Mr A and I are certified “AmanJunkies”, the term given to those who love Aman and have stayed at more than three of their luxury resorts around the world. We’ve already stayed at 8.  The very first Aman, Amanpuri, opened on the Thai island of Phuket in 1991, featuring a selection of traditional Thai style pavilions gently cascading down a coconut grove hillside to the Andaman Sea below.  My early travel plans for 2021 included an extended round the world holiday, with a visit to Amanpuri and some other Aman resorts, but a multi-centre holiday became impossible to plan during the global travel restrictions in place because of the Covid pandemic.  But on 1st July 2021 Thailand opened Phuket to fully vaccinated international visitors, after it vaccinated 80% of the Phuket population.  After my first couple of fortnightly immunotherapy treatments I judged that my side-effects were minor and manageable, and I felt like nipping to Thailand for just a week, in between treatment sessions!  I booked Amanpuri through PKs List, with a very attractive deal of US$9600 DB&B for 6 nights, plus lots of benefits, in an Ocean View Pool Pavilion, the resort’s top room type (though larger villas are sometimes available).

We arrived on a bright but partly cloudy and quite windy morning, using the hotel’s transfer from the airport, at about 10am.  We were delighted to learn that our room/suite/pavilion was ready for us, so after a brief check-in and chat with the GM Nicolas we were taken to our Pavilion in one of the resort’s 8 open-sided Toyota Yaris cars, which are used to ferry guests around the resort and to the beach.

From where we were dropped by the car, we had a very short walk along the elevated pathways which connect the Pavilions, which are all on stilts above the hillside.  When we got to no. 604 our breath was taken away at the beauty of our pavilion, its features and its positioning and views.

First we gawped at our private outdoor space; a terrace with two comfortable sun loungers, a high-roofed Thai sala complete with lounging mats, backrests and a sunken-floor table, and a private black-tiled infinity lap pool -all facing the cerulean Andaman Sea.

Stepping inside the pavilion we met a forest of teak, with clean white walls. The bedroom was spacious and bright and dominated by a super-king bed, with tables each side, a writing desk, comp mini bar, espresso machine, and a large TV, hidden behind a teak screen.  Everything was immaculate; had I not known it, I would never have guessed this wasn’t a brand new property.

The bedroom connected to a large dressing area with ample drawers and hangers for our clothes on both sides of the room, and a beautiful orchid display in the centre.

Mr A and I each had a wash basin, and, moving further back, there was a Japanese-style electric toilet, a spacious dark-tiled shower suite, and a teak-surrounded sunken bath tub.

It was a wonderful suite, totalling 230 square metres inside and out!  So we had no problem being confined to our Pavilion until we got a negative result from the PCR covid test we had to take upon arrival at the airport, which came through late afternoon, allowing us to get out and explore the resort.

The resort’s main pool extends from the reception area towards the flight of 83 steps which dramatically look down upon the beach.  During our visit there was very low occupancy and we never saw anyone using this pool.  The pool is overlooked by Amanpuri’s signature all-day Thai restaurant ‘Buabok’, where breakfast is also served.  I will write a separate post about all the dining options at Amanpuri.

When I was looking at Amanpuri’s website and Instagram posts I got the impression it only had a small beach at the foot of the grand staircase – wrong!  There is a small beach there, which gets very small at high tide in the rainy season, but just to the left of some granite boulders is the start of a sweeping bay with lots of powdery sand.  This large beach is shared with the Surin hotel next door (in which Aman has an interest), and access to it is only through the hotels, so effectively it’s the only private beach on Phuket.

During the rainy season the shallow waters have waves, but I’m told that in high season the water’s as still as a pond and the snorkelling is excellent.  Guests can lie on sun loungers with parasols, or under cabanas, with Aman staff serving drinks from the beach bar and food from a beach-club style menu.  There’s a kids’ pool close to the beach bar and toilets, and just up off the sand is an Eco Discovery centre, skateboarding and rock climbing for the young and fit.

I was delighted to find a ‘pet’ rat snake in the Discovery Centre, so I lifted him out of his vivarium, much to the surprise of the lady working there!  There are also turtles and fish and lots of wildlife books and nik naks to browse and buy.

Walking up some other steps from the beach we came across the “sunset terrace” and bar, but we only loitered briefly because, most regrettably, during our stay local Covid rules prohibited the sale of alcohol in bars and restaurants! But we’d been seduced by Amanpuri’s amazing Menu of Negronis, and ordered several on room service during our stay (which was permitted).

On top of the 12 listed House creations, there was also a menu of various gins and vermouths, allowing one to create one’s own blend!

Amanpuri’s staff soon got used to delivering Negronis to our Pavilion, for both aperitifs and night-caps. They always came with taro crisps and some lovely olives, but we found it took an average of 25 minutes for the drinks to arrive after our order.  But of course we really missed care-free casual drinking in the resort’s public spaces!

Amanpuri has a stand-alone spa pavilion, with bespoke treatment rooms; many with two massage tables/beds. We each had two holistic massages included in our package, and I had an extra one on top.  For a long time I’ve been of the opinion that Thais and Balinese give the best massages; my Amanpuri Spa experience maintained that opinion.

We asked Amanpuri’s front office team to design an itinerary for us to go on a private tour of the island.  A spotless BMW 7 series was used for the tour, so we had a very comfortable day out; the car had wifi and much-needed aircon.  I was impressed with how attractive Phuket is, having mistakenly thought it was a concrete jungle, and we got to see a fair bit of the island and its key attractions.  We did not visit the dolphin park or the tiger park, we didn’t stop at bars or restaurants with chained young elephants outside, we didn’t go elephant trekking or elephant bathing.  One has to applaud Amanpuri for designing a tour activity which did not take advantage of captive animals! #responsibletourism

The friendly front office team also curated a private yacht charter excursion for us too, but I ended up cancelling it because I was worried about getting too sunburnt (my hospital warned against).  The team was always there to help us plan to make the most of our short break.

All too soon our six night/seven days break was at an end. On our final day it rained the whole time – but who cares?!  We leisurely packed our things and took the hotel BMW to the airport just after 3pm.  Many of our favourite staff members came to see us off, which was heartwarming.  We had an amazing level of friendly service during our stay, which made me wonder if it was just because they’d missed foreigners for so long. But having met them, I think everyone will be looked after just as well as we were.  9.5/10 Half a point was lost because of the perception that the pavilions were too close together, and privacy was compromised. But it’s quite possible that this was only a perception rather than fact.