Aman Opens $750M Amansanu Ranch in Texas Hill Country—First U.S. Resort Property

Aman Resorts opened Amansanu in Texas Hill Country this week, deploying an estimated $750 million into a 4,800-acre ranch resort northwest of San Antonio. The property—Aman's 36th globally and first full-scale resort in the United States—targets single-family offices rotating capital out of coastal gateway cities into what the brand terms "experiential land banking." The opening follows 18 months of quiet site preparation and positions Aman against Auberge, Rosewood, and Montage in the American ranch category, where average development costs now exceed $1.2 million per key.

The resort launched with 40 pavilions priced from $3,200 per night in low season, roughly 30 percent above comparable Montage and Rosewood properties in the segment. Aman CEO Vlad Doronin confirmed the Texas property will anchor a regional expansion plan that includes a second U.S. resort site—location undisclosed—expected to break ground by Q3 2026. The Hill Country site sits 65 miles from Austin-Bergstrom International, which added 14 new long-haul routes in the past 24 months, including direct service from London, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam. Amansanu occupies former ranchland acquired in 2021 through a joint venture between Aman and a Dallas-based family office that controls 87,000 acres across three states.

The opening matters because Aman rarely builds in markets it cannot dominate by scarcity. The brand operates three properties globally with more than 50 keys; most sit between 20 and 35. Amansanu's 40-pavilion count signals the company believes Texas can absorb Aman-level inventory without diluting per-key revenue, which averaged $4,100 across the portfolio in 2023. That threshold requires a local catchment of principals spending $40,000-plus on multi-night stays, a cohort Texas has added at 11 percent annually since 2019, per Knight Frank's wealth migration data. The Hill Country specifically recorded $6.2 billion in luxury real estate transactions over the past 36 months, most of it California and New York capital seeking tax efficiency and what one placement agent called "political optionality."

The property also represents Aman's first partnership with a U.S. family office as co-developer, a structure the brand used in Japan and Southeast Asia but avoided in Europe. The Dallas partner holds a 35 percent equity stake and retains development rights on an adjacent 1,200-acre parcel, likely reserved for branded residences. Aman's residential program—launched at Amanjena in 2008—now accounts for 40 percent of consolidated EBITDA, with units selling at $2,500-$4,000 per square foot in markets from Montenegro to Niseko. If Amansanu follows the brand's typical sequencing, residential plots will come to market 12-18 months post-opening, priced to move $15-$25 million of inventory in year one.

Operators should watch Aman's permitting activity in two markets: southern Utah and coastal Georgia, both sites where the company has engaged land-use counsel in the past six months. Texas will also test whether Aman's no-kids-under-16 policy—enforced at 23 of its properties—can hold in a family-office-heavy market where competing ranches built business models around multi-generational stays. Early booking data leaked to trade press suggest 68 percent of Amansanu reservations for the first 90 days came from international guests, not domestic, implying Aman is treating Texas as a global product, not a regional one.

The brand now operates four properties in the Americas—New York, Mexico, Dominican Republic, and Texas—after spending two decades focused on Asia. Doronin told investors in Q4 2024 that the next 10 properties will split evenly between the U.S. and the Middle East, where Aman holds development agreements in Saudi Arabia and Oman. Texas adds $140 million in projected annual revenue at 70 percent occupancy, roughly 4 percent of Aman's global top line.