Side by side Aman Kyoto vs Amanjena

Aman Kyoto is a 26-room retreat carved into 3.2 hectares of cypress and cedar forest at the foot of Hidari Daimonji, and what you're paying for (rates run roughly 360,000 to 650,000+ yen a night depending on season) is the forest, not the city. The Kerry Hill-designed rooms run 646 square feet with private Hinoki baths, sliding doors that unfold into extra space, and tatami floors that guests keep calling the best-finished wood and tatami they've seen outside a private Japanese home. The onsen, indoor and outdoor, is the reason more than one guest calls this the real onsen hotel in the Aman portfolio, and Taka-An's set menu (six ways with one seasonal ingredient, snow crab when it's in season) gets guests going back a second night.

Two things get priced in honestly. There's no pool and no gym, which a hotel at this rate would normally include as a given, and the wellness sits entirely on the traditional onsen experience instead. And the location is a genuine split: it's 13 to 18 minutes by house car from central Kyoto, which some guests find is exactly the point (a real pull from the crowds around Kinkaku-ji) and others find makes it a poor base if you actually want to spend your days out seeing the city. A few guests also flag that the main dining room is small and breakfast feels modest set against the nightly rate, and one flat-out said the delivery felt closer to a much cheaper property at these prices.

Book it if you want a few days of quiet at the start or end of a Japan trip, ideally paired with something central like the Ritz-Carlton or Park Hyatt for the days you actually want to be in Kyoto proper. If mobility is a concern, know the paths through the grounds are uneven rock, not flat. For the forest, the baths, and Taka-An, nothing else in the city gets close.

Amanjena is the quiet Marrakech Aman, built around reflecting pools, pisé walls and enough distance from the medina that outside of breakfast you might not see another guest. That isolation is the whole pitch, and it delivers: guests describe walking the grounds at dusk with nobody around, staff who learn names within a day, and a level of anticipation that shows up in small things, like a team sourcing superglue at midnight or setting up satellite cable for a tennis final within minutes of being asked. The service is the reason people keep coming back, and it's consistent enough across stays years apart that it reads as house culture rather than luck.

Book it knowing the building has aged unevenly. A 2025 post-renovation stay found new lighting, a Toto washlet and a proper gym where the library used to be; another guest that same month, in an unrenovated villa, spent three days without wifi or hot water. The spa is the softest part of the property — several recent reviews call it outdated, and one flagged actual fungus in a shower, which is hard to excuse at these rates. Food is fine rather than exceptional apart from Arva, the Italian spot; the Moroccan restaurant is worth one dinner for the atmosphere and live music, not the cooking. Check ahead of booking, too: guests have arrived to find the spa, restaurant or library closed for works with only a buried pop-up as warning.

This suits couples and honeymooners who want stillness over spectacle, and travelers with small children may find it a bit sleepy, several reports mention kids getting bored by day two. Anyone chasing the more theatrical, palace-scale Moroccan experience tends to end up talking about Royal Mansour instead. But for a few days of genuine quiet outside Marrakech, with a private pool villa and a staff that remembers your order by the second morning, Amanjena still earns its place.