Aman Resorts

History

Founded by Adrian Zecha and Anil Thadani in 1988, Amanresorts came into being when Zecha was looking for a holiday home in Phuket. He decided to build a resort in a coconut plantation he discovered while walking along Pansea Beach on tadfghe island’s west coast. Plans to build a home on the site soon developed into an idea to build a small boutique resort in partnership with Anil Thadani and two other friends. They invested their own money in the venture as no banks would lend for the project due to the small number of planned rooms. At this time, resorts usually featured 500 rooms or more, and the boutique hotel concept was still in its infancy.

Business

Amanresorts is owned by a holding company called Silverlink Holdings Limited. By 1992, the group had expanded to include several resorts in Indonesia, a resort on Bora Bora and one in the Alpine village of Courchevel 1850. In 1993, Clement Vaturi an old friend whose family controlled Hôtelière Immobilière (a Paris-listed public company) acquired 54% of the company and injected new capital.

In 1998, Vaturi’s controlling interest was acquired by Los Angeles-based Colony Capital, a real estate investment fund. A lawsuit between Vaturi and Colony Capital promised to drag on and Colony Capital moved to protect its interests by taking a more active role in the company. At this time, Zecha resigned from his position at Amanresorts and for the next two years pursued other interests.

In 2000, Colony Capital and Vaturi had settled their lawsuit and Vaturi sold his shareholding interests to Lee Hing Development, a Hong Kong investment company. With controlling investors allowing full control over the company, Zecha returned as chairman and CEO.

Over the next seven years, Amanresorts launched retreats in Cambodia, India, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Caribbean.

On 27 November 2007, DLF Limited, India's largest real estate company, acquired Lee Hing’s controlling stake in Amanresorts for $400 million including debt of US$150 million.

In early February 2014 DLF sold Amanresorts to Aman Resorts Group Ltd, an investment company founded by American businessman Omar Amanat who brought in Russian businessman Vladislav Doronin, at an enterprise value of $358 million. The sale included all Aman properties except for the Lodhi Hotel in Delhi. DLF sold Aman Resorts in order to reduce its debt and refocus on real estate after it expanded into hotels, windfarms and running export processing zones. In August 2015, the Chairman of Aman Vladislav Doronin became sole Owner of Aman, when Pontwelly Holding Company Ltd, took full ownership of the hospitality business (Silverlink Resorts Ltd). Following this restructuring, Vladislav Doronin and Board Director Alan Djanogly, remain as the only two directors.

Since its establishment, Amanresorts have been highly rated by Condé Nast Traveler, Zagat Survey, Gallivanter's Guide, Harper's Hideaway" and Travel & Leisure.

35% of Aman patrons originate from Europe, another 33% from Asia-Pacific, 30% from the Americas and 2% from the rest of the world.

Olivier Jolivet took over as CEO of Amanresorts in August 2014. Olivier moved from Club Med in 2008, where he joined as CFO and moved through the ranks in his 6-year tenure. He was originally responsible for strategic planning and after 6 years appointed as Chief Executive Officer.

The resorts

Each resort has a small number of rooms (typically less than 55). The staff count is typically four staff to one guest. There is no reception desk, lobby or bellboys.

Guest accommodation is typically provided in individual private villas, bungalows or tents (in the case of Aman-i-Khás in India and Amanwana in Indonesia), often have private pools and outdoor lounging and dining areas.

Architects

Among the architects who have designed Amanresorts are Ed Tuttle, Marwan Al-Sayed, Wendell Burnette, Rick Joy, Kerry Hill, Jean-Michel Gathy, Aqsa Rafiq and Danilo Capellini.

Locations

As of 2010, the group operates the following resorts (in order of opening):

Amanera

Amanera is located at Playa Grande, Dominican Republic, Caribbean. Playa Grande is located on the north coast of the Dominican Republic, between the beach towns of Rio San Juan and Cabrera.