Quiet Luxury

Three of Aman’s Indonesian resorts deliver genuine cultural experiences on a splendid scale.

Indonesia is one of Australia’s nearest offshore tropical holiday destinations, enticing tourists each year to its islands. Although this country is known for its heightened sensory experiences, whether on the back of a scooter or at a buzzing beach club, the Aman hotel group’s presence in the Southeast-Asian region – both in Bali and Central Java – proposes three incredibly peaceful, luxury resort options that feel equal parts immersive, respectful of local culture and utterly private. Let us introduce Amanjiwo, Amankila and Amandari.

AMANJI WO

Cycling through the peaceful fields and small villages that envelop Amanjiwo in Central Java, the intoxicating scent of sun-drying cloves fills the air. It’s intense and memorable. But cloves are not the only crop that you’ll spot along the narrow roads that meander through this region – there’s everything from tobacco to corn and bananas. Honey is harvested from bustling beehives, cowhides cure in the sun and inside small thatched huts the local makers produce prawn crackers, cassava chips and tofu. It’s a theatrical preview to the cuisine of Amanjiwo and no doubt you’ll have the opportunity to sample and savour it all. Well, most of it.