Amanresorts is a small luxury hotel group, located in 15 countries around the world. The word "Aman" is Sanskrit for "peace." It is owned by DLF Limited, India's largest real estate company.
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Founded by Adrian Zecha in 1988, Amanresorts came into being when Zecha was looking for a holiday home in Phuket. He discovered the ideal location – a coconut plantation with no other developments in sight – when wandering along Pansea Beach on the island’s west coast. Plans to build a home on the site soon developed into an idea to build a small boutique resort in partnership with Anil Thadani and two other friends. They invested their own money in the venture as no banks would lend for the project due to the small number of planned rooms. At this time resorts usually featured 500 rooms or more, and the boutique hotel concept was still in its infancy.
Amanpuri (Place of Peace) opened in January 1988 with 40 rooms and 30 private villas. From the positive response to this project, now Amanresorts’ flagship property, Zecha was encouraged to develop more resorts employing the same concept. While initially the resorts were concentrated in Asia (now including properties in Bhutan, Cambodia, China, French Polynesia, India, Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand), over the last two decades the group has also opened resorts in France, Morocco, Montenegro, the Turks & Caicos Islands and the United States.
Amanresorts is owned by a holding company called Silverlink Holdings Limited. By 1992, the group had expanded to include several resorts in Indonesia, a resort on Bora Bora and one in the Alpine village of Courchevel 1850. In 1993, Clement Vaturi an old friend whose family controlled Hôtelière Immobilière (a Paris-listed public company) acquired 54% of the company and injected new capital.
Growth continued apace until 1998 when due to circumstances unrelated to Amanresorts, Vaturi’s controlling interest fell into the hands of Los Angeles-based Colony Capital, a real estate investment fund. A lawsuit between Vaturi and Colony Capital promised to drag on, putting on hold Zecha's plans to continue the expansion of Amanresorts indefinitely. Zecha therefore resigned from his position at Amanresorts and for the next two years pursued other interests. In late 2000 Colony Capital and Vaturi had settled their lawsuit and Vaturi sold his shareholding onto Lee Hing Development, a Hong Kong investment company. With controlling investors who he felt shared his vision once again, Zecha returned as chairman and CEO.
Over the next seven years, Amanresorts launched retreats in Cambodia, India, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Caribbean. On 27 November 2007, DLF Limited, India's largest real estate company, acquired Lee Hing’s controlling stake in Amanresorts for $400 million[1].
Since its establishment, Amanresorts have been highly rated by Condé Nast Traveler[2] , Zagat Survey, Gallivanter's Guide, Harper's Hideaway"[3] and Travel & Leisure.
35% of Aman patrons originate from Europe, another 33% from Asia-Pacific, 30% from the Americas and 2% from the rest of the world.
Every Aman resort is unique, not only in its location, but in its design, mood and guest experience. Each is characterized by a small number of rooms (typically less than 55) and minimalist architecture designed to complement the resort’s natural and cultural setting. Indigenous building materials and techniques are used as much as possible to reflect the culture and country in which the resort is located. Also characteristic is a high staff count (typically four staff to one guest) and the absence of a reception desk, a lobby or bellboys. Aman resorts are designed to create the impression that guests are staying in a private residence. Guest accommodation is typically provided in individual private villas, bungalows or tents (in the case of Aman-i-Khás in India and Amanwana in Indonesia), often featuring private pools and outdoor lounging and dining areas. When Amanpuri opened in 1988, the combination of these features was groundbreaking in the luxury accommodation industry.
The term "Amanjunkies" has been coined within the accommodation industry to refer to Amanresorts’ repeat customers. Some resorts also have villas at the owners option these can be marketed developed by the company for exclusive rental and/or purchase. Such villas are available at Amanpuri in Thailand, Amanyara in the Turks & Caicos Islands, Amangani and Amangiri in the USA, Amanpulo in the Philippines and Amandari in Bali, for example.
Among the architects who have designed Amanresorts are Ed Tuttle, Kerry Hill, and Jean-Michel Gathy.
As of 2010 the group operates the following resorts (in order of opening):
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