I will preface this by saying that this was a much needed short escape for us, a couple in our 60s, looking to relax. Not our usual vacation M.O. which is lots of touring, hotel hopping and action packed. we wanted a few days to pamper ourselves and just chill this time. Amanyara is beautiful! it is located on a remote part of the island – about 30 minutes from all the hoopla of Grace Bay. Upon arrival at Amanyara, we took in the incredible zen background as we were welcomed with a refreshing soft drink and escorted by Shane to learn the lay of the land. The property is simply breathtaking. Shane is the ultimate host- warm, friendly, and knowledgeable. thank you, Shane for your hospitality! we booked a special -stay two nights and the third night is free- which was only available in their basic accommodation category. Again, not our usual. m.o.-we tend to splurge on our trips. although we tried to upgrade direct and also through our new virtuoso travel agent, we could not. however, it honestly did not matter. Our tranquility pavilion was amazing! private. beautiful. extremely comfortable including two separate sink areas which is such a plus when getting ready for dinner in the evening. we did have a few glitches at the beginning of our stay. we expressed desire for quiet and privacy, and specifically not to be seated near young loud children (there were so many young children, which surprised us!) and immediately after being seated, a family with two literally screaming toddlers was placed directly across from us. they really should’ve had a family section separate from an adults only section. we did end up moving tables and they placed us in a beautiful private location overlooking the water. We also spoke to the manager, Kaya, and he bent over backwards for the rest of our trip to make sure we were happy-including comping our last nights dinner, which was not necessary, but really appreciated. shout out to Wilmar too who was so attentive and eager to please us. We appreciate it. I really don’t want to harp on any negatives. in a nutshell though, the weak link is the service in some of the areas of the resort. nothing terrible. They just don’t anticipate your needs like some other places where we have been. BUT I would come back to Amanyara in a minute and we plan to do just that and next time with the family. We took a short tour of the 4bedroom villa section and although pricy, it’s incredible. The infinity pool, the beach, the bar, are all fabulous but i must comment on the unbelievable spa treatments my husband and I had. the spa is AMAZING ( and i am a spa /massage junkie so that means a lot!). we had body scrubs, a romantic bath for two followed by 90 minute massages. heaven! amanyara is a special place. in my opinion, you don’t go there for the food- breakfast is good, the rest adequate but nothing special. we are foodies, but this didn’t really bother us. The overall atmosphere and facilities are absolutely worth going there and going back. that coupled with a very short and easy JetBlue flight from JFK, (we recommend the fast track service to get through security quickly) made this just what we needed- a relaxing and enjoyable long weekend getaway.

Nicest hotel in the Carribean. Have been going here for over 10 years. Our favorite hotel in the Carribean. The service is very attentive and amazing. Much improved from our last visit in April 2022. Nolan our butler was a superstar and very attentive. Amazing new improved menus and choices at the restaurants. Surprised my wife and I one morning with a private breakfast on cliff edge overlooking the ocean. One of the nicest beaches anywhere in the world and we travel a lot. Beautiful Pavilions - rooms- all glass overlooking the amazing turquoise waters. The massages at spa were amazing with therapists from Asia. New managers are very attentive. Upgraded the TVs with apple tv in every room. Tennis pros are also great. Recommend highly as the best resort in the Carribean. Can’t wait to come back soon.

Super laid back beautiful place with great service, food and drinks, transportation to nearby places provided, with cool drivers that played fun music for us. A great time!!! Rooms were spacious and clean with great views.

On the way home from our stay my wife and I discussed how we would rate our experience. We decided that of ALL the Caribbean resorts we’d visited (many), Amanyara ranked FIRST in all categories: Beach Room Food Tennis courts Service We love tennis and the well-maintained HarTru courts, some of which were well protected from the breeze, were fabulous. The only inconvenience related to gratuities. Are we supposed to give a tip for every ride to our room, every gesture of service, every time someone brings us tennis balls? That’s work; not relaxation. I wish they either prohibited tipping or collected a percentage of all charges or something so we didn’t have to worry about it. Bottom line: Can’t wait to return.

Short version: unmatchable location and beach; friendly service; great facilities; attention to detail Pros - responsive service (shout-out to Sade, Yessica, Ervin, and kayak instructor among others), treated our 4-year old daughter like a celebrity, beach, private pavilions, great facilities Cons - few service shortcomings, food was good but not great Pre-arrival: booked online directly through the Amanyara website, but will note that it was hard to get a hold of their reservations team via phone or email. I was given some inaccurate information by the Aman reservations number about the location of the pavilions and when asking for quotes over email, took over 24 hours to hear back from them, which led to some of the pavilion types being booked up. However, once I booked, I was able to communicate my requests to the Amanyara team via email and they were more responsive. Arrival: I had arranged a private transfer with car seat, which was a Mercedes-Benz GLS-450 (they had a whole fleet...no range rovers). Vehicle was ready on arrival. Friendly driver offered us cold towelettes and chilled drinks (water, sparkling water, etc.). I mentioned our daughter gets motion sickness and he drove extremely carefully. The road was windy and unpaved for more than half of the 25-minute drive but not nearly as bad as I expected. Upon arriving at the hotel, were greeted at arrival area by team of smiling staff with welcome drinks. bags were whisked away to our room. Sade from the staff gave us a brief tour of the property and of our room. She immediately hit it off with our four year old, who became her biggest fan. Check-in was done in room. Room: We were upgraded to an alcove pavilion, which was located on a lagoon/pond and has a glassed-in sunroom/alcove, thus more inside space than other pavilions. We had the chance to look at a pool pavilion but unless you're planning on swimming in your room most of the time, did not feel it was necessary given proximity of beach and infinity pool. Pavilion was very private--you walked down a long path and down some stairs to the pavilion. There was an outdoor patio with dining table. Our pavilion was walking distance to the main area and a slightly longer walk to beach but some pavilions were definitely a lot farther. We called for the golf cart, especially during night time. Service: they pampered us. Sade at reception was really a standout--went above and beyond. Daughter would ask if Ms. Sade was around every day and wanted to ride shuttle with ms. Sade. She tried to find a Minnie Mouse for my MM obssessed daughter and upon check-out, came by with TWO surprise gift bags of toys. Whenever we had a request, it was met...for example, asked for microwave in room, got it. Asked for room closer to main facilities, got it. Internet was slow in room--they called IT and fixed it. Mentioned dietary restrictions, they were addressed. Most importantly, they made our daughter feel like royalty. They gave her a gift bag on arrival, they then gave her a really cool silicone beach toy set at the kids club, and at checkout, pampered her with an amazing play teaset, t-shirt and crayons. Did I mention that at dinner, they'd bring by crayons and coloring pages and that Yessica brought for her very own pack of crayons and a few extra coloring pages to take home. But, about 20-30% of the staff were kind of indifferent/apathetic looking. Dining: was solid but could be better not five star quality. Main restaurant was open for breakfast and dinner, and beach club for lunch. Bar open for snacks. Could have better variety...maybe one more restaurant or a rotating menu. Menu was not rotating--was told it rotated seasonally. However, the staff were quite flexible. Hats off to Ervin and Yessica who gave us ideas for what to order, and hats off to Chef Daniele for accommodating our dietary restrictions and providing kosher meat! Overall facilities/location: Impeccable design of the main facilities, restaurant and bar--felt like everything was floating on water. we also checked out the clubhouse with tennis courts, pickleball, table tennis, soccer field, basketball, game room, and boxing room. Amazing. Also great that wifi was accessible everywhere, including on the beach all the way up to the water. Beach: beach was beautiful. clearest and most turquoise water I've seen. Upon arriving at beach, attendant would set up umbrella and towels, bringing bucket of ice cold waters. Also came by with fruit skewers. was a little surprised that other than outside shower, no locker rooms/changing rooms around beach or pool. Activities: was pleasantly surprised at how much was included--from nightly movie screening, to free use of nonmotorized sports equipment, kids center (nature discovery center), to fitness facilities. Also, they had 3-4 daily activities (yoga, meditation, kayak lessons, daily free snorkeling trip out on a boat). Hats off to really friendly kayak instructor (can't remember his name but was Claude or something), who also gave me a Hobie cat lesson. We enjoyed using the wading pool and basketball hoop in kids center, and daughter made a bracelet at kids' center. Overall, a lot to keep you busy. Departure: was offered extended check-out so we could stay in room until transfer to airport. Check out was seamless. Farewell was bittersweet. Drive back to airport and trip back home was the hardest part (not wanting to leave). Overall, we loved this trip and can't stop thinking about it. Was it perfect, no? Was it darn close? Yes! We were hesitant to splurge but it really was worth it.