Amangiri

A magical place - the stunning scenery is really spiritual. Food is great and service is attentive. Sadly we have been priced out. Their rates have zoomed up to where even well-off people will pause. (Jared and Ivanka were photographed there a few months ago so you get the price level.). If money is no object, this place is for you - and it IS very special. We miss it. (Note: This site only lets you go back to January, we last stayed at least 3 years go.)

Came for Thanksgiving and our 30th anniversary with our 4 young adults. Beautiful, relaxing, did lots of hiking, rode horses, canyon walking tour, spa treatments, pools etc. We had an awesome time together. Rooms had everything we needed including a clothing steamer, which we used because we had a special event & luncheon to celebrate our anniversary. Evening before there were candles, rose pedals, a flower arrangement, bubble bath surrounded by more rose pedals, and a fire when we returned from the Thanksgiving dinner. Honestly, no complaints.

Setting and hotel is beautiful but the food is really bad. Even my daughter could not eat anything from the kids menu except for pizza. Powdered mac and cheese for 5k per night hotel room. Just wrong. They really need a good barista. I’ve had better coffee at Marriott. The canyons around hotel are beautiful but hotel itself needs to have better service and MUCH BETTER FOOD!

We booked our stay hoping for a pampering luxurious experience, but we were sadly disappointed. When we arrived, we were greeted by the resort manager who brought us into the lounge. We were greeted by staff and served overly sweet lemonade. Our room wasn’t ready, so we were invited to sit by the pool and relax. While we were offered water immediately, it took 10-15 minutes for someone to take a drink order (They not busy as there were only 2-3 other couples there and it was a Tuesday). When our room wasn’t ready, we were brought over by a staff member who gave us a tour of the property on the way. We noticed more used towels strewn by the hot tub and preceding lounge. There were also used glasses and empty wine bottles. The room was lovely, but was missing some essentials. For example, there were robes and towels galore, but only one roll of toilet paper and there was no price list for spa services (it also was not online). The floors to the shower were very slippery (I almost fell a few times!), there was no blackout shade and the a/c only cooled to 70 degrees. They also did not extra universal chargers which would have been nice. The next day as we were returning to the resort after a day out, there were used towels and a banana peel strewn on a table in the main entry. The lack of staffing issue persisted for the remainder of our stay. On our last day, at 4pm all of the but one of loungers were vacant, but not refreshed. And again, nobody came by to ask if we wanted drinks or food. Speaking of meals, while the food was great, the restaurant service was anything but. We had made reservations for each night of our stay at the property as was suggested by the staff. We arrived on-time and there were several empty tables at 7pm. While we were seated relatively quickly, a couple we met at the hotel waited 45 minutes to be seated. Once at our table, we waited for 10 minutes for someone to come to our table. After putting in a cocktail request with our server, nothing arrived for 20 minutes. Because no staff members came by the table, I walked up to the manager to inquire. While he was apologetic, there was no follow up at our table for 10 minutes later when the cocktail arrived. A few minutes later, our main courses showed up, but my chicken dish was shrimp and lukewarm warm at best. Our server was nowhere to be found and by the time we found a staff person who could assist, my husband was halfway through his meal and I had lost my appetite. When we got up to leave, the server and manager finally came by with a second cocktail (too little, too late). Finally, we received no follow-up afterwards. While I don’t expect someone to follow me around throwing rose petals before my feet, I do expect a clean, well-staffed experience from a 5-star luxury resort, especially with the outrageous price tag attached to Amangiri.

Amangiri is a place I enjoyed for its peaceful solitude in a natural environment. We stayed 5 nights and were most impressed throughout the whole time by the abundant staff who were all friendly, attentive, responsive and very knowledgeable. Anytime we had a question about surroundings, food, things to do, they either knew the answer or immediately worked to get an answer. A few times, we had staff drive us places for off-site tours and each one was a well-spoken storyteller, telling us about the area, about Navajo Nation customs and history, about local sports and activities, and about geology. All were entertaining and engaging. Meals: there were always healthy, tasty choices available, which included vegetarian selections, and the vegetable dishes were really good. The 'proteins' were all really good, too. I heard others praising their steaks, but my favorite dinner was the Colorado River trout, that was moist inside with a perfectly crispy skin, and I liked it so much, I had it twice. Breakfasts included options one could grab quickly like fruit and yogurt, toast, bagels, or one could order from a selection of smoothies or typical 'full' breakfasts from the menu. The strawberry/banana smoothie, and the cast iron pancake were my favorite menu breakfast items. The lunches were good, too, but we found that if we skipped lunch and were hungrier, we savored our dinner more! Solo on-site activities: a real highlight for me was having 12+ miles of hiking trails on property, as well as guided activities available. Each morning, I enjoyed getting out at first light and each afternoon before dinner I went to explore a different trail before the meal, and the geology and terrain and flora were diverse and interesting - different in each direction, with plenty of hills to climb, sand to hike through, rocks to climb. There are interpretive signs installed to identify plants or explain geologic or historic features. I particularly enjoy solitude and there was plenty of solitude on the trails. Guided group on-site activities: each day, there were at least 2-3 guided activities on-site (60-90 min. hikes, wildlife demonstration, etc.) with knowledgeable guides. I particularly enjoyed an afternoon guided hike on the Coyote Trail, which I had already hiked solo, but I learned a lot more with our guide, Maya (spelling?) from Adventure Partners, who was so enthusiastic about answering questions about the geology we were seeing, the plants, and explaining the cryptobiotic soil...his guiding was a highlight. Off-site add-on Guided Activities: 3 slot canyon tour: everyone in our family considered this a highlight of the whole trip. Christy, a Navajo guide, was excellent, not only helping us enjoy seeing the slot canyons, but showing us how to set up our phones to take better photos of them. Lake Powell Boat tour/rainbow bridge hike: We were delighted to take a river tour with Captain John of Adventure Partners. He was so enthusiastic, personable, knowledgeable, sharing about the landscape, types of boats, river history, plants. We heard that a longer tour would get us past the narrower, busier and choppier part of the lake to where it would be calmer with more solitude, so took a 5 hour tour with him and we thoroughly enjoyed it. There were options to choose from about length of tour and activities to do, such as paddle boarding, hiking, etc. We chose the 5 hour tour to see a longer portion of the river and the changes in terrain, as well as hike to see Rainbow Bridge, one of the largest natural bridges in the world. Captain John was a fantastic tour guide who I would try to have as a guide again if I return sometime!