Aman Resorts disclosed plans for three properties—a Utah canyon villa, a tented camp in Rajasthan, and a Baja California beachfront—marking the first time the 36-property brand has announced openings across three continents in a single statement. The move suggests a $2B+ capital deployment cycle, based on Aman's historical per-key cost of $1.5M-$3M and the brand's preference for 30-60 room properties.
The Utah property will anchor in canyon country near Amangiri, the brand's 2009 flagship that redefined American desert luxury and commands $3,500+ average daily rates in peak season. The Rajasthan camp extends Aman's existing two-property India footprint into experiential hospitality, a format the brand last attempted in 2018 with a seasonal Bhutan operation. The Mexico site—unnamed, coordinates undisclosed—targets the brand's first Latin American beachfront after years of Doronin stating publicly that Caribbean projects lacked the seclusion Aman principals require. The reversal is notable. Aman has historically avoided beach markets where ultra-luxury competitors cluster, preferring remote or heritage-anchored geographies with natural moats.
The timing aligns with Aman's shift from billionaire-patronage model to institutional-grade asset management. Doronin's 2014 acquisition for an undisclosed sum—industry observers estimated $300M-$400M—came with a mandate to double the portfolio by 2025. The brand has added 14 properties since, but occupancy data from STR Global shows Aman's global RevPAR grew only 4.2% annually from 2019-2023, below the 6.8% luxury segment average. The three-property announcement suggests Aman is chasing both geographic diversification and revenue velocity, particularly as single-family offices increasingly allocate to hospitality real estate with 8-12% unlevered IRRs in top-decile luxury.
Operators and allocators should monitor Aman's capital structure disclosures in the next six months, particularly whether the Utah and Mexico projects involve sale-leaseback arrangements or family-office co-investment vehicles, which Aman has used in Tokyo and New York. The Rajasthan camp's format—tented versus permanent—will signal whether Aman views India's experiential segment as a seasonal liquidity test or a permanent category expansion. Worth noting: Aman's competitor set is also moving. Four Seasons announced 12 openings in 2024, Rosewood has 8 in pipeline, and Oetker Collection quietly acquired a Rajasthan palace property in Q3 2024.
The brand's disclosure lacked opening timelines, construction timelines, or room counts—standard Aman opacity. But the simultaneous three-continent push is a departure from Doronin's historical one-flagship-per-year cadence. The question isn't whether Aman can execute luxury at scale. It's whether the brand's scarcity premium survives a 40% portfolio increase inside 36 months.