Amangiri is part of the Aman Group of luxury resorts located at various place around the world. This particular one is located in Utah. This is the third Aman resort that I have visited. The first was Amanpulo in the Philippines and the second was Amanera in the Dominican Republic.
Although Aman resorts are known for being very luxurious with service to match, I have found the booking process to be very inefficient. The sites do not always explain the differences in the rooms well in terms of location, layout, amenities etc.
For example, at Amangiri, you will find there are various rooms and then other accommodation at Camp Sarika. It turns out, Camp Sarika is a separate location from the main resort and they are more “glamping” style accommodations. Also, I did not even know until after I booked that the rate includes all food and beverage (I still don’t know if it was just the type of rate I booked or if its like that for all bookings; so make sure if you go, you check). I also find that their staff who respond to emails are not always well organized. Anyway, you should not let this discourage you because once you arrive at an Aman, all these imperfections will disappear.
Getting there – If you plan to go, you should know that its not easy to get there. You have a few options:
Drive – Its about 4 hours from Vegas each way or 5 hours from Phoenix.
Fly – The closest airport is Page, AZ, and I believe only Contour airlines flies there direct and its from Phoenix. From Page, the hotel will pick you up in a BMW (I think their whole fleet is only BMWs). Its about 30 minutes to the hotel from the airport. We did not choose this option because it did not fit with our schedule and connections.
Charter a plane – This is the method we chose. We chartered a jet both ways from Vegas to Page through V-Stream Aviation. Note that their communication and service may not be the best, but from my experience, they were reliable and by far, had the lowest fees.
Upon arrival you will be greeted by staff who will give you a tour of the resort. The views are breathtaking. Here is one of the first things you will see:
After the tour you will be shown to your room where the check in occurs. We booked a Mesa Pool suite. It was incredible. You have your own private plunge pool. I highly recommend you book a suite with a pool.
After we got settled in, we did a self tour of the area in one of the resorts BMWs. You should book all your activities through the concierge before arriving. The main thing you should see in the area is the Horseshoe Bend. Its spectacular.
There are other sites to see like the Glen Canyon Dam and various lookout points. Just ask the concierge. Here is a sample of the incredible views in the area.
We returned back to the resort and went to dinner. Note that there is only one restaurant on the property. You can have the tasting menu.
…or a la carte.
We went with the tasting menu.
The menu’s theme is Native American dishes and ingredients from the surrounding area. As they bring out each dish, you will get a story about the inspiration of it. If you go and they still have the Navajo blue corn on the menu, I highly suggest it. I ordered it at every meal throughout our stay. Its incredible. Its the fourth pic above and includes blue corn polenta, sweet butter poached lobster and a fried bread. So good. The service is pretty good though not on par with what you will find in Asia or the Caribbean Amans. To be continued...Day 2…