Aman Resorts

Aman Resorts

Industry	Hospitality, tourism
Founded	1988
Founder	Adrian Zecha
Key people	Olivier Jolivet (Chief Executive Officer - CEO) Vladislav Doronin (Owner) Vladislav Doronin (Chairman)
Website	aman.com

Amanresorts International is a luxury hotel group with a presence in 20 countries. The word "aman" means "peace, security, safety, shelter, protection" in Sanskrit, Arabic, Urdu and Persian languages.

History

Founded by Adrian Zecha in 1988, Amanresorts came into being when Zecha was looking for a holiday home in Phuket.^[1] He decided to build a resort in a coconut plantation he discovered while walking 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 United States, Turkey, Greece and Italy.

Business

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.

In 1998, Vaturi’s controlling interest was acquired by Los Angeles-based Colony Capital, a real estate investment fund. A lawsuit between Vaturi and Colony Capital promised to drag on and Colony Capital moved to protect its interests by taking a more active role in the company. At this time, Zecha resigned from his position at Amanresorts and for the next two years pursued other interests.^[2]

In 2000, Colony Capital and Vaturi had settled their lawsuit and Vaturi sold his shareholding interests to Lee Hing Development, a Hong Kong investment company. With controlling investors allowing full control over the company, 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 including debt of US$150 million.^[3]

In early February 2014 DLF sold Amanresorts to Aman Resorts Group Ltd, an investment company founded by American businessman Omar Amanat who brought in Russian businessman Vladislav Doronin, at an enterprise value of $358 million. The sale included all Aman properties except for the Lodhi Hotel in Delhi. DLF sold Aman Resorts in order to reduce its debt and refocus on real estate after it expanded into hotels, windfarms and running export processing zones.^[4] In August 2015, the Chairman of Aman Vladislav Doronin became sole Owner of Aman, when Pontwelly Holding Company Ltd, took full ownership of the hospitality business (Silverlink Resorts Ltd). Following this restructuring, Vladislav Doronin and Board Director Alan Djanogly, remain as the only two directors. ^{[5] [6]}

Since its establishment, Amanresorts have been highly rated by Condé Nast Traveler,^[7] Zagat Survey, Gallivanter's Guide, Harper's Hideaway"^[8] 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.

Olivier Jolivet took over as CEO of Amanresorts in August 2014.^{[9] [10]} Olivier moved from Club Med in 2008, where he joined as CFO and moved through the ranks in his 6-year tenure. He was originally responsible for strategic planning and after 6 years appointed as Chief Executive Officer.

The resorts

Each resort is characterised 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. The staff count is typically four staff to one guest. There is no reception desk, lobby or bellboys.

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.

Some resorts have villas for rental 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.

Architects

Among the architects who have designed Amanresorts are Ed Tuttle, Rick Joy, Kerry Hill, Jean-Michel Gathy, Aqsa Rafiq and Danilo Capellini.

Locations

As of 2010, the group operates the following resorts (in order of opening):

• Amanpuri on the island of Phuket, Thailand. Designed by Ed Tuttle (1988)
• Amandari at Kedewatan on the outskirts of Ubud, on the island of Bali in Indonesia. Designed by Peter Muller (1989)
• Hotel Bora Bora at Bora Bora in French Polynesia and currently undergoing renovation (1989)
• Le Mélézin at Courchevel 1850, France. Designed by Ed Tuttle (1992)
• Amanusa at Nusa Dua on the island of Bali in Indonesia. Designed by Kerry Hill and Danilo Capellini, interiors by Dale Keller (1992)^[11]
• Amankila near Manggis on the island of Bali in Indonesia. Designed by Ed Tuttle and Danilo Capellini (1992)
• Amanwana on Moyo Island, at the western end of Indonesia's Nusa Tenggara archipelago. Designed by Jean-Michel Gathy (1993)
• Amanpulo on the island of Pamalican in the Philippines. Designed by Bobby Manosa (1993)
• Amanjiwo in Central Java, Indonesia. Designed by Ed Tuttle (1997)
• Amangani at East Gros Ventre Butte near Jackson Hole in USA. Designed by Ed Tuttle (1998)
• Amanjena with 36 rooms, on Route de Ouarzazate on the outskirts of Marrakech in Morocco. Designed by Ed Tuttle (1998)
• Aman-i-Khás in Rajasthan, India. Designed by Jean-Michel Gathy (2003)
• Amansara in Siem Riep, Cambodia. Designed by Kerry Hill (2004)
• Amankora has five lodges in Bhutan. Designed by Kerry Hill (2004)
• Amanbagh in Rajasthan, India. Designed by Ed Tuttle (2005)
• Amangalla in Galle, Sri Lanka. Interiors designed by Kerry Hill (2005)
• Amanwella near the village of Tangalle on Sri Lanka’s south coast. Designed by Kerry Hill (2005)
• Amanyara on Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands. Designed by Jean-Michel Gathy (2006)
• Aman at Summer Palace in Beijing, China. Technical assistance by Jean-Michel Gathy and interiors designed by Jaya Ibrahim (2008)^[12]
• Villa Miločer. Phase one of Aman Sveti Stefan, located on the coast of Montenegro. Designed by Jean-Michel Gathy (2008)
• Aman New Delhi. Located on Lodhi Road in New Delhi, India. Designed by Kerry Hill (2009) - was previously the government-owned Lodhi Hotel^[13]
• Amantaka in Luang Prabang, Laos (2009)
• Amangiri in Utah’s Lake Powell Region, the USA (2009)
• Amanfayun in Hangzhou, China. Designed by Jaya Ibrahim (2010)
• Amanrüya in Bodrum, Turkey. Designed by Turgut Cansever, Emine Ögün, and Mehmet Ögün (2011)
• Amanzoe in Peloponnese, Greece. Designed by Ed Tuttle (2012)
• Aman Canal Grande Venice in Venice, Italy (2013)
• Amanoi in Vinh Hy, Vietnam. Designed by Jean-Michel Gathy (2013)
• Aman Tokyo in Tokyo, Japan. Designed by Kerry Hill (2014)
• Amanera in the Dominican Republic (2015)
• Amanemu in Shima, Japan (2016)

References

External links

• Cohen, E. "Subtlety and Luxury - Jean-Michel Gathy does it again at Amanyara in the Turks and Caicos," Interior Design, July 1, 2006.
• Amanresorts website
• Amanyara Villas website
• Phoenicia Times Feb 2008
• Hartwick College The Gerry Family Papers