Aman New York, one of the most anticipated luxury hotel openings in the United States, has started accepting reservations. The pricing is just… wow. Despite the cost, the hotel claims to be sold out for the first two months.
Continue reading: Aman New York Now Accepting Reservations (Ridiculous Pricing)
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Russian and Italian HNWI who will most definitely stay at other established luxury and iconic properties for half the price…I actually don’t know who the target audience is for real
Maybe they think the numerous sanctioned Russian oligarchs are not sanctioned ?
It is not like people with a lot of money make more sensible choices, so these rates probably will do just fine.
The argument 'expensive, so must be good' is used all the time in reviews here as well, so it apparently works when attracting customers.
What do you mean when you say that service standards are different in Tokyo vs NYC?
I almost feel like anyone foolish enough to pay this much for a brand new city hotel deserves to have their money parted from them, although I wish the excess was going to charity rather than a billionaire oligarch.
I mean, a lot of people like things just because they are expensive. Especially new money. New money continues to chase the high price tag and the insta-worthy experience over the actual quality. And so it probably makes business sense for these brands to make these decisions and 'sell out' as you call it.
Surely anybody who has ever visited NY and Tokyo would agree that service standards are vastly different.
Thank you for visiting, versus f*ck you for visiting.
1) I think they are trying to differentiate themselves a bit with the rates.
2) I do think their rates will come down a bit, and I would not be surprised if these are just a result of demand. People are VERY interested in this property between the hype and the huge delays. There is a massive wait-list for their membership club.
3) or rates will stay the same... As other pointed out, people will spend money on stuff simply because they know it's an expensive thing.
There are a lot more billionaires and those with 10s/100s of millions than you think. That's the target. Especially in New York, and they have a membership club that sold out almost immediately.
Ok so this hotel goes for 10x the price of a NYC hotel and that's outrageous.
But spending 10x the price of a regular 5*hotel when Ben 'reviewed' Aman Sri Lanka was ok?
I'm well aware of how many extremely wealthy people there are. I still don't get this pricing, even if you look at the suite pricing for the other top hotels in NYC (and those suites are generally bigger than the base room of the Aman) the Aman's prices are 40% higher. I imagine rates will come down though by opening.
I am not sure the pricing is that off compared to other top hotels because their rooms are only suite.
A similar sized-suite at The Mandarin Oriential (76sqm2 vs. 72 sqm2) is 3600 USD incl. all taxes and 4200 USD iat the Aman for the same night in october. A suite at the Ritz Cartlon at the park is 3800 incl. taxes for 79sqm2. So it looks more like 10% to 20% more expensive. Not all of us get free upgrades.
@ Ann -- There's relative cost and then there's absolute cost. Some people might consider it reasonable to spend $200 per night at a luxury hotel in Bangkok, even though you could stay at a hotel for $10 per night. Why? Because that's significantly less than you'd pay for a comparable luxury experience elsewhere.
That's a little different than spending $4,000+ per night at a New York City hotel, when the other existing top hotels in the city charge a quarter as much.
I also in general think it's more worth splurging on resorts than city hotels, since you're likely to spend a lot more time on property at resorts.
I really do think this is temporary. There is no way to justify such a high price and sustain long term. There are many more properties in New York which are renowned for luxury and with established history of serving the multi billionaires, celebrities and dignitaries for half the price.
Besides everything is very expensive at the moment due to sudden demand so that might be a key reason, and prices tend to be dynamic based on demand and supply
What did you expect? Holiday Inn's and Moxy's are regularly going for $600/night all throughout the country right now. At some point it's just like liquor/wine, there's a certain price point where it just doesn't make sense anymore. At the end of the day, it's just a room at a hotel with a few perks. For that price, that shit needs to come with a companion lol.
That's fair. As I said in my other comment, I do think there's a good chance it's temporary/intro pricing that is elevated due to extreme demand since it's been so delayed and so hyped up.
For the price of one night in this hotel, can get 3 nights in a 900 square foot suite at the also very nice Park Hyatt New York. Not sure what makes this worth THAT much more.
I'm not so sure this will be a problem for them, so long as they can deliver an even mildly superior guest experience. There are enough people visiting New York for whom money is no object, that they should be able to fill 83 rooms. Assuming the guest experience is actually better than some of the other options. 83 rooms is not a large property.
I would much prefer a large suite at the Mandarin, PH, or St Regis instead for the price.
Give it time. People are paying big bucks to stay at hotels around the world. That can only last so long. Once there is no more juice to squeeze, price will automatically come down. That’s how supply and demand works.
Surprised by this, because I did a similar check earlier today and came up with a different result. Maybe it was the specific dates we chose, but I picked Saturday, October 15 and got the following (all prices including tax and fees and are flexible rates):
Ritz Carlton - $2,702 for a 860 sq ft king suite
Plaza - $2,719 for a 1000 sq ft king suite
Mandarin Oriental - $3,184 for a 796 sq ft king suite
Peninsula - $3,268 for a 725 sq ft king suite
Aman - $4,485 for the cheapest room, a 775 sq ft twin bed junior suite (if you want a king bed like the others, you're paying $4,830 for a 815 sq ft king suite)
That makes the Aman over 35% more expensive than the second-most expensive option. As others are saying, it may still sell out, but I imagine even most extremely wealthy people care about value proposition (although not all). If Aman NY can develop a reputation that precedes it, it will succeed, but otherwise it's gonna have to lower its prices some.
The Opus Westchester, an Autograph Collection, so-called "5-star" in tragic White Plains, NY has a base rate of $391, and is regularly at $500 or $600 for the lowest category room, and even often sold out.
That the Aman in the middle of Manhattan is 7x-10x that rate almost makes sense. Nothing about the past means anything anymore, which means that a random Autograph Collection in the suburbs of NYC can charge $600 for a base room and people will eat it up, and at the same time an Aman can charge $4000 and people will also eat it up.
The Conrad near Battery Park has been my go to for years. All suites, perfectly nice, 15% of the price.
Hotels have finally figured out how wealthy the top 0.1% really is and I ven $4k a night is not significant for this segment. These prices are sustainable.
This is definitely for the private jet crowd. I am sure billionaires, tech entrepreneurs, and LIV golfers wont sweat $4K a night.
Not all Hotels are meant to be affordable for bloggers, point rackers, instagram freeloaders and other people without a real fat wallet…come on Lucky I’m sure you’ll find the way-haven’t you with everything else so far ?
I did search the day before - October 14th. I used booking.com (note that I am based in Switzerland so all my prices are fully loaded with all sort of taxes and fees) , I think if you search on the US version, some taxes are not included.
For MO, its a King suite with central Park view : 3463 chf = 3617 usd.
For RC, it increased since yesterday = grand Park view suite : 4 148 chf = 4329 usd
For Aman : premier suite = 4141 usd
curious to hear from one of the 1600+ people who have booked this. im sure at least ONE of them is reading this post and/or following Ben's blog.
Does Ford have access to special offers (ie restaurant credit) for those of us who would like to stay at the Aman NYC. Hopefully you can take one for the blog and stay there to share your impressions.
Very insightful:
While the hotel will probably be physically nice, there are limits to how differentiated the experience can otherwise be, given the service culture and labor market in New York — this isn’t Bali.
Nothing wrong with it, but it's extra hard to create something truly special (because every one is equal!) with the American way of service culture. For special occasions I'd rather spend money elsewhere in the world.
People that rich already have pied e terres in New York. Pretty hard to see who the market for this is.
This seems to be across the board for Aman in the US. I saw the same pricing for Amangiri earlier today. Cheapest rate I saw was for one day in November at 3700 USD a night. The rest of the available dates were all 4000 or more… wonder how long this will last.
Supply and demand is forever undefeated. Im sure they have a decent demand right now to charge these rates and have a list of every influencer they will shuffle in the hotel to create buzz. Makes sense to me to keep prices ridiculously high. Plus there are plenty of extremely wealthy people who can pay this and lets not forget the difference between a $500 a night hotel and a $4000 is 8x. Say your net worth was 2mil, 500 a night is reasonable, if you have 50mil the "equivalent" price would be $12,500 a night. And there are plenty of people who visit nyc with 50+.
Another explanation...
Is it possible the rooms are being used as a part of their marketing of the upper floors which are for sale? From the developers' perspective...why not offer complimentary stays for those who have shown an interest in a purchase? A lite version of time share sales but with a distinctly upscale approach. Those who are staying in the building are more likely to be swayed for a future purchase...maybe?
And, it also allows them to use the "sold out" story to add the perception of widespread interest for both stays and purchases. Just wondering.
Whatever. You do all kinds of ridiculous stuff, Lucky, so when are you reviewing (in person) this property?
You seem surprised at what they charge but their price is not much more than hotel rooms that are an equivalent size in New York. The key point is about the size.
NYC outlawed fireplaces some years back, so this building must have been grandfathered.
Hotel is "sold out" probably because not all 83 rooms are available in the first few months. Hotels like Aman - no doubt has gone though months of prep before even soft-opening - want to make sure everything is running smoothly from the get-go, avoid bad press etc, so they will sell 30% of inventory while keeping 100% of staff.
Also, selling limited inventory and calling it "sold out" is another marketing illusion. They can now claim the hotel is so popular that it's "sold out" when in reality selling out ~30 rooms ain't that hard.
Price point wise - as @Reddargon pointed out, price is fair for psf. In Paris, during fashion week, Ritz or Crillion often sells their basic room at Euro2.5K.
But I'm surprised that Ben didn't hypothesize the theory that Aman may have sold a reduced number of rooms and called it "sold out", given that he has been traveling to so many 5+ star hotels and knows the inside-out on how these luxury properties work
This is insane. For 4000 dollars, you could sublet a luxury 1 bedroom apt for a month.
Yeah I feel like the base room should be around $2500 at max.. That price is the same or more expensive than Aman largest suite at Aman Tokyo
Just finished up a week at Aman NYC. It was a superb stay.
This is also, for the time being, one of the Aman properties that does not allow non-guests inside. All amenities are for hotel guests, owners or members only.
If you have the money for this property, it's stunning and worth every dollar.
Aman is taking the woow away from their product.
Taking a retreat name of exclusive resorts and building city hotels kills the exclusivity.
Trust fund babies all over the world? The worldwide luxury market is quite big, the richest ones stay away from the spotlight for obvious safety reasons. Only the got-rich-through-fame are really heard about. The rest - the wealthy-through-other-means. They're the ones who stay away from Forbes lists by having entirely private unlisted companies & minimizing their individual income on paper as much as possible.
It sounds ridiculous, because it is, but there is a section of society who will not blink at these prices. That too is mostly because they aren't really earning the money for it - they just can afford it. Always have.