We arrived on January 21 and I am writing this review from Villa 21 (where the prior reviewer also stayed). Many of the reviews made references to the insects, so I will start with this. Yes, there are ants on the floor of the villa. While I would be shocked at the same number of ants at a room in Manhattan or Tokyo, this is, after all, deep in the East Bali jungle. If they really bother you, they already have bug spray and repellant (organic) in your room.

All of the remaining aspects of the room were so flawless, even the ants didn't bother me. I stayed at Amanpulos several years ago, and I was looking forward to my second stay at an Aman. I was not disappointed. I was met at the airport after getting out of my gate and before passport control. We were whisked through visas and baggage with no problem (my flight got in at 1 am but there was no issue with Aman). We were quickly checked in and found ourselves in our room no problem.

The location of the resort is unique. The villas are literally draped over a cliff, with walkways set atop piers about 20 feet over the jungle. I would not sweat over getting an ocean view, as you are perched about 100 meters above sea level (it's a walk down to the beach).

Breakfast is ordered a la carte and there are no buffets. Which was great. My very first breakfast, I think I started to get the zen of Aman. It's not that Aman restaurants have some famous rock star chef. But you can taste, see, hear and feel this uncompromising and awe-striking attentiveness and attention to detail that just takes your breath away and wonder why no other hotel can do this. And all this came from a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon. The eggs were whipped perfectly...I could go on and on but I am sure others have said enough. The entire staff from the Manager on down really care about the guests and somehow they have not ended up jaded. I have spent three days here and I would recommend it to everyone.

The location is a bit different -- unlikeNusa Dua or Jimbaran, this is not a typical beach destination. The beach itself faces east, so there are no picturespque sunsets. But there is something to be said for being at an ultra-luxe hideaway resort at a part of Bali that no one has really heard about.

The excursions on offer are fine, I did the scuba thing also, but focused more on the fishing for my six year old son. All of the staff were very helpful, and they were trained very well. No one was making it obvious they wanted tips.

Here's one innovation I really appreciated. At all of the meals, and for all of the excursions, there was nothing to sign. No blanks for the tips to fill in on the receipt. I really like this idea. I am going to tip of course, but not having to sign something at room service or for the breakfast, etc., was really refreshing, and something I think all hotels should and could adopt really easily.

My unconditional compliments to Ms. Tracy Atherton, the General Manager, and her unparalleled staff. You have all of us wondering why all the other hotel chains in the hotel just can't "get it" like you guys do.

Absolutely beautiful, secluded villa resort of highest standard. Never been to an Aman resort before, but we were most impressed with all aspects: location is beautiful in a rainforest area, close to a secluded beach (own watersports staff with no doubt many activities available), our villa was large, wonderfully furnished and above all service was exceptional and very friendly, as is often the case on Bali.
Would definitely recommend for couples, families, honeymooners...

This was our second stay at an Aman Resort and it was again a wonderful experience. We first spent 8 days at the Intercontinental Resort in Jimbaran which was a huge family resort. The Intercon suited our 9yr old son well as the grounds were large and he could play and make friends with the many kids there. However, it's in the gut of Bali tourist area so the traffic was horrific and the environment is far less natural and beautiful as the outer areas.

We were ready for a change. Amankila sent 2 cars to pick up my family, luggage, and surfboards. It was a 1.5hr drive to the resort; the first 1hr was spent in traffic in the Sanur area but once we got past Sanur the driving was smooth and scenary was enjoyable. Upon arrival our bags were taken to our rooms and we were checked in at our villa #21. Some tastey welcome drinks were served and everyday there were complimentary treats on the mini bar. The villa had a wonderful ocean view, was clean simple and tastefully done. Aman style is not gaudy it's simple stylish and practical. The room had everything we needed yet no TV which actually was a very nice change as we had a lot of quality family time to chat and read together.

A few things came up with the room but nothing major; the windows do not close completely tight so there is a crack between the frames; you will need to use the window screens or else insects will enter your room. We didn't know about this the first night and had several friends enter the room at night when the lights are on. Second is #21 has a wonderful ocean view but it also has the staircase right in front of the front veranda. It didn't bother us as we rarely saw anyone walk by and we really don't care if people see us walking around the room half naked; but for those who do care you would want to shut the front shutters whenever you change clothes. Finally, I think whenever the villa is cleaned an insect spray is used and it causes insects to come out of the cracks and several dead insects end up lying around the room. One day we came back to our villa and found a lot of dead insects in our room plus a bunch of half dead ones crawling around. My wife absolutely goes crazy when she sees cockroaches and she saw a lot of them. Still it didn't ruin our stay at all. It's part of Bali. My cell phone got no reception in the villa; this is good and bad but I had to work one day so I camped out in the library for 3 hours. The library is a nice small comfortable place to get a little work done.

Food: we ate all our meals at the resort. We ate one lunch down at the beach poolside, all of our breakfasts at the breakfast restaurant next to the upper pools and all of our dinners at the upper restaurant. No complaints on the meals at all. Service was very good, food well prepared, and you could and should ask for your food to be prepared any way you want. We often ordered our fish and meats with the sauce on the side just because the sauces can be hit and miss and my son doesn't eat spicy foods yet. We found the fresh steamed fish with steamed green vegetables (not on the menu) to be our favorite. We learned at Amanpuri you can order anything cooked anyway you want so we did. My son was happy with kids pastas for most of his meals. I thought the selection on the menu lacked some of the International flare we usually find in Bali but we didn't get bored of the food as we only stayed for 4 days. One week would have caused us to get creative with the menu. Again, service was excellent and we never heard NO during our entire stay.

Pools: the upper tier pools are really special and we spent a lot of time swimming in all 3 pools. The water in the pools is crystal clear and the views are spectacular. I like how the pools are shallow on both ends and gradually go deeper in the middle; what a wonderful design. My son was in heaven and having a ball. We were a bit conscience about the other guests as few of them had kids so we didn't want to disturb them. This might be an issue if your kids are loud. The upper pools are more quiet with the private vales surrounding the pools. The beach pool and beach might be better for kids to let loose.

Beach: the beach is private and has several beach vales which I highly recommend. The vales are very private and the beach staff will look after you very well. We played around with the boogey boards in the ocean and I took out the SUP board for a ride. The beach boys played soccer with my son which was nice. The water is not very clear but warm and safe. The sand on the beach is like dark sugar and clean. One downer about Bali is the pollution (rubbish) in the ocean, beach, and around town. It's are real shame and the gov't really should do something about it as it's very ugly at times. We spent half our time at the beach pool and beach and the other half at the upper pools.

Carts/Stairs: #21 was well positioned for the hotel. It was a short nice walk to reception, restaurants and pools. The beach however can be a trek and although we never did it on foot one guest told us not to as it's a workout. We took the carts to the beach. The carts are wonderful and come within 5 minutes.

Morning Cruise/Snorkeling Tour: we highly recommend this. We joined 7 other guests for an Aman boat cruise and snorkeling tour out of Padang Bai which is a 10 minute drive away. The boat is interesting, staff very friendly, and the snorkeling is very easy, safe and you'll see a lot of fish. After snorkeling, you come out of the ocean and a nice lunch is waiting for you. The snorkeling is decent but not world class WOW material. One suggestion I would have is for the boat staff to help beginners more by explaining the basics about snorkeling. I think a 5-10 minute on the boat explanation on how to snorkel would help ease some of the anxiety beginners have. We are experienced snorkelers and jumped right in the ocean but noticed some guests struggling as it was their first time. The most important issue is for the guest to feel safe and enjoy the fish; they can't do that if they don't know what to do. I've operated dive tours before and that was our goal; if the guest feels safe enjoys the ocean and fish it's magical and they want to come back again and again. If they have a bad experience, it's almost like a traumatic event. The ocean is like that.

Staff: as i said the staff were very helpful and our needs were always taken care of. The drivers and airport staff were very helpful as the Amankila staff took us all the way to immigration. The staff managed to go staight to the Garuda window and ask them to open up a closed window and serve us first despite the cue. I felt a little guilty but went with the flow. Tracy, the resort manager, greeted us on arrival and checked in on us periodically. She also sent us beautiful flowers to our villa; the flowers had a wonderful fragrance. Thanks Tracy.

Spa Treatments: my wife and I both enjoyed a spa treatment during our stay. My massage was with Gusti and he is just insanely good. Gusti is an elder local health guru. Gusti is soft spoken and says very little but you can tell he oozes with confidence in his ability. He worked my body and took out all of the knots I had. It was seriously one of the best massages I've ever had. My massage took place at the massage pavillion which is just a converted villa. My wife also enjoyed her treatment; she said it was also one of the best she's had and she's had a lot. Her treatment took place at our villa so my son and I left the villa for a few hours to give her privacy; this was a bit weird but worked out just fine. Highly recommend the spa treatment and if you like strong massages request Gusti.

As we traveled with our 9yr old son, we found 4 days perfect at the Amankila. My son didn't get bored at all. However, a week may be a bit much for young kids. The resort is small and quaint. We enjoyed meeting other guests and you'll see them everyday during meal times.

Looking forward to our next Aman experience; it's really special.

This is a resort to go to if you'd like to get a bit of true Balinese culture but want Aman standards. Excursions are fantastic around this region. Food was not consistent and the rooms were a bit dated. But the hospitality of the management and staff as well as holistic feel of this location and architecture can not be underestimated. Highly recommed private dinner in the local hills as well as boat trip around the region. As with all Amanresorts in Bali, three nights would be sufficient in appreciating the beauty and feel of the particular location in the Island.