Recently opened

Aman

Amanvari

Name: Amanvari
Address: Costa Palmas, Mexico

Aman's first in the Americas

Costa Palmas, Mexico

Reserve

Now open — book direct on Aman's official site.

First look

Amanvari is Aman's debut in Mexico, and the first time the brand has planted a flag on the Baja peninsula. It sits on the East Cape of Baja California Sur, inside the 1,500-acre Costa Palmas community, where desert, estuary, and the Sea of Cortez meet. Eighteen casitas only — a deliberately small count, built on raised ground for views across the water to the Sierra de la Laguna.

The design started with Heah & Co and was carried through by Elastic Architects, leaning on the meeting point of those three landscapes rather than fighting it. There's an Aman Spa with a temazcal sweat lodge, three miles of swimmable beach, and a deep-water marina shared with the wider Costa Palmas estate. On paper, it's Aman doing what Aman does: few keys, big land, a remote-feeling setting an hour from the Los Cabos airport.

It opened on 1 August 2026, roughly six years later than first planned. Nobody has stayed long enough to report back yet, so there's no Fat Score here and won't be until real guests have been and written about it. What we'll be watching is whether 18 casitas feel as private as the count promises, and how the food and the service hold up this far from anywhere.

Just opened — not yet scored. We publish a Fat Score once enough guests have stayed and written about it. Check back soon.

What we'll be watching

We haven't stayed yet — here's what will decide whether it lands when we do.

Whether the six-year delay shows on arrival. Amanvari was announced in 2018 for a 2020 opening; it's now opening in August 2026 with the delays attributed to business rather than construction complications. A property that has been in development that long can arrive feeling either perfectly resolved or slightly out of step with where the brand is now.
Whether 18 casitas at $4,500-a-night-minimum justifies the isolation. Every casita has a private heated pool, but at rates that make this potentially Mexico's most expensive hotel, the bar for food, service and arrival experience is unusually high for a first-in-market launch where the brand is learning the supply chain and staffing from scratch.
Whether the four dining venues can hold their own out here. Sesui (Japanese), Arva (Italian) and Luma (open-fire coastal) are an ambitious lineup for a remote East Cape location — getting ingredients in and retaining kitchen talent at a resort this small and this isolated will be the real test, not the menu names.
Whether this is truly Aman's Americas moment or just a Mexico debut. The brand has been missing from the Western hemisphere for years, and this is a 18-key resort on a remote Baja cape rather than an urban or high-access opening. We'll be watching whether the setting delivers the quiet the count promises, and whether it draws the Aman faithful or gets overshadowed by the brand's eventual bigger-market moves.

What's changed

We track this opening and log every change. Newest first — dates are when we confirmed it, not necessarily when it happened.

1 Aug 2026Confirmed open.
2 Jul 2026Confirmed taking reservations — bookable direct.

First look · gallery

Imagery courtesy of the hotel.

Sofie, who runs the Fat Voyage booking desk with Nicolas

Want us to book it for you?

It's bookable now, and we can do it for you — same rate you'd pay direct, with our advisor perks attached and no fee to you. We're Sofie and Nicolas; tell us roughly what you're after and we'll come back with a quote you can book yourself.

You'll be dealing with the two of us the whole way through, which is why we only take on a handful of trips at a time — if we're full, we'll say so. We reply by email, usually within one working day. The hotel pays us, not you: your rate is the same as booking direct, and the perks come on top.

Good to know

When does Amanvari open?

Amanvari is slated to open on 1 August 2026, and is already accepting reservations for stays from that date. The official Aman site lists the date; as always with new openings, treat it as expected rather than guaranteed, though the property has been in development long enough that the build itself is not the uncertainty.

Where is Amanvari located?

It sits on the East Cape of Baja California Sur, Mexico, within the 1,500-acre Costa Palmas private community where desert, estuary, and the Sea of Cortez meet. The nearest airport is San José del Cabo, roughly an hour away by car — so arriving requires a transfer, not a short taxi ride.

Is this Aman's first hotel in Mexico?

Yes. Amanvari is Aman's first property in Mexico and the brand's debut in the Americas. It was originally announced in 2018 with a planned 2020 opening, making this a roughly six-year wait — the delays were attributed to business rather than construction complications.

How many rooms does Amanvari have?

18 casitas only, each reportedly around 833 square feet with a private heated pool and terrace overlooking the Sea of Cortez and the Sierra de la Laguna mountains. The casitas come in Beachfront, Elevated, Horizon, and Estuary configurations depending on outlook.

What restaurants and facilities will Amanvari have?

The resort plans four dining venues: Sesui for Japanese cooking, Arva for Italian, Luma for open-fire coastal cuisine, and a more casual Lounge. The Aman Spa includes six treatment rooms, two Hydro Houses with banya and hammam, a temazcal sweat lodge, and a fitness center. Guests also have access to three miles of swimmable beach and the deep-water marina shared with the wider Costa Palmas estate. The design was led by Heah & Co. on the original concept, carried through by Elastic Architects.

Will Fat Voyage score Amanvari?

We publish a Fat Score only once a hotel is open and real guests have stayed and written about it — drawn from luxury travel communities, editorial publications, and verified guests, never paid placements. This is a first look, not a verdict; we'll score it once there's enough independent signal to be fair.

Open now

What you can book today

Amanvari is open, but too new for a Fat Score. Meanwhile, here's what's already open and scored in our collection — more from Aman, and nearby in Mexico.

Fat Legend

Aman

Aman-i-Khas

Ranthambore, India

Ten tents, eighty staff, and a butler system everyone calls "Batman." One family's picky ten-year-old got an off-menu kitchen and a chef who checked on him several times a day; another guest's Esver built a full birthday setup, cake and flowers included, without being asked to. The safari guides are Aman's own contracted naturalists rather than whoever the park assigns you, and the difference shows up in the sightings: one couple saw six tigers across two drives while friends running independent drivers for a full week saw none. The tiger sightings and the staff who remember what you like are what you're paying for, and on both counts the reviews back it up. The room rate is not the real number, and almost nobody who's stayed disputes that. Rooms run roughly $1,200-1,500 a night, but safaris and transfers are priced separately and steeply: one traveler was quoted $2,400 for a one-way three-hour transfer that an independently booked driver did for $200, and a short stay can add $6,000-7,000 in extras on top of the room. That gap between the nightly rate and the final bill is real, and it's worth arranging your own transfer and private guide pricing before you land rather than after. Canvas walls mean jungle noise, and the odd 3am monkey overhead, comes through at night; a couple of stays mention slow fixes for things like a jammed bathtub, and a few guests found the food more basic than the rest of the experience promised. None of that should keep you away, but it's worth knowing going in. Book the room understanding the extras will roughly multiply it, sort transfers yourself, and go for the sightings and a Batman who works out your rhythm within a day. That's the trip this hotel is actually selling.

Fat Approved

Aman

Aman Kyoto

Kyoto, Japan

Kerry Hill's forest pavilions sit inside a three-generation garden in the hills above Kyoto, and at $3,000 to $5,000 a night, the land is the reason people book this over anything more central: moss paths, cypress and cedar pressing right against the rooms, a stillness one guest says genuinely quieted their nervous system on arrival. The outdoor onsen shows up as one of the best settings anyone's sat in anywhere in Japan. Taka-An backs it up: pre-arrange a seasonal ingredient like snow crab and the kitchen builds a whole multi-course menu around it, sushi to chawanmushi, good enough that one couple booked a second night on the spot. The isolation is the whole idea, not an oversight. Complimentary house cars (BMW i7s and X7s) get you into central Kyoto in 15 to 20 minutes: fine if you want a deliberate retreat rather than a base for temple-hopping, grating if you don't. Weigh that against no pool and no gym at this price, a gap more than one guest flags as worth knowing before you book. Service mostly earns the rate: at this 25-room scale, staff learn names fast, and one guest credits a garden tour with Seou as one of the best hours of their whole trip. But full-rate stays also report small lapses: a forgotten drink order, common areas one visitor called sparse rather than serene, a dining room some found undersized for what they paid. At $5,000 a night those slip harder than they would elsewhere. Book it as the quiet chapter of a longer Japan trip, ideally paired with something central like the Park Hyatt Kyoto for the days you actually want to be in the city. On the garden, the onsen, and Taka-An, nothing else near Kyoto is close.

Fat Approved

Aman

Aman Nai Lert Bangkok

Bangkok, Thailand

The rooms are the biggest suite category in Bangkok by a wide margin, the Nai Lert Park grounds feel like nowhere else in the city, and when the staff are on, they're properly on: a birthday proposal kept secret for months, a doctor and soup sent up unasked, honey-lemon tea appearing before a guest finishes coughing at breakfast. That's the case for booking at $1,200-1,800 a night. The catch is that what you get still depends heavily on which week you land. This opened rough in April 2025, and complaints from that stretch, average service, a random fire alarm, a concierge team that took five emails and four different agents to answer one question, keep surfacing well into 2026 alongside guests calling the same stay frictionless and returning within months. The concierge and pre-arrival email service is the one problem that won't go away, flagged repeatedly and independently, including by travel advisors who say they now actively manage around it. The location is a real trade-off too, not a matter of taste: most rooms face condos, a construction lot, or the back of the Central mall, and only the Premier and higher categories escape it. One returning guest called this the least worth-it Aman they'd stayed at and rebooked Capella instead; another, back for ten days across two visits, called it the best city hotel they'd ever stayed in. Book it if you've done Bangkok before and want distance from the river hotels without giving up scale of room, and go Premier Suite or above, never the entry Deluxe. First-timers chasing atmosphere are better served on the Chao Phraya. Get the room and the timing right, and nothing else in the city matches the space.

Fat Approved

Aman

Aman Villas at Nusa Dua

Nusa Dua, Indonesia

The case for this Aman is simple: a walled villa near the golf courses and beach clubs of Nusa Dua, a short drive from the airport, with a 24-hour butler and a chef cooking to order in your own kitchen. One family's butler, Dandy, made a three-day stay easy, cooking to their taste and staying attentive throughout without being asked twice. The sambal comes up more than once as a genuine highlight, and the pool-and-villa combination reads as properly private, not just quiet, which is the whole point of booking this Aman over its two Bali siblings. A Virtuoso advisor who books Bali regularly places it exactly here: the tucked-away, no-one-bothers-you option of the three, good for people who want seclusion near the beach clubs rather than a cultural immersion. Where it's weaker is food and character. One family who'd stayed at other Amans found the villa bare and generic, with no local decor, and got caught out when their kids' room connected only across the open-air pool deck rather than through the villa, worth checking at booking if you're travelling with young children. On food, the record is mixed: the in-villa cooking pleases plenty of guests, but one experienced Bali villa-hopper ranks it behind Amandari's wine list and kitchen, and another puts it behind Alila Uluwatu and Capella on both the food and the butler service. Book this one for the privacy and the location, not for the design or the dining. Couples and families wanting to disappear behind a wall for a few days near Nusa Dua's beach clubs and golf get exactly what's promised; anyone chasing the theatrical Balinese architecture Aman is known for elsewhere should look at Amandari instead. For a private villa with a butler running the day, this still does the job.

Get notified

Amanvari just opened

It's too new for a Fat Score. We'll email you our verdict the moment we've scored it from real guest stays — no paid placements, ever.

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