Amanwella

This was my 6th Aman experience and not the best one. The positive’s: I arrived in the evening so didn’t get a sense of how stunning the beach was. One of the best I have seen in Sri Lanka was a combination of golden sands, blue water and palm trees. Grounds are nice, villas are posh GM Carl, checks on you daily. There was a strong start to the Aman hospitality at check-in. They do not have TVs and their response was, we will happy to instal one. The food was really good in both the beach club and the main restaurant. The reality: Activities are hit or miss due to weather, I appreciate the effort to make sure everything is great, but you need to make the decision to go forward with an experience more than 2 hours before you go. City tour was off brand and the transfers were both bad. The negatives: Going to the hotel the driver was speeding in the rain, coming back another driver had no clue where he was going. We messaged our butler and he basically said he wasn’t working for another 3 hours (not what you want to hear). We stopped at the other Aman to grab a drink and use the facilities. We ran into another manager from Amanwella. He said he came to check on us which was really nice, but he didn’t talk to the driver or see us off to make sure the 2nd half of the drive went smoothly. Which it didn’t.

Our stay at Amanwella was absolutely flawless. From the welcoming and highly attentive staff to the impeccable service in the restaurant and spa, everything was perfectly orchestrated. Kerry Hill’s architectural masterpiece, maintained to the highest standards with recent renovations, retains its timeless elegance even after more than two decades. The serene design, breathtaking infinity pool, and stunning beach created an unforgettable experience. Amanwella truly captures the essence of luxury and tranquility.

The thing that makes Aman unique is the staff some of whom become friends. The entire team at Amanwella went out of their way to help make our trip extraordinary. The highlight of our visit was a surprise and very private beach side dinner planned without us even knowing by Piyumi. She delivered one of the most memorable experiences that we have enjoyed in nearly 40 years of travel. Thank you Piyumi, Mahesh, Nirosh, and the entire Amanwella family for a wonderful experience. You are the best

Reception: The entry was marked with a ceremonial greeting/local prayer from the staff who were courteous enough to show us through the grounds for amenity placement etc. Check in was seamless along with a tour of the place. Lahiru our butler in charge drove us to our villa along with contact information. Stay The entire time we were there (4 nights), it felt as though we were the only two people on the compound. Moments on the premise there was ever a kind face greeting or passing by. The Beach club area was such a treat with life guards ever keeping a keen eye all across the area to ensure full coverage in the event of a forceful current/wave. The Spa also had to get a visit from us as we neared the end of our trip. Both masseuse were on point and had us rejuvenated for the remainder f our stay. Meals The Meals were, to say the least outstanding at every juncture. The turnaround time is about half an hour which for a place of close to 40 villas - was really fast. The service was impeccable - both the set ups as well as the ambience set up. The server in charge of our villa Kasun was ever attentive and went an extra mile to see to it that my wife and I received top caliber treatment along with bursts of surprises to spruce up the romance. Hospitality Room service as well as turn down service was impeccable. The team went an extra mile to ensure we had all the amenities we needed - guest appreciation, sorting our laundry half way through our short stay, turn down service (which I felt was too good that they almost force it on you since they want all guests to leave with a touch of it). Exit The checkout process was easy - allowing for an extension into the late afternoon to accommodate our airport trip and flight times. We had the ceremonial Aman au revoir where the General Manager Sonam and his Assistant GM Prem were present. Outstanding stay all around. Special thanks to the first and foremost, Kasun for making the impossible happen and above all, the Assistant Manager, Mr Prem Chundawat who was ever so available, went out of his away to ensure we were well catered for as well as taking on some near and far requests last minute. We cannot wait to incorporate the Aman brand and experience to our travels in the near future.

Averall a beautiful property where we spent a few relaxing days. There are though two improvement points: 1) breakfast was extremely slow, so long waiting times for the orders are unucceptable, is aman understaffed despite the very high prices (3-4x compared to the anantara nearby). 2) the hotel does not have a gym. What happened to me is that it was not possible to swim in the ocean because of sea condition, I could not swim in the very beautiful and long swimming pool because of unpleasent high water temperature (pool is dark and heats up top 32-34°), you cannot run since the resort is to small, so it is kind of boring. Trasform a suite in a gym, as they did for the spa, would be more than enough. Excellent yoga lessons in the morning.