Know Before You Go: Amangiri (Canyon Point, Utah)
Breathtaking vistas, outdoor adventures, restorative experiences, incredible service, moments of pure serenity, and nourishing food and drink all made for a truly remarkable visit. We left feeling like there was still so much more we wanted to do here, including visiting the surrounding National Parks. We can't wait to return someday, hopefully as a family since we know the kids would love it here as much as we did.
OVERALL RATING
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Exceptional
Overview
At-a-Glance
Date of stay: November 2020
Length of stay: 2 nights / 3 days
Trip type: Couples trip
Property type: Luxury desert mesa resort with stunning design catering primarily to adults, welcoming to children
Tailor-made for: Outdoor enthusiasts and wellness seekers alike
Highlights
Unique-in-the-world combination of thousands of acres of stunning, untouched desert mesa landscapes with awe-inspiring, low-impact architecture and design
Hundreds of miles of hiking trails through Canyon Point, including direct access to desert mesas, via ferrata, Cave Peak Stairway, arroyos, slot canyons, and Broken Arrow Cave with ancient cave paintings
Aman Spa water pavilion with steam room, sauna, plunge pool, and heated outdoor step pool
All-inclusive with great dining options and endless activities
Good to Know
The all-inclusive rate is steep and while the resort offers much to do, many of the activities come at an extra cost
Prepare to be surrounded by selfie-taking Instagram influencers, a crowd that strikes quite a contrast to the low-key, natural setting
Wine program isn't great for how well-funded the property is (not a great selection and overpriced)
Remote location is a plus in many ways, but makes the resort difficult to get to by commercial flight or car (there is a helipad onsite)
Location & Setting
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After a 296-mile scenic drive from Phoenix Sky Harbor airport, we saw the small, "blink and you’ll miss it" sign for Amangiri off the highway. From there, we reached an electronic gate, then a pioneer-style guard shack for guest temperature and health screening. We passed by the dystopian-looking exterior wall of the resort and reached the front entrance where front desk and bell staff greeted us personally by name. The attentive bell staff asked us what we wanted brought to our room from the car and then we were whisked away for check-in.
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Property & Grounds
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The resort comprises two distinct properties on 600 breathtaking acres of red-rock country in the Colorado Plateau. The main property, Amangiri, offers a collection of 34 suites, each with an outdoor lounge and fireplace complete with expansive desert views (some with private plunge pools or roof terrace), and a 4-bedroom Mesa Home. The newest property, Camp Sarika, offers 10 1- and 2-bedroom tented pavilions reminiscent of glamping, but to call them tents would be a huge mistake. If you've ever dreamed of staying in a luxury wilderness safari tented camp in some far-off place, Camp Sarika brings that experience to Utah.
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Each property has its own restaurant, lounge, pool, spa, and fitness center. Guests of the resort can access all amenities across both properties and complimentary private transportation is provided between the two properties at any time on request, if you don't feel like walking. The resort also has a complimentary BMW 7 series program for venturing off property (2 cars, first come, first served).
Like all Aman resorts, the properties incorporate high-design elements to blend in with and extend the beauty of their surroundings. For example:
• Amangiri resort structures were built with pink desert sand mixed in so buildings would blend in to surrounding landscape.
• Resort lighting was designed for minimal light pollution at night so guests could enjoy undiluted views of the night sky.
• All tap water comes from a well 1,100 feet below ground, filtered, to reduce single-use plastics.
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Room
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We booked a Desert View Suite directly through the hotel. Upon arrival, we were upgraded to a Terrace Suite (pictured above and first two images below) featuring an open floor plan, an expansive bathroom with dual rain shower heads and a large soaking tub, a large outdoor back terrace with picture perfect mesa views and outdoor lounge chairs and beds (perfect for stargazing and spotting shooting stars), a fire pit (perfect for s’mores), a largely-shaded private front terrace (with outdoor dining seating for 2). We also toured a 1-Bedroom Tented Pavilion at Camp Sarika which was incredible, more details below (last 4 pictures below).
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Suite amenities included:
• In-room check-in available due to COVID
• Complimentary COVID health kits
• In-room complimentary snacks and drinks, refilled daily
• In-room woven hat, umbrella, hiking stick, pouch, and flashlight for use during stay
• Welcome house-made lemonade in room
• Welcome cheese and berries with honey and jam
• Branded aluminum water bottle gifts
• Locally-crafted dream catcher (gift on day of departure)
We were also given a personal tour of a 1-bedroom tented pavilion at Camp Sarika which had recently opened. The tented pavilions are unreal, and offer:
• Completely enclosed pavilion with full modern amenities
• Private covered parking
• Beautiful views of the eastern mesa
• Large terrace and outdoor living area with fire pit, accessible from the living area through sliding glass doors
• Private heated plunge pool, outdoor daybed, and telescope
• One bedroom with king-size bed, or twins as needed
• Bathroom with twin vanities, deep soaking tub, rain shower and private outdoor shower
• Indoor living and dining area
• Personal bar
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Service
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Upon arrival, we were greeted at our car by the valet team, who promptly took our car and luggage, and Ashley, who brought us inside and gave us a welcome tour of the property, overview of how to access dining and activities, and tour of our Suite. There was also a refreshing welcome house-made lemonade in room on arrival (pictured above). The service at Amangiri was incredibly thoughtful and personalized at every turn.
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The service at Amangiri was incredibly thoughtful and personalized, for example:
• Being greeted by name on arrival and given a personal tour of the property and suite
• At the main restaurant, blankets were laid out on each outdoor chair after dark with vertical heaters for each table
• During our (postponed) anniversary dinner at the main restaurant, they brought us a special happy anniversary cake (and saved the other half of it for us for the next night we dined there)
• When walking by the staff member setting up the nightly s'mores station, I commented how they looked great and I was sorry to miss out -- they then delivered a gourmet s’mores kit to our room that could have fed a family of 8
• They provided chocolate-covered strawberries, candles, and rose petal decorations in our room on the evening of our anniversary dinner to surprise us when we returned
• At breakfast one morning, we noticed an empty table was being served food and drinks; we asked the server and she said 2 guests were on a run that morning and called ahead to request their breakfast ready at a certain time so they could eat quickly then make it to their horseback ride in time
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Dining
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We ate most of our meals at the Amangiri main restaurant but had lunch once and evening drinks once at Camp Sarika. Both restaurants were excellent in their own way. Amangiri restaurant features a tasting menu for dinner, including their signature "Spirit of the Journey" tasting menu where each course inspired by local Native American cultures and comes with a story of what inspired it. The tasting menus are flexible and you don’t have to order the same menus / courses for the whole table, you can pick and choose your courses. However, the wine program was only “so-so” by comparison in both selection and price — we would bring our own wine next time.
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The resort offers three dining options, all serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner:
• Amangiri main restaurant - larger, more formal restaurant
• Camp Sarika restaurant - smaller, more casual restaurant; new menu daily, announced each morning.
• In-room dining
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Family Services & Amenities
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Amangiri offers plenty of family-friendly activities, kids menus / kid-friendly dining options, and kids receive a welcome amenity of sport backpacks filled with kids plushes and other goodies. Kids will also love spotting the wild bunnies around the property.
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Although the resort is primarily designed for couples travel (e.g., no connecting rooms / suites, rooms are not especially kid-friendly), like all Aman resorts, Amangiri caters extremely well to families with young children. There were a few families while we were there with young children and staff were great with the kids.
Bathrooms located in common areas include step stools for kids and accessible stalls good for families.
Camp Sarika is designed to be the more family-friendly property of the two.
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Activities
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The focal feature of Amangiri is its beautiful large outdoor pool wrapping around a large rock formation (pictured, right), which the entire resort was designed around. The pool and hot tub are open 24 hours, with the pool heated to 86 degrees. There are hundreds of outdoor, adventure, wellness, and cultural activities onsite or nearby, including complimentary offerings and experiences available for a fee. Additional highlights for us included the extensive hiking trails, ancient cave carvings, and remnants of a filming location for the movie Broken Arrow.
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Daily and nightly complimentary programs include: s’mores, wildlife demos, morning and afternoon hikes, yoga
Activities available for a fee include via ferratas and mesa stairways, horseback riding, hot-air ballooning; guided tours of national parks, local attractions, and Native American cultural spots; airplane and helicopter tours.
During our stay, we did mostly self-guided hiking around the property. Hiking here is amazing and there are a range of trails across skills levels, most of which would be categorized as moderately strenuous to strenuous, so guests interested in hiking should pack accordingly. Guests are provided with trail maps with aerial photography. Hiking and mountain climbing trails are expanded each year during annual resort closure.
Our hike to slot canyons and the studhorse trail were highlights. We also did a fantastic guided group hike to Broken Arrow Cave (named after movie that was filmed there). This was the Broken Arrow filming site and included a tour of a magnificent cave with Native American paintings and carvings that were thousands of years old. There is a resident artist who makes paintings in the cave, including the 2 murals in main building, as well as other art for sale in the resort boutique: painting using minerals, clay, and meteorite dust from the cave and surrounding area.
The boutique has lots of athletic and woven apparel and high-end local artisan items.
November was Native American Heritage month and there were many themed activities offered on property throughout the month, including a Navajo live rug weaving demonstration (all guests who stayed during November were entered in a raffle for the rug) and a Navajo flutist playing in the Amangiri main restaurant on Saturday nights.
The resort also promoted an Adopt a Navajo Elder program to guests upon checkout.
A full listing of Amangiri experiences can be found via this link to their website.
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Wellness
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The resort was designed with a focus on wellness. Our afternoon at the Amangiri Spa was a highlight. We booked a wonderful Nourishing and Grounding Ritual Couples Spa Treatment, which followed a relaxing 30 minutes in the heated outdoor step pool in the water pavilion (pictured) with no one else in sight.
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Wellness and fitness facilities include:
• Five spa treatment rooms (including one double)
• Two outdoor treatment terraces
• Water pavilion with steam room, sauna, plunge pool and heated outdoor step pool
• Flotation pavilion (indoor) with private relaxation area and finishing salon
• Extensive spa menu of massages and beauty treatments
• Fitness center with full range of cardiovascular and strength-training equipment
• Pilates and yoga studio
The main restaurant menu featured plenty of wellness-focused dining options, including fresh-pressed juices.
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Wow Factor
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Not only is this place endlessly Instagrammable, but it delivered on the Wow Factor with an incredible service experience and an abundance of enticing and unique activities on and around the property. However, the deluge of selfie-taking influencers detracted slightly from what otherwise felt like a spiritual and grounded place.
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Value
💛💛💛+
While staying here was a singular experience that we would do again in a heartbeat, it came at a steep price, even in low season and in the midst of a pandemic. Although much is included in the "all-inclusive" Amangiri experience, it would be difficult to stay at the resort without incurring additional charges for alcohol, premium activities, spa, etc..
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Overall
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Barring becoming an astronaut, visiting this stunning property is as close to an out-of-this-world experience as one can get.
Rating Legend*
💛💛💛💛💛 Exceptional
💛💛💛💛 Notable
💛💛💛 Standard
💛💛 Substandard
💛 Unsatisfactory
*All ratings are relative to similar-class properties
