The Aman

This past week, I went on a girl’s outing for my sister’s birthday. I can’t remember the last time I have taken a vacation like that where I didn’t really work. I realized I needed more of that.  Recharging batteries at my age needs to happen more often.

So we went all out. We went to the Aman at Turks and Caicos.  I have wanted to go there for easily a decade. The last Aman we went to was in Utah, and we could see how new ownership was changing things up.  Lots of old-timers were moving on. 

Turks and Caicos beaches are stunning. Should the properties have a bit of a facelift?  For sure, but it isn’t saggy yet.  I hope they do not let things get to that stage. The people who work there are wonderful, but the staff is not as deep, so the service can not be up to the price you are paying. It is not humanly possible. 

We talked about brands on our trip. What happens to the Aman, who a Russian oligarch owns?  All of his properties are frequented by Americans, which is amusing at some level.

Yet, it will be interesting to see how they build out the brand. The Aman can not operate at the level it used to operate at because they are growing, and it is unclear that there are that many humans in the world that can keep all of them afloat at that cost. They will cut corners and become more like a high end Hyatt which is fine, these places are stunning.  The food sucks, and that must be fixed.  

I am curious to see where the Aman ends up and then, of course, who replaces it. There is still an audience for that experience and price, but unfortunately, it is no longer the Aman.