Last Word: Aman Update

Long-term subscribers to this newsletter will know that my admiration for Amanresorts is virtually unbounded. Just over 20 years ago, founder Adrian Zecha invented a formula that revolutionized the concept of a boutique hideaway. And two decades later, the Aman style still seems to be at the cutting edge of resort and hotel design. Given this extraordinary degree of success, the Byzantine complexity of the firm’s financial history has never ceased to amaze me. At the time of writing, the current owner, Indian real estate company DLF, is attempting to offload Amanresorts in order to reduce its debt; Zecha has expressed interest in reacquiring his brainchild, but has so far been unable to close the deal; and no fewer than six bidders are now said to be in competition. While all this has been going on, Aman Canal Grande debuted in Venice in June, and Amanoi overlooking the South China Sea in Vietnam, opened in September. This latest property, Amanresorts’ 26th, comprises 31 guest pavilions and five villas and extends over 100 acres of lush and hilly tropical forest. Amanoi joins siblings in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Java and Bali, so it is now possible to undertake an extended tour of Southeast Asia without ever leaving the Amanresorts cocoon. Sounds like a plan to me.