Amanjiwo Pak Bilal

It had rained most the day but mostly cleared up by dinner time. We were driven to a nearby village for dinner at Pak Bilal’s house… the path was lit by lanterns to the old kitchen house…. Outside a gamelan player entertained us as well… the inside is incredibly romantic.. all lit by candles and a chef is cooking dinner over traditional Indonesian fires…after a welcome from Pak Bilal himself we settled in for dinner. Starting with the delicious soursup martinis helped set the tone… The meal was absolutely incredibly. The highlight here would be the fish curry for my wife (who doesn’t even like fish really) and for me the chicken dish… and absolutely fantastic experience….. The private dinners are all very special. I would perhaps pick a different option at Amandari…. They were, though, very very unique and nice experiences.. I would rank them Amankila>Amanjiwo (but not by much)>>>>> Amandari  

The Bali and Beyond package included 1 free excursion per stay. We also booked a couple additional excursions. All of the excursions were fantastic. We had great guides and great experiences.

Amandari

The Ayung River trekking was our Bali and Beyond inclusion. We spent about 90 minutes trekking through the river valley which was full of beautiful scenery. It was quite a nice hike and we didn’t encounter any other Westerners on the trek. We ended the hike with breakfast at one of the Aman bale… the view was amazing and the good quite good (salmon and avocado croissant was quite nice). In addition, we also visited a Balinese healer… that was quite a unique experience… he poked and prodded me and decided my mind was the problem- which everyone already knew… Our final experience was the Balinese blessing. They brought us some traditional clothes the day before and then the morning of they helped us dress. We met with a village priest and his priestesses in the Aman temple. Aman took care of all the offerings and etc and the blessing itself lasted about 60 minutes I would say.. it was quite interesting but if you’re adverse to getting holy water thrown on you I would stay away. Finally, we finished with some traditional Balinese sweets and tea. I really enjoyed the experiences here at Amandari because they had a sense of authenticity to them.

Amankila

We chose the morning cruise/snorkeling as our B&B inclusion. Unfortunately it was too rough on the day of our choice to embark/disembark from the beach so we instead were transported to a nearby harbor (about 15 minutes away). At the harbor we saw many many groups preparing for their scuba/snorkeling cruises… Much to our delight we had the boat all to ourselves… The upper part is prepared with cushions and made for a nice place to lounge but we found ourselves downstairs to stay our of the sun after a little while. After a bit of a cruise, we stopped and snorkeled for a bit, which was quite nice. One of the Aman employees joined us in the water to keep a close eye on us. There was an abundance of sealife to see.. Finally after snorkeling, we received a light lunch… it was quite a nice trip, but I think I probably wouldn’t have liked it as much if their had been other guests on the boat… We also chose to do one of the treks, which was through a variety of rice fields. Absolutely stunning scenery. The Trek ended in a village that did some sort of specialized textiles… I’m not sure (it wasn’t batik) but my wife ended up buying some. It was a nice trek but I would bet it wouldn’t be terribly easy for those who aren’t sure footed….

Amanjiwo

The reason to visit Amanjiwo is sunrise at Brodobur… and it did not disappoint.. 0415 wakeup with a light breakfast and then off to Brodobur.. I think we had probably about 25-30 other people at sunrise.. so not entirely private but definitely quite a special occasion. We had the intellectual tour afterwards and our guide was quite knowledgeable (and excellent English). After the tour we were driven to Dagi hill for breakfast. Finally, we finished with a market tour and a visit to a couple of local shops.. all and all a nice time….

Amans are legendary for their service… and I would agree that this is true….

Amandari

We felt that the service here was probably the best. We didn’t encounter any language barriers. Housekeeping was excellent and absolutely transparent. The room was kept spotless. After our hike, our shoes were cleaned and returned. The staff here was excellent. One morning at breakfast, right after a particular strenuous workout, I wasn’t feeling well so I decided to return to the room. I asked the waiter if breakfast could be brought to the room as well, as I wasn’t feeling great. Right after I returned, the phone rang with a call from GM asking if they should send for a doctor. Nice turn down gifts ever night. One thing that they struggled with was in room coffee. I am a huge coffee drinker and asked for a coffee machine at each Aman. They were unable to provide this for me here (I think they said something about not having coffee machines or something). I did get a french press and a container of coffee. However, the French press wasn’t reliably cleaned and I had to call to get the coffee refilled. That was a bit disappointing but I would say the coffee was excellent and taking a French press by the poo/ in the pool in the morning is a favorite memory of mine. We were also constantly asked how our excursions went. I would say that the service here also had a certain warmth that really made us feel like part of the family. The hallmark of the sendoff here was the excellent brownies for our ride!

Amankila

Great great service all around. Poolside service was top notch and that’s where we spent the bulk of our time. The setup in a bale is perfect. Treats by the pool were nice. In addition, however, the service at the beach club was equally good. We took up stand up paddle boards, and my only knowledge was from a youtube video I had watched. After seeing me struggle a bit, one of the beach staff swam out and gave me a lesson. While I still continued to struggle, it was definitely quite helpful. We often stayed in for dinner and when ordering, they always offered to send out housekeeping as well. Housekeeping here did a nice job too, but there did seem to be more bugs in the villa here than anywhere else. Not a huge deal as Bali is a fairly jungle like environment, but I never noticed any bugs at Amandari. Finally on the last day, while we were waiting to depart for the airport, I called for our bags to be fetched and mentioned that we would be heading over to the library to watch the Oscars. When we arrived, there was someone tuning the TV to the Oscars and a fresh pitcher of ice tea. That’s proactive service for sure! Great send off; we love our bracelets and are still both wearing them

Amanjiwo

Unfortunately I felt the service here was probably the weakest of the 3. Housekeeping definitely wasn’t as transparent here. When we went for our spa treatment (90 mins) we came back and found housekeeping still working. We also tended to stay in for dinner, but there were not any proactive offers to send out housekeeping for turndown. They definitely though did a good job. We were also asked for our room number twice. That would seem to be very un-Aman like. Not only did they provide a coffee machine, but it was a big industrial grade coffee machine. Sadly the coffee it made wasn’t terribly good. All and all the service was good, but a notch below what I had come to expect. At departure, we were not seen off my a large contingent of staff (but granted it was an early 7 AM departure). Still, it seemed quite odd given our send offs at the other Amans (plus Amanjiwo seemed to be a place where things happened early in the AM given the sunrise visit to Brodobudur).

The hallmark of Aman is service. Amandari=Amankila>>>Amanjiwo. Amandari and Amankila were simply spectacular in their service. Not overbearing, not stuff but warm and genuine. Very proactive. Amanjiwo seemed merely about the level of a FS (though still good). We never had any problems with billing (though there are a lot of zeroes in IDR) and we also had a travelers discount card that afforded us 20% of food, beverage, and spa treatments which was nice. In addition, it did cover private dining as well! The schedule flexiblilty was absolutely wonderful. My wife wanted to plan everything before we got there, but after visiting Amandari she realized that Aman's didn't have the word No in their vocabulary and that they were there for us. We were able to move things around very easily to fit our mood. One other thing that we looked forward to every night was our turn down gifts! Our little roosters are sitting in our little girls room. In addition, the other gifts that they gave are treasured. The Amanjiwo straw hat is now my daugther's favorite things to wear/ 

We took two treatments at Amandari and one at Amanjiwo. My first massage at Amandrai was simply spectacular. It was the afternoon we arrived and hit the spot. I chose a hot stone one for my second, and while good, it wasn’t as good as the first. My wife quite enjoyed her massage and her facial. The spa at Amandari is nice; the treatment rooms are open air and very peaceful. The massage area at Amanjiwo is in converted villa and definitely lacks that serene feeling. I had a little Indonesian lady give me a traditional Javanese massage and she really really was able to apply some pressure. Ouch! I preferred the massage at Amandari but my wife quite liked it. Amandari is the only one that had a proper exercise pavilion. Both Amankila and Amanjiwo housed their equipment in converted villas. All the equipment was brand new Lifecycle; however, I felt that they were all difficult to use because the touchscreens weren’t properly calibrated. Exercise though definitely seemed like an afterthought for Aman and most guests; at Amankila the previous entry on the sign in log was from 6 weeks prior. I guess most guests would prefer to spend time enjoying the Amans and not working out…

Toyota Avanza must be the official car of Aman Indonesia. While comfortable, they are hardly luxurious. I would say my biggest quibble would be the manual transmission and the way they were driven: with Indonesian traffic the ride is quite jerky… my wife is quite prone to car sickness and the car rides weren’t terribly smooth… Interestingly enough, on the last transport to JOG airport, an automatic Avanza was provided.. however, the driver drove it like a manual…. But, they were always stocked with snacks and water was always available.

Aman handles absolutely everything. Upon arrival in Bali, we were greeted and the airport representative took care of everything. VOA, everything. Upon departure from Bali, their airport representative again took care of everything, escorting us as far as security. We were also given a pass to the lounge at DPS. However, that lounge was fairly crowded so we used our PP to access a different one that was slightly less crowded. Upon the arrival at Jogyarkta we were escorted to a lounge where we waited while they gathered our luggage. Finally, upon our departure from JOG we received landside service but nothing airside. No access to a lounge at JOG but again our PP came in handy.  

I had very very high expectations for this trip. After all, Amans are held to high esteem on this forum. And, part of me was expecting to be disappointed… and I wasn’t, by any means. Amans are the real deal and unfortunately they are really really expensive. The level of service, the hard product, the excursions, and the food are all top notch. I’m also glad I went all in on Aman.. I was a bit concerned with Amandari but we both absolutely loved it. I think that the split of 3 days at Amandari, 4 days at Amankila and 3 days at Amanjiwo worked great; though I still really wished that we had been able to finish at Amankila. I was a also worried about the time of year that we went; it was the end of February but still rainy season. We didn’t have any problems with rain. We had 1 full day of rain at Amanjiwo, but it was our last day where we didn’t have anything planned. It did rain some for about an hour or so a couple of afternoons and apparently at night a couple of times but for the most part everything was just fine… If I had to rank the 3 resorts, I would probably place Amankila first, then Amandari and Amanjiwo. Amankila has the advantage though by being a beach resort, which weighed heavily in our enjoyment. I apologize to all y’all who stayed me through this report. Initially I had planned on it only being quick thoughts but I tend to ramble. I wrote it in pieces and so it may not flow as well but I think that I’m for the most part finally done… I would also like to thank those that helped me for this trip, primarily FlyerEC and LM225. Definitely helped me out during my stressful times.... One last things: the travel privilege card for Indonesian Amans definitely help reduce the sting. 20% discount on F&B and spa helped. My wife is definitely heading down the path of Amanjunkie I fear.. Her words were “I will go anywhere they have a hotel…” So who knows, Sri Lanka, Greece, Turks and Caicos, Utah, Venice here we come! I might need another job….