Amanpuri Review

The drive from Phuket airport takes about thirty minutes, and it ends under a Thai roof: a porte-cochère at the top of the property with the resort's own cars drawn up outside, and the whole estate falling away below it toward the sea. Amanpuri is built on a slope. Pavilions sit on the hillside among the palms, the main pool and the restaurants hold the centre, the villas keep to the tip of the peninsula, and Pansea Beach is at the bottom. Raised walkways and stairs stitch it all together through the planting, past lily ponds and frangipani, under the steep grey-tiled roofs with red-lacquered trim that Tuttle drew in the eighties. They have not dated at all. One practical point from the walk: this is a hillside resort, and there are steps between your pavilion and almost everything else. Most guests will never think about it. Anyone who would should tell us at booking, and we will ask the resort to place you accordingly.

The category we were shown is the Premium Ocean Pool Pavilion: 147 square metres inside and out, a king bed, and a palm-shaded terrace with a private pool and an oversized dining sala, all of it pointed at the Andaman Sea. The terrace is the argument for this tier over the Ocean and Deluxe Ocean Pool Pavilions below it. The pool runs along the front edge with the water straight ahead, the sala sits under its own roof with a full table and cushioned seating, and there is room for loungers between the two. You could pass a whole day up here and never go down to the main pool. Inside is the original Amanpuri, and you should know what that means. Hardwood floors polished until they shine, timber ceilings, timber-framed walls, a lattice wall behind the bed, a writing desk with a coffee machine and kettle, and a sitting corner with rattan chairs. It is handsome, and it is dark — heavier and more formal than the pale, glassy look of the resorts built in the decades since. That is Amanpuri's character, not a flaw, but it is the first of the two things to know: if you want white walls and light, this is not the design language. One more point on layout: it is one generous room with a sitting area, not a suite with a living room. For a couple, ideal. For a family, the Two-Bedroom Pool Pavilion or one of the villas is the right shape.

The dressing area is a room in its own right: mirrored lattice panels on every side, a long hanging rail, and a central bench with drawers beneath, built for luggage that arrives for two weeks rather than two nights. The bathroom carries the same lattice through in frosted glass, which softens the light, and holds a deep soaking tub in a timber surround, twin vanities and a separate shower. Everything is kept like new. Amanpuri has been maintained rather than periodically gutted, and after nearly four decades that shows in the joinery.

The centre of the resort is the main pool, the image everyone knows: a long black-tiled pool in a sand-coloured terrace, loungers along both sides, palms overhead and the sea straight ahead. It looks exactly like that in life. Buabok, the southern-Thai restaurant, sits beside it, so lunch by the pool is proper Phuket cooking rather than club-sandwich territory. Below the pool is Pansea Beach, the resort's own crescent of pale sand, with wooden loungers under yellow Thai parasols and Nura, the Mediterranean restaurant, sheltered at the back of the beach. Now the second thing to know. We visited in September, the green season on the Andaman coast: the sea was up and a lifeguard flag was planted on the sand. From May to October, treat the beach as a place to walk and to lunch, and the pools as the place to swim. From November to April the water flattens and the beach comes into its own. Timing is most of the decision at Amanpuri, and it is exactly the part we handle.

The bar is a high timber room — columns, a long counter, low armchairs — with a terrace outside it that looks down over the beach. Dining is spread across the estate: Akari for Japanese, Arva for Italian on a terrace among the palms, Buabok for southern Thai beside the pool, Nura on the sand, the Sunset Terrace for cocktails as the sun goes into the Andaman, and in season the Beach Terrace for wood-fired pizza and the grill. Breakfast and afternoon tea are included in every stay, as are the non-alcoholic drinks in the pavilion. The boutique earns a mention: a timber-vaulted, glass-walled pavilion with resort wear, bags and skincare laid out like a gallery. Go in even if you have no intention of buying.

This is where Amanpuri pulls clear of most beach resorts. The Holistic Wellness Centre has twelve treatment rooms, each with its own shower, restroom and dressing area; a Muay Thai boxing ring; Pilates and yoga studios; an infrared sauna, a steam room and a cold plunge. The gym is as good as any we have walked into at a resort: a glass-walled timber pavilion with the cardio line facing straight out over the Andaman and a full Technogym strength floor behind it. Gym, sauna, steam, cold plunge, daily movement classes and the tennis courts are all included in the rate, and there are padel courts as well. The programmes go past a spa menu. Wellness Immersions run from three nights, or from five in the Intensive version with medical diagnostics, and the Mobility & Recovery Programme built with Novak Djokovic is a three-day retreat. If you train, this is the Phuket resort to choose.

The surprise of the morning. Nobody books Aman for the children, and yet Amanpuri has built a family set-up most dedicated family resorts would envy. The Eco-Beach Discovery Centre takes children from five to twelve — Thai cooking and dance, batik, beach critter safaris, treasure hunts, sand sculpture, yoga and Thai boxing — from a bright, book-lined room. Teenagers get The Hot Spot: a lounge with a foosball table, a games console and beanbags looking out at the beach, a Digital Room for creative work, a rack of skateboards with full protective gear, and outside, a bouldering wall and a skateboard halfpipe under the palms. A junior wellness programme runs from age five. For families this changes the calculation. A Two-Bedroom Pool Pavilion or a villa, the children busy all day, the parents at the wellness centre — at a resort that still feels adult.

Amanpuri is the original for a reason. The architecture has aged into an institution rather than a period piece, the estate is kept to a standard few resorts of its age can claim, the wellness centre and gym would justify the trip on their own, and the family programme is a point of difference no one expects from Aman. Go in knowing two things: the interiors are dark and timber-heavy, and the Andaman has a monsoon — November to April is the beach season. Perfect for: First-time Aman guests who want the archetype, wellness-led stays, families with children of any age, and anyone pairing Bangkok with a beach Skip if: You want a bright, contemporary villa look, a resort without steps, or a guaranteed calm sea in the green season Book the: Premium Ocean Pool Pavilion for the terrace and the sea; the Two-Bedroom Pool Pavilion or a villa for families. Book November to April for the beach, and give us the dates first — we book Amanpuri at the same rate you would pay direct, with our partner benefits added.