Aman-I-Khas is a tented camp hidden on the border of a rough road in the vicinity of magical Ranthambore National Park, Rajasthan (
Here, you will find very few huge tents; no one can disturb you considering the low capacity of hosting. But first, thanks to a selected clientele who is looking for privacy and quietness rather than big bars and restaurants, disco, rough laughs, animation for the children, etc… Some of you looking for this, avoid any Aman but this one in particular.
Here, you wake up early, dine early and enter communion with Mother Earth. First, because Mother Earth is chilly, cold, frozen in winter (the best season) and you will feel it into your entire body despite the numerous efforts of the hotel: heater surrounding you for diner and hot-water bottle on your legs, blanket while around the central bone fire for a pre-dinner cocktail, electrical blanket in your bed. Actually, do not look after your appearance while there: hot-water bottle and three beige blankets will make you like Auntie reading her Reader’s Digest in her cottage with her wheat porridge by a Monday morning in deep Lake Country… Anyway, That was funny to watch for some guests going to diner overdressed on an African safari style Versace/Gucci revisited… I think they are now in a revitalization process after having been frozen. And I was said tigers did appreciate this accident as they did not frankly like that strong Dolce&Gabanna fragrance when those guests entered the privacy of Ranthambore park…
Let us come back to the tents. They are huge organized around a central day bed. On the left, a vast bathroom with two vanities and areas to store your clothes. On the right, a big bathtub with, hidden by cream curtains, a shower and the restrooms. On the back, the bedroom. When entering the tent, you will have a comfortable area with a table, outdoor daybed and sofas. Nature surrounds this and you will only perceive your neighbors. Furniture are the one you can imagine in a safari tent: wood travel desk and so on, all in light teck tones with cream textiles for the tent. That is absolutely perfect. Perhaps one could mention a lack of storing areas. I must mention bath products which are just excellent with a fresh peppermint spirit. Each tent gets his batman, say butler, who very quickly learn your habits even the small ones. They are on working on a very high level even if, sometimes, we might have miscommunication because of the English level. But this is a detail.
Public areas are similar to your tent: a tent for the library, a tent for the diner area, a ten for the spa. Sounds normal for a tented camp! The library is comfortable even if the choice of books is weak. In the spa, you will be treated by excellent, professional and simple therapists. They quickly understand what you need and are pro-active. Their hands are precious after a three hour safari on rough roads or even a year face-to-face with a computer.
The food is good but might get some improvement. It is difficult to say what is the problem but there is one. Perhaps a question of capacity of choice. As there are only a few guests, the chef is not editing a menu; he will present you what he cooked at the beginning of the dinner. Actually he did once only; he let your batman doing so quite all the time. I think that he should meet every guests during the day to propose dishes. That could be difficult to manage but this is done in other Aman and it works. There would be no problem not to get your usual beefsteack but communication is missing there. My feeling was we eated always the same things. Desserts as well should be improved: I would just mention sorbets with the same two flavors everyday. Well, I know, I am French and food is important. Nevertheless, the majority of vegetables and fruits you eat there are coming from the hotel organic garden. Visiting it is a charming walk to discover they also have their own mushrooms caves!
There is a small pool with birds coming. That is very nice for sunbathing when returning from a morning safari. But not possible to swim in winter. If you cannot swim, you can have a look on the two Amanfamily crocodiles resting on the shores of the resort pond…
Activities strongly focus on safaris. Even if we did not get the chance to see only one tiger, the park is quite nice. This is not Africa – I mean for the very public areas we visited. There is a very old and fascinating fort overlooking a wildlife lake. That makes this area so magic. The strong issue in the park is its visit management: too much people with noisy enormous cars, called “green elephant” by some of the best guides. My best souvenir is not with this first basic visit. I DID prefer walking a guide waiting for some warning calls done by the preys when they see a tiger or a leopard. That is fascinating. And what about that trip to privatized lake where our batman organized a light drink. That is Aman: doing tailored activities in hidden places.
And I must finish with G and D, managers of the camp. They managed hotels in Africa and they DO know what is safari. G is one the key worldwide wildlife guide who can bring impressive knowledge on the animals you can observe. D is adorable and brings that touch of absolute sweetness to the property. Thank you again for your welcome.
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