Amangiri

Amangiri, which is Sanskrit for peaceful mountain, is arguably the top hotel in the US. It’s an exclusive and hard-to-reach desert hideaway that draws an elite and often famous crowd looking for privacy, seclusion and space in the American Southwest.

Does Amangiri live up to the hype? Kanye thinks so

we need to Aman Giri the world

— ye (@kanyewest) April 20, 2018

Amangiri’s location

Amangiri is located in Canyon Point, UT on the Southwestern border close to Arizona and near Lake Powell. The closest airport is Page Municipal Airport in Page, AZ about 25 minutes from the property. The resort offers complimentary airport transfers, but Page Municipal currently only serves private flights. If you’re flying commercial, the easiest airports are Las Vegas or Phoenix, which are both about a 4.5 hour drive to the resort. We’ve driven both routes and found them to be scenic with plenty of places to stop along the way for food and bathroom breaks.

It’s worth noting that the resort is located in Utah but follows Arizona time because the closest town is actually Page, Arizona where most of the staff lives. Visiting during summer, meant it’s in the same time zone as San Francisco, but our phones were automatically registering Mountain Time Zone. We simply toggled “automatic time zone” off on our phones and manually set it to PT since they were following PT time zone.

Amangiri check-in

When we arrived, we drove through a nondescript entrance and then down the main drive, which wound us through some incredible mesas until we reached the main resort. In typical Aman fashion we were greeted by several employees and guided toward the front desk. As we walked up to main property steps to the breezeway, our jaws dropped. The view of the mesas and greater Grand Staircase-Escalante are stunning… it doesn’t look real and looks more like a painting. It was the first sign we were in for unforgettable stay at Amangiri. The views never got old!

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We arrived a little after 9am PT, so while our luggage was taken to our room, we were escorted by the Assistant GM to breakfast by the main pool. After breakfast our room still wasn’t ready, so we did a did one of the on property hikes following the Hoodoo Trail. Hoodoos, as we came to learn, are really cool weathered rock formations that often look like someone placed one rock on top of another.

Amangiri main property

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The main property is spacious and provides a lot of indoor/outdoor space to lounge, dine and hang out. The outdoor dining area is my favorite place to sit because it looks out over the main pool, which is stunning. It is one of the most unique pools I’ve ever seen because it was built around an existing rock formation, which I felt like really added to the hotel’s “of the place” ethos. Even though the resort was operating at 100% capacity during our stay, there were always loungers or a day bed available when we wanted to hang by the pool.

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Amangiri suites explained

The main resort has 35 rooms spread over 2 wings – a Desert View Wing and a Mesa View Wing. There are several room categories to choose from: Desert View Suite, Mesa View Suite, Desert View Pool Suite, Mesa View Pool Suite and the Signature Suites.

I think the views from the Desert View Suites are nearly identical (if not more impressive) than the Mesa View Suites so it’s not worth the up-charge IMO. The pool suites are the same interior footprint but provide a plunge pool and sky terrace. We found it odd, the pools in the pool suites aren’t located on the side of the room overlooking the desert, but I guess facing the interior courtyard means they’re more private. 

The three signature suites are the Amangiri, the Girijaala and Terrace Suites.

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The Mesa View Suite was beautiful, serene and well-appointed. There was an interior facing courtyard with a table and chairs before entering the suite which had king bed and small, comfortable seating area. The collapsing wall of windows opens onto a terrace with an outdoor fireplace, which was my favorite place to have coffee in the mornings. I loved the sage green tile in the bathroom and found there was ample counter and closet space for all our our belongings.

To “turn on” do not disturb we placed a rope made of local horse hair across the entrance our suite, which I thought was a neat touch to indicate you wanted privacy.

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On our third day, we moved into the Girijaala Suite and oh my gosh, it was spectacular! It felt like a mini Amangiri all to ourselves. Check out these unreal views 😍

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The interior space of the Girijaala Suite was almost identical to the Mesa View Suite, so the real draw was the private pool and additional outside space. We loved that we could have every meal in the privacy of our suite and had our own (really big) pool. Given we were visiting in the height of summer it was really special but, I don’t think it would be worth it in colder weather.

We were also really happy we chose the Girijaala Suite over the resort’s top suite, the Amangiri Suite. The Girijaala Suite is located at the end of the Mesa View Wing, which is a much more quiet and private area of the resort than the Amangiri’s Suite location. We also like the pool had an infinity-pool feeling overlooking the desert, whereas the Amangiri suite pool looked more enclosed to the suite.

You can check out a full tour of both rooms we stayed in on my Instagram Story Highlights.

Check out my review of Camp Sarika, Amangiri’s new luxury tented camp option located on property and 5 minutes away from the main resort.

Service

As many Aman junkies will tell you, the service across Aman properties can vary. Aman is in its own level of incredible and predictive service, and Amangiri meets that expectation. We never had to give our room number or sign a bill and it seemed like all the staff we interacted with knew us, our dog and what our schedule was that day. Since we had our dog, we had to coordinate housekeeping visits, so we didn’t have a good chance to test the Aman “magic” housekeeping service of refreshing the room each time we left, and they rang for turn down several nights while we were still in the room.

Service all around was pleasant but we had a few blips at dinner service. Our first night on property our table was virtually forgotten as every table around us was attended to and refreshed. Even more disappointing, our 5th night on property was the first time we had heard there was a special at dinner, and there had apparently been a special every night of our stay. The set menu is delicious, but given we were staying a week, it would have been nice to mix up our dinner selections with the special.

We had a really special exchange with one of the servers who brought breakfast to our suite almost every morning, who gave us a hand written note and dog toy for Granite the morning we left. It was really touching and I’ve never stayed at a hotel where an employee went out of their way to thank a guest with that kind of gesture.

Amangiri dining

One of our favorite parts of the resort is that the rate includes food and beverages (except alcohol). For being in such a remote location, I was impressed with the quality and freshness of the food. They even had fresh seafood options, and I don’t think they’re coming from Lake Powell… 

I also thought it was impressive the all-inclusive menu features a foie gras appetizer and a lobster main, and unlimited snacks throughout the day. We ordered a fruit and cheese plate to the room some days for a happy hour before dinner. They really don’t cut corners and the food is delicious. It’s also worth noting how accommodating and flexible the kitchen is with any dietary restrictions. Jason is avoiding alliums, like garlic and onions, and every server at breakfast, lunch and dinner was aware of it and the kitchen was able to accommodate every item he wanted. 

For the Fourth of July, Chefs Anthony and Christian made a delicious family-style bbq menu with potato salad, cornbread, house made elk sausage, and ribs with “grandma’s special sauce.” They made a special bbq sauce without garlic for Jason as well as salmon since he doesn’t eat red meat, which we found incredibly thoughtful.

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Amangiri adventures

The property itself is over 60 acres and there are over 10 miles of trails to hike. We loved the Via Ferrata (an Italian iron climbing system made up of steps, ladders and safety wire) courses on property, and I highly recommend trying one! I am deathly afraid of heights and was able to do the bridge climb thanks to a very helpful and patient guide. 😱

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Excursions to the slot canyons (currently closed due to COVID), Lake Powell and nearby national parks like Zion and Bryce can all be arranged. Although once you arrive on property it’s hard to leave! Plus, we’ve visited Zion before and Amangiri feels like your own private Zion without the crowds.

Amangiri spa

The Aman Spa at Amangiri is gorgeous. Regardless of whether or not you book a treatment guests can use the spa facilities which include a step pool, steam and hot sauna and cold plunge pool. There was also a full gym with a wide range of equipment, but I wish they had a few Peloton bikes. They did offer a complimentary class (yoga, pilates, kickboxing) each morning that we found weren’t very popular, because one morning Jason was the only guest to show up for yoga.

We tried several spa treatments during our stay and they were pretty average. Some of the treatments start with a purifying sage cleanse and end with a crystal sound bath, which are neat touches.

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Considerations

Amangiri doesn’t really feel like a hotel but more like a friend’s desert home – the design is evocative, the landscape is otherworldly and the service is warm. This property is easily one of the best hotels in the country, if not the world. It’s hard put into words but it offers something so special that I don’t think you can find anywhere else. It’s an expensive stay but I would highly recommend it.