Amanjiwo was the final stop on our August 2019 Aman Indonesian Trilogy: Amandari, Amankila and Amanjiwo. Our accommodation was part of the “Bali and beyond” promotion, which runs until March 2021, and which requires you to stay in Bali and at least one other Indonesian Island for at least 8 nights. Amanjiwo, on the neighbouring island of Java, was the one to deliver the offer of reduced room rates, complimentary transfers, breakfast and daily ‘activities’ across each of the three Aman resorts we stayed in.

As a guest of Amanjiwo, with booked transfers, we were met at the foot of the aircraft steps at Yogyakarta and driven in a minivan about 100m to the Concordia lounge, where you can eat snacks from a buffet and have a (machine) coffee while a hotel rep goes off to collect your luggage. This was all novel and strange to me.  The lounge was rather basic, but it was comfortable while we waited the 30 minutes for our bags; a lot more comfortable than standing in a crowded baggage reclaim hall!

“Jogja’s” traffic is busy and hectic, but things calm down after a short while (but not too calm; Java is Indonesia’s most populous island). So it was a 1hr30m drive to Amanjiwo and we arrived in the dark (which I prefer not to do).  But even in the darkness, Amanjiwo looked impressive, special.

We were greeted by Jann, the charming Swiss GM who recently moved here from Amandari, and as we stepped up towards the resort’s impressive central rotunda, traditionally dressed staff threw rose petals over us, which was a delightful welcome!

The design of Amanjiwo is inspired by the 9th Century Unesco World Heritage site Borobudur (the world’s largest Buddhist monument) which is just 2km away, and the Rotunda resembles one of its stupas, built entirely of stone.  It houses the resort’s bar and an open seating area, where Jann invited us to sip on a cool ginger beer while he gave us a friendly welcome briefing.  Down a few steps and occupying the open fronted hemisphere of the Rotunda is the colonnaded dining area, where breakfast, lunch and dinner are served.

On most evenings, over dinner, a traditional Javanese band played and sang traditional gamelan music, from one side of the Rotunda.  During the day I could see and follow the designer’s eye, as a completely straight line went from the front car-port, through the Rotunda and the dining area, right down a pathway which leads to the villas, and on across paddy fields, to the magnificence of Borobudur itself. Magical.

Jann took us to our (upgrade) villa – a Borobudur Pool Suite measuring 243 square metres inside and out  – and after passing a numbered stone entrance area, we entered the suite through a discreet glass side door.  We were immediately impressed.

In the centre of the spacious bedroom was a superking bed on a raised terrazzo platform, with sturdy stone pillars at each corner.  The bed was super comfy and dressed in fine white cottons; but caution is needed if getting up in the dark, so as not to stub ones toes on the platform.

On most nights a little ‘Aman treat’ was left on the bed during turn-down.  Also in the bedroom was a TV and Bose blue tooth speaker, a complementary mini bar, a day bed, a writing desk, and an occasional table and chairs. Javanese artworks were positioned on the walls.

Behind wooden latticework screens was a very large dressing area – actually two areas, each with washbasins, a clothes rail and plenty of drawer space.  Beyond that were the separate toilet and shower rooms. Toiletries were unbranded and pleasant, but the shower gel didn’t have the invigorating menthol infusion we enjoyed at our previous stop at Amankila, and the shower itself wasn’t as good either, not being a ‘rain shower’ and leaving me struggling to control the water temperature.

Through a glass sliding door was the outdoor sunken stone bath tub, made all the more impressive by an antique disk (maybe a battle shield?) on the wall.

On our first morning we were able to admire the large private terrace in front of our suite. It featured a decent-sized swimming pool with 2 sun loungers, and a beautiful thatched bale (the Indonesian name for cabana) with a double sized day bed and lots of cushions.

The sun loungers were metal and very heavy. They had been positioned one each side of the pool, but we had to ask staff to come and move one to be next to the other because they didn’t have wheels and we couldn’t move them alone. But as you’d expect, this was no trouble for Aman staff and it was moved within minutes.

Behind the bale were fields of various crops, including dried rice paddy, and then 2km away was the incredible Borobudur, which is best viewed through binoculars.  However we found the hedge separating us from the field was quite low and didn’t provide enough privacy from the scattering of workers in the field, or from other guests using the main pool area which was just off to our left.

Access to the pool area was just metres from our villa, where we were first struck by a row of artistically pruned trees surrounded by sun loungers.  I liked the visual impact of this.

The main pool was about 50m long, and another cool visual statement.  It appeared that during our stay most guests had booked a suite without a pool, so they made good use of this main pool area.  I believe all Amanjiwo’s suites are the same inside, so price differences come about if you want a private pool or if you want to have the view of Borobudur, or both.  In descending quantities, our fellow guests were Italian, French, American, British and Japanese.  Vilebrequin shorts were not in evidence.

Amanjiwo’s spa is just another identical villa/suite, adapted for the purpose.  I had a very vigorous massage one day which really hurt, but when I gave feedback to Jann and his deputy they promptly offered my another one with a different therapist foc; great service recovery!

Food at Amanjiwo is very good.  Breakfast is a la carte and all freshly prepared.  Lunch can be taken in the dining area or in a covered but open dining terrace beside the main pool, where again the quality was excellent.  At each meal Western, Javanese and Indonesian dishes are available. The photo above shows a delicious carpaccio I had for dinner one night. When I had it another night they didn’t go quite so crazy with the fresh parmesan!

Like at many Aman resorts, Amanjiwo’s Western dishes have a strong Italian bias; I can heartily commend the veal scallopini with mushroom (and a cheeky side of fries). The veal was moist and tender – easily the best veal dish I’ve ever had. In fact 2 weeks after returning home I ordered veal in a 2 Michelin star restaurant in London and it was not as tasty as this Amanjiwo dish!  I got to eat it a second evening, when GM Jann generously hosted us for dinner.  Aman resorts’ GMs are always hands on, visible and friendly, but this was the first time one had invited us for dinner.  And it happened to be on an evening when a traditional Javanese dance group performed in the dining area.  It was pretty exciting as they retold a tale of an ancient prince’s romantic challenges.

Amanjiwo organises exclusive visits to the Borodupur site, where you can visit with private guide at either dawn or sunset (which was included in our package). We chose the latter to avoid an early rise, and because we were told fewer tourists went in the evening. The night before, a renowned anthropologist gave a talk about Borobudur, in the hotel library. This was really fascinating and perfect preparation for the next day’s visit.

As sunset approaches ‘normal’ tourists are asked to leave the site, leaving the popular upper levels of the monument to  a smaller number of ‘special guests’, which includes Aman guests.  With the sunset, the messages of Buddhism contained in all the panelled carvings so well explained by our guide, and the beautiful scenery around us I admit that I was moved to tears.

The other inclusive activity which we really enjoyed was a morning tour around a local village on an Andong (horse and cart). We were taken along tranquil country lanes and through fields of tobacco to visit a two man tofu making enterprise (fascinating) and to a one-woman pottery. This was a genuine cultural trip without any sales push whatsoever and it was such a delight to be out in the countryside!

Amanjiwo has the incredible locally influenced design, spacious suites and friendly professional service which one would expect from an Aman resort.  Food is of a high quality, the location is perfect, and culturally it feels very much a part of Java.  With just 30 suites it is undeniably exclusive.  But I felt it lacked something, compared to the two Aman resort’s we’d visited in Bali, though I just can’t put my finger on what.  Maybe it’s because we didn’t interact with other guests very much, other than an American family on our penultimate day. And maybe that’s because people go to Amanjiwo for shorter stays than they would at a beach resort. Or maybe it’s just because Amans attract guests who really want exclusivity, peace and quiet, and they avoid making holiday friends.

This undefinable feeling had nothing to do with the resort itself, but it’s made my score a little lower than the other Indonesian Amans, at 9.5/10 But it is a lovely place to visit, which is well worth the detour from Bali.