Amanyara & Aman Owners Get Into Nasty Dispute Over Janu Turks & Caicos Project

The owner of Amanyara Turks & Caicos, one of the Caribbean’s most luxurious resorts, is currently in a major dispute with the owner of luxury hotel group Aman. The situation is getting so bad that a lawsuit has been filed, and the owner is threatening to cut ties with Aman. Let me explain what’s going on…

Amanyara owner sues Aman, threatens to rebrand hotel

Amanyara is one of the Caribbean’s most expensive resorts. The property opened back in 2006, and has 38 pavilions and 19 multi-bedroom villas, with rates typically starting at a few thousand dollars per night.

While the resort is managed by Aman, it’s independently owned, so obviously the goals of the resort’s owners and Aman’s owners aren’t always going to be aligned (a common issue in the hotel industry). That brings us to the current conflict.

Aman’s billionaire owner, Vladislav Doronin, has proposed building a $250 million resort on an 84-acre site immediately next to Amanyara, which would have 80 guest rooms and suites, plus 12 villas. This would belong to Janu, which is a sister brand to Aman, with properties intended to be a bit more lively and modern. Construction was supposed to start later this year.

Just to clarify, Doronin is directly investing in this project, so it wouldn’t just be that Aman would manage the property, but the company would also have an ownership stake in it. There’s a lot of upside there for Aman.

As you might imagine, the owners of Amanyara are fuming at the thought of Aman building a competing property immediately next door. So the owner of the resort, Mortimer Sackler (a member of the billionaire Sackler family, which made a fortune through Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin), is drawing a line in the sand.

For one, he’s suggesting that if the Janu Turks & Caicos project moves forward, he’ll cut ties with Aman, and will rebrand the resort. On top of that, he has filed a lawsuit over the development, trying to overturn some key decisions that paved the way for this to be approved. Court filings suggest the approvals for the resort were unlawful, and that planning applications didn’t comply with legal requirements.

I don’t blame Amanyara’s owner for being angry

Of course I totally understand why Amanyara’s owner is furious about this. Keep in mind that Janu is a brand that was only launched in recent years, so when the owner committed to Aman branding a couple of decades ago, the thought of the same brand having a competing property was inconceivable.

Some might say that Janu is targeted at a different crowd, and that this isn’t really competition. I’d kind of disagree with that assertion:

• One of the reasons Amanyara can command such high rates is because of the incredibly small amount of luxury capacity in Turks & Caicos, especially outside of Grace Bay
• I don’t think the target audience between Aman and Janu is that different, and this will put pressure on Amanyara’s pricing
• If nothing else, having another development immediately next door makes the resort less serene and exclusive

Now, I’m also not surprised to see Aman’s owner doing anything for a dollar. I mean, I assume the intent with buying the Aman brand was to maximize profits, and he has certainly done a good job with that. I also wouldn’t expect him to act nicely “just because,” as we’re no longer in the days of Aman founder Adrian Zecha, as the brand was very much a passion project for him.

I have to imagine that the Janu development will eventually move forward, even if the legal process delays it a bit. With that in mind, I’m curious if the owner of Amanyara really decides to rebrand, or simply gets some concessions from Aman on management and branding fees.

What could Amanyara realistically rebrand as? It seems too boutique to me to be likely to get something like Four Seasons or Rosewood branding. Maybe something like BVLGARI, Capella, Cheval Blanc, Oetker Hotels, etc., would be the most likely branding, if a change were to happen? That’s purely from a property size and accommodation style perspective.

Bottom line

Amanyara and the Aman brand are currently in a big disagreement. The owner of Aman wants to build a Janu property in Turks & Caicos, immediately next to the existing Aman. The owner of Amanyara finds that to be unacceptable, and has now filed a lawsuit, and has threatened to pull Aman branding from the hotel.

I’m curious to see how this plays out. While this lawsuit might delay construction of the Janu property, I can’t imagine it will be fully blocked. If it does move forward, will Amanyara be better off maintaining its branding, or going with another hotel group?

How do you see this Amanyara dispute playing out?