Amandari

“Exceptional stay”

Visited Amandari in March 2024 with my husband and had the most splendid stay. The hotel and the rooms are absolutely stunning and I love the small touches throughout the room and property. The food was great and each meal was better than the last. I absolutely loved the signature Aman cocktails ... more

Visited Amandari in March 2024 with my husband and had the most splendid stay. The hotel and the rooms are absolutely stunning and I love the small touches throughout the room and property. The food was great and each meal was better than the last. I absolutely loved the signature Aman cocktails they had to offer. Love the shuttle service from the hotel to the Ubud market, makes it really convenient to step out. The location of the property is really stunning with the view of the valley and convenience to Ubud market, other sightseeing spots. We took the tours to Bali bird and reptile park, some temples and waterfalls, etc. through Aman and were extremely happy with the guides. Mega who was our guide was so sweet and informative and really went out of the way to ensure we had an amazing experience. Also definitely recommend the spa, one of the best massages I have had. Siwi was my therapist and was amazing! Michel (GM) is so delightful to meet and always a pleasure to talk to! All the staff were so sweet and helpful and would go above and beyond to ensure our needs are met, including at the reception when it came to organising our tours or the restaurants to cater to our food requirements. Will most definitely be back!

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“Real luxury hotel, close to perfection”

For me this hotel deserves the place on the list of „luxurious” hotels. Starting with an amazing welcome when you get a beautiful flower as a gift, we had a great stay in Amandari. We have spent there 5 nights. Location is not for „holiday in the sun in Bali”. It is in a jungle, close to a big, ... more

For me this hotel deserves the place on the list of „luxurious” hotels. Starting with an amazing welcome when you get a beautiful flower as a gift, we had a great stay in Amandari. We have spent there 5 nights. Location is not for „holiday in the sun in Bali”. It is in a jungle, close to a big, and not very clean city. Good place for sightseeing start as all to see in bali is within 30-120mins driving. Ubud itself offers a lot of little shops, plenty massage places and great food. By „great” I mean „greeeat” - full of taste and flavour. Food is fantastic in Bali. We stayed there to be able to visit the island as it is in the centre and that was a good plan. In 4 days we saw pretty much all from „must seen” list. Our little villa was beautiful, very comfortable and super private. Inside, a lot of nice touches… outside bath prepared for you anytime you want, very nice bath gel, washing gel and bath salt (filled after every use). A lot of complimentary little things- flip-flops, beach basket, soft drinks as well as water everywhere in the room (filled every day), huge fruit basket (fresh every day), traditional suri for praying in the temple, every day new little written piece of Bali story with traditional souvenir left on your bed before you go to sleep, toothbrushes with tooth paste and mouth wash, razors, moskito repellant and a lot of cosmetic pads for cleaning your make-up.. and on top of that they offer a free transport service everywhere in Ubud area..all you may wished for in a hotel really. Room is cleaned twice a day and the loundry is done daily for you (this is with a charge). Our bedroom was on another level with an amazing view - bed is to die for. We slept very well. Pool area - wonderful, worm water with view on the joungle. Attentive service. Gym is very good, too. We didn’t try the SPA as there was no space. I said that it is „almost” perfect as the staff do not speak very good English and it is hard to communicate, we didnt like the breakfast as it is „a la carte” and you need to ask for everything waiting very long for your food.. dinner meals were wonderful - only not a big choice of deserts. I would appreciate less questions „if everything is fine? or if it was tasty?” - the greatest service is the quiet one:) I would not really say openly, if I didn’t like something as I do not want to hurt somebody’s feelings so there is no point really to ask 8 times in one dinner.. something to improve. Hotel organise a yoga 3 times a week in the morning and a complimentary tea service every dat at 4pm. Tea was amazing - every day different taste - they offer „traditional” cakes, but they were mostly made of rice and I was missing a cheesecake or a brownie. Please add a selection of sweet cakes:) Lastly, goodbye service was lovely- I got my BROWNIE as a away gift in a cute backet and beautiful two little flower decorations. This brownie was absoluty wonderful! It is a shame I didnt know about it during our stay! Overall the place is highly reccomended. Thank you to the hotel and staff for the time we had.

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“A serene luxury hideaway above the Ayung river”

We learned that Amandari turns 35 this year. It does not show. Everything is in impeccable condition. What a super smart choice Aman made when it decided to build this Balinese village-like retreat at the top of the Ayung river canyon. Other luxury brand resorts have opened in the vicinity, but t... more

We learned that Amandari turns 35 this year. It does not show. Everything is in impeccable condition. What a super smart choice Aman made when it decided to build this Balinese village-like retreat at the top of the Ayung river canyon. Other luxury brand resorts have opened in the vicinity, but their locations just cannot match the beauty of that particular spot. Guests enjoy a fantastic view across the canyon, for example from the beautiful and large infinity pool or the open air restaurant above. The suites are in fact houses offering generous open spaces, double amenities, outside bathtubs, separate (partly upstairs) bedrooms and terraces. Housekeeping is miraculous; whenever you return to the house, everything has been refreshed, a “signature” Aman feature. Daily breakfast was included in our rate (I believe it is always so). We opted all the time for the most delicious Indonesian specialties plus some healthy yogurt and granola kind of delights, also with a local touch. If you prefer Western style breakfast, many choices are available, too. We dined out once (which was nice), but preferred to stay “at home” all other evenings and indulge in the restaurant’s offerings of local delicacies including a suckling pig barbecue and a Nusantara style dinner. Every afternoon, complimentary tea and sweet and savoury Indonesian snacks are served in the open air bar area. The service staff are extremely attentive, friendly and helpful, responding to every wish you may have. The same is true for tour arrangements (we loved the water temple, but recommend to select the rice terraces well - the ones we visited had been turned into an adventure park; Amandari’s own paddies are small, but very beautiful) and the shuttle services to Ubud town and back. Make sure not to miss the SPA treatments. We had one described as deploying local flavours and techniques meant to help you relax and reinvigorate. It totally lived up to the description. Which leads me to a more general remark: Aman external communication is a lot about peace and the Aman family and so on. As far as we can tell from our Aman experiences in India, Thailand and Indonesia, it is real, also for Amandari. From the General Manager (Michel Bachmann) to any service staff, the drivers, the bar man (serving at Amandari for more than 30 years) or the pool attendants, everyone makes you feel welcome in a unique, very natural way. They make you wish to come back. But then, there are so many other places to explore, and life is short.

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“Expected more.”

To start with, I have never stayed at a hotel where manager visibility was this excellent. Always someone greeting you. Even the GM himself was around throughout our stay. Accessible and not stuck in some back office with ”more important stuff”. Kudos! Amandari is a beautiful little hotel nestl... more

To start with, I have never stayed at a hotel where manager visibility was this excellent. Always someone greeting you. Even the GM himself was around throughout our stay. Accessible and not stuck in some back office with ”more important stuff”. Kudos! Amandari is a beautiful little hotel nestled in tropical surroundings peeking over a valley to the Ayung river. Spacious and lofty villas, perhaps somewhat dated and here and there even poorly maintained. As far as an Aman goes I wouldn’t write it down as amazing. Unfortunately. As I mentioned - a beautiful little resort with a proper gym which was appreciated. However this space didn’t feel looked after and sanitized. Adjacent to their small spa, I believe it is the spa staff that are responsible looking after the wellness centers wellbeing. Once I arrived to find them sitting on the floor with their mobile phones yet the gym being cluttered with empty water bottles and towels - ”If you got time to lean - you got time to clean”! As far as treatments go, they were nice but didn’t live up to the ”journeys” the Spa menu mentions. Filling in the paper work, cold towel and a welcome drink and rushed to the massage bed before even having had one sip of the drink that was presented 1 minute earlier is not what I expected. Especially not when paying 30 times more than the local massage joint down the road (which was as good if not better) is simply not worth it at the Amandari Spa. Beautiful infinity pool. The pool not being small I felt the sundeck area to be. It took one family with one child and one ball for me to wish for a quiet adult only space or a pool villa. No guests nor staff asked the family to lower their voices. Not wanting to be a betty downer several couples left. Ourselves included. Upon asking front desk if they by any chance had one empty pool villa for us to use in peace during the afternoon we were very happy to be accomodated. Sadly the initiative did not come from staff. Don’t get me wrong, staff at Amandari are very friendly and eager but somewhat mechanic in their approach sometimes even forgetting basic things such as removing dishes, forgetting to ask if one wishes something else etc. Minor yet major things. Another example which kind of rang my alarm bell was upon check-in when we were whisked to our villa, the sweet lady from front desk showing us the ammenities pointing out that six bottles of water was included per day. Ok, fine. But that kind of ”information” belongs to a Holiday inn and not at a hotel of this calibre. Of course the information was incorrect but first impressions last… The complimentary car service to Downtown Ubud is a winner. Cars were equipped with snacks and water bottles. Though at several occasions one bottle was opened and not replenished, or boiling hot when a car had been parked. These details matter and I hope they matter to Amandari as well. As for the car service do note that a destination another 1-2 km away from the actual Ubud centet is chargeable. In our case it was not communicated which we found a little peculiar. Especially since the cost was unreasonably hefty. I’d recommend using Grab for local taxis and local prices. In my experience, having stayed at a handfull different Aman properties, the effortless and kind of magic service that is Aman to me, Amandari failed to deliver. For instance after finishing an hour long breakfast, retiring to our villa, housekeeping would be at full swing. Not an issue per say, but a reality check nonetheless. A reality check that never happened at any other Aman I’ve resided in. All in all I’m happy I got the chance to try to stay at Amandari, but as far as brand ambassadors go, I wouldn’t say Amandari sets an example. As far as a resort goes I would give it 4/5 As far as an Aman goes I give it 3/5. If you know, you know.

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