The honest review of Amangiri

Amangiri holds three Michelin Keys, placing it among the most highly rated hotels anywhere by that standard.

AFAR·Dec 2025·

AFAR's coverage of the Michelin Keys system singles out Amangiri as one of the properties recognized at the top tier, a distinction reserved for only the most exceptional hotels worldwide.

Readers ranked Amangiri as their favorite resort in Utah, well ahead of every other luxury property in the state.

Travel + Leisure·Jul 2024·

The World's Best Awards score of 95.10 suggests that despite the operational grumbling elsewhere, the broader traveling public still holds Amangiri in exceptionally high regard as a destination.

Whether Amangiri is worth $30k for three nights really depends on what you're there for — service and dining, or the landscape itself.

If you go expecting a traditional luxury resort where flawless service and dining justify the bill, I think you'll struggle to feel it's worth $30k for three nights. But Amangiri earns its reputation when you actually engage with the land — via ferrata, canyon hiking, lake activities, water sports. The estate is enormous; I drove several miles just to reach the resort from the gate, and that sense of total seclusion embedded in the desert is genuinely magical and unlike anywhere else I've stayed.

The service doesn't quite match what I've experienced at top Asian luxury hotels, but the pancakes at breakfast alone might be worth the trip.

I've been to Amangiri a few times and genuinely love it, but I'll be honest about the flaws — service here doesn't live up to Asian luxury standards, though I'd argue nowhere in America really does either. Food is mostly a hit with occasional misses; I could eat their breakfast pancake forever. If you go in with realistic expectations about American service culture, you'll likely still have a wonderful time. For rooms, I'd steer toward the Desert Pool Suite or the Girjaali Suite.

I went in the early years when it was nearly empty, and honestly I have no desire to pay today's prices to share the pool with influencers.

I visited Amangiri three times in its first couple of years, and the scenery genuinely blew me away — one night I had the place almost entirely to myself with only four other guests. Service was just okay even back then, not spectacular. But now that it's tripled in price and turned into an influencer backdrop, I have zero interest in going back.

We had a gorgeous suite with a Tiepolo fresco on the ceiling and a bathroom the size of a deluxe room — the furnishings are just a bit safe for my taste.

We always had a great breakfast and stayed in a stunning suite with an actual Tiepolo fresco above us and a bathtub set in the center of a bathroom that could have been its own room. My only real critique is that Aman's furnishings, here and elsewhere, lean a bit too safe — contemporary pieces in historic-feeling spaces that end up looking like elevated RH Modern rather than something more distinctive.

We've stayed at eight Amans and this was the only one where we had to chase down basic pre-arrival communication.

Booking Amangiri came with total radio silence at first, and getting spa and off-property activities scheduled took forever. We finally got a guest experience call, but only after our travel agent pushed for it. On departure day, it took 40 minutes just to get our luggage down to the car — at $5,000+ a night for a room that isn't even really a suite, I don't buy the idea that high price shouldn't come with high service.

This was our second stay, and even at the cheapest room ($5K/night) the service felt noticeably worse than our first visit.

Dinner at Camp Sarika took over two hours for four courses, drinks took 30 minutes, and the coffee was worse than airport lounge coffee. On our second visit the staff no longer remembered us or cleaned between meals the way they had before — we came back from breakfast to an unmade bed. The free daily guided hikes were genuinely excellent though, and I'd recommend booking activities through outside suppliers since the hotel marks them up significantly.

After two stays in the Desert Pool Suite, I can say this is one of the most extraordinary hospitality experiences I've had anywhere in the world.

Our Desert Pool Suite felt like a private sanctuary carved into the desert — the plunge pool became essential in the summer heat, and the sky deck stargazing was pure magic. What elevated the stay was the service: every interaction, from poolside care to spa hospitality, felt intuitive and warm without ever being intrusive. The Navajo-guided slot canyon tour added real cultural depth, and the via ferrata courses were thrilling but never felt unsafe.

Under new leadership at Camp Sarika, the food and service both felt like a genuine step up from what I'd read about elsewhere.

We spent Christmas in a two-bedroom pavilion at Camp Sarika and, as food-critical travelers, were pleasantly surprised — lobster thermidor for breakfast, beef wellington for dinner, and cocktails with real local flavor inspiration. Service was top-notch overall, though we did have a couple of minor mix-ups with orders. What stood out most was how thoughtfully the staff handled our ten-year-old autistic son, seating us away from other guests without us even having to ask.

This is the best hotel I've stayed at in the US, and the fact that the food is genuinely Michelin-level and unlimited feels almost absurd.

Everything on the property seems to function as one giant spa — it smells incredible, sounds incredible, feels incredible. Service here anticipates your needs without ever smothering you, and they're exceptional about privacy. If you appreciate Native American culture, the art and evening performances on property are the real deal, not a tourist gimmick.

My four previous visits as a friend's guest were flawless, but booking my own stay in the Mesa pool suite was a completely different, disappointing experience.

I'd joined friends at the Sarika pavilions four times before and always had top-notch service — friendly staff, quick response times, amazing amenities. But the moment I booked my own stay in the Mesa pool suite, everything shifted: staff seemed rushed and less attentive, food was good but noticeably subpar, and even the mattress felt worse. I can't say for sure if it was the room category, the season, or something else, but it left me hesitant to book on my own again.

The food here was so bad it reminded me of a tacky all-inclusive pretending to have fine dining, and the checkout process felt deliberately deceptive.

We got unripe fruit, undercooked breakfast potatoes, bland mains, and coffee so bad it tasted like unsteeped French press water. After telling our server we don't eat meat, we were still brought beef appetizers minutes later. At checkout we learned our $100 resort credit didn't cover alcohol — information that felt intentionally withheld until the last moment — and then they suggested we spend it on a $173 branded hat as a consolation.

The scenery and rooms are breathtaking, but the pool service was so understaffed we felt completely ignored, and the massage was aggressive rather than relaxing.

At the pool there was literally one person handling bed setup, drink orders, and everything else, so we sat waiting endlessly. The massage turned what should've been restorative into something rushed and uncomfortable, like the therapist wasn't listening to us at all. This place could be extraordinary, but until service catches up to the price, it feels like an overpriced photo op.

We told our travel agent we wanted remote, beautiful, and high end, and Amangiri delivered on all three during our 26th anniversary trip.

We stayed in Camp Sarika pavilion 5 and had the whole camp to ourselves for our five-day stay, which felt truly divine. The architecture blends beautifully with the natural surroundings, and the staff remembered everything about us day to day. The spa was our daily ritual and the Sea-Doo adventure was a real highlight — expensive, yes, but the privacy, exclusivity, and service all delivered.

The architecture and location are out of this world, but the food and service just don't match a $4k-a-night stay.

The setting is genuinely spectacular, but the raw vegetables and fruit looked like they'd been cut long before service, and the food overall wasn't very tasty. Service was pleasant enough but honestly better at hotels costing a fraction of the price. At this level we shouldn't be getting boring food and three-star service.

We celebrated our 30th anniversary here over Thanksgiving with our adult kids, and honestly I have no complaints at all.

We packed the days with hiking, horseback riding, a canyon walking tour, and spa treatments, and it all felt relaxing rather than rushed. Our room had everything we needed, including a clothing steamer for a special luncheon we hosted. The night of our anniversary we came back to candles, rose petals, a flower arrangement, and a bubble bath waiting for us — a genuinely thoughtful touch.

The location is in the middle of nowhere, which is both the magic and the problem — occasional staffing shortages make pool service hit or miss.

The views are stunning and the via ferrata excursion, climbing rock faces and crossing tethered bridges between canyons, was a real highlight. Rooms and beds were very comfortable, and food and drinks were excellent. The isolation that makes this place special also means they sometimes struggle with staffing, so pool service can lag, but it didn't stop us from having a great time overall.