The Desert, the Skyline, and the Mountains Between: Aman Hotels in the US You Cannot Miss

Imagine for a moment: you're floating. Not metaphorically, but physically suspended in water, your ears just below the surface so that the world goes quiet. Above you, the darkest sky you've ever seen, speckled with millions of stars that feel close enough to touch. Around you, red rock and ancient plateaus rise like sentinels that have held this silence for millennia. There's no noise, no agenda — only the desert, the water, and the slow realization that you've never been this still in your life.

This is Amangiri, a desert resort by Aman in Canyon Point, Utah. Aman resorts have a unique ability to take a landscape and translate it into modern architecture from the inside out, the terrain built into the property and the property dissolving into the landscape, until you cannot tell where the resort ends and the land begins.

Most people think of these luxury Aman properties as exclusively international. Bali, Japan, Thailand — those are the names that come up first, and they're absolutely worth the long flights. But Aman also has three domestic U.S. properties that'll make you feel entire continents away from wherever you started. Desert solitude, big-city grandeur, mountain wildness. Same DNA, completely different worlds.

No fourteen-hour flight, no passport stamp, no jet lag arithmetic. These three Aman destinations sit on American soil beside some of the most beautiful, well-preserved national parks and historic cities in the country — and each one will make you feel entire continents away.

Amangiri — Luxury Desert Stay in Canyon Point, Utah

Desert stays can seem boring. I understand the hesitation. You picture sand, heat, silence, and wonder what exactly you'd do with all that nothing. But Amangiri doesn't offer nothing. It offers the opposite: a transport to a dream world where there are fewer people, more nature, silence, peace, and a freedom that dense destinations simply cannot replicate.

The property sits among the red rocks and ancient plateaus of southern Utah like a hidden oasis, and it earns that word honestly. The air smells fresh and clean, scrubbed by distance and altitude and the absence of society. And the architecture doesn't compete with the landscape; it surrenders to it. Walls of raw concrete and glass curve around the natural rock formations, and the effect isn't minimalism for its own sake — its reverence for the nature that stood here centuries before humans did.

The pool is the centerpiece. Carved into the canyon rocks, it reflects the sky and the canyon walls and absolutely nothing else. Float there under the desert sun and you'll feel worlds away — and yet know, paradoxically, that every corner of it remains yours. Add in access to concierge teams, two onsite dining options, slot canyons, mesa hikes, hot air balloon rides over the valley — its all there when you want it.

Naturally-inspired stone suites and tented suites create the feeling of a private desert village, complete with attentive service, luxury amenities, multiple dining options, private pools, secluded terrace lounges, and outdoor firepits. The six-bedroom villa makes the perfect desert getaway for groups and multigenerational family trips alike. And if you're looking for something closer to camping, try Camp Sarika at Amangiri. These ten tented pavilions put you inside the natural landscape with full service, indoor and outdoor spaces, terraces, fire pits, and access to dining so you can glamp in style.

Then there's the land beyond the resort, home to some of the country's best national parks. The concierge team can arrange private guided excursions around the Colorado Plateau, or you can take a car and explore the region yourself. Capitol Reef National Park is where I'd start — quieter than its neighbors, less known and less photographed. Arches National Park puts Delicate Arch and Balanced Rock in front of you and dares you to find the right words. Bryce Canyon is an otherworldly maze of hoodoos — sandstone pillars by the hundreds — best seen on foot or from above in a helicopter. Zion National Park's canyon walls tower over you in ways that still even experienced hikers. The Great White Throne, a freestanding monolith rising thousands of feet in the air, earns every superlative. End at the Grand Canyon, where two billion years of geology reside in the rock layers alone — the South Rim for the iconic views, the North Rim for something quieter and more solitary. At this Aman hotel, all of it is within reach.

Aman New York — One of the Best Luxury Hotels in Midtown Manhattan

Now forget all of that. Forget the silence, the red rock, the emptiness. Drop yourself into Manhattan — the density, the noise, the chaos that moves at a frequency you can feel in your teeth. Aman New York sits in the middle of it, and from the outside, the building fits into the cityscape like it was built decades ago: stately, assured, quintessentially New York.

But stepping inside brings you back to Aman. That's the trick. Tranquility, quiet, smooth and clean architecture — the same Aman stillness, now suspended floors above the chaos of the city. It's an inversion of the desert experience: at Amangiri, the landscape mirrors the interior. At Aman New York, the interior is a refuge from the landscape. Same philosophy, completely different execution.

The details of this luxury hotel are staggering for Manhattan. Entry-level suites start at 718 square feet — spacious by any city's standards, gloriously rare by New York's. One- to three-bedroom residences come with resident chefs and full kitchens, which means families, groups, or solo travelers who want to live like a local — an emphatically well-cared-for local — have genuine room to breathe.

Six dining venues span the property, from a terrace bar above the Manhattan skyline to a speakeasy-style jazz club that draws locals, not just hotel guests. That distinction matters enormously. Aman New York doesn't exist in a tourist bubble — it participates in the city, pulls the city in, and then offers you a spa sanctuary several floors above it all — natural wellness meets urban life in a way that feels earned, not engineered.

Amangani — A Classic Reborn in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

If Amangiri is solitude and Aman New York is refinement, Amangani is something rawer — the spirit of the old West, translated into Aman's language without losing its edge. The property sits in Jackson Hole with floor-to-ceiling views of the Tetons, and the interiors don't shy away from where they are. Wood, stone, cowhide, and furs; the smell of the place hits you before the view does, hints of pine resin and cold mountain air, and it never quite leaves you. The effect isn't costume — it's context. The outdoors comes inside flawlessly.

This is a year-round destination, and each season delivers a completely different resort. In winter, Jackson Hole becomes a snow-covered playground — skiing, snowboarding, dogsledding, sleigh rides, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, ice skating, and more. In summer, the resort becomes a base for excursions into Grand Teton National Park — Jenny Lake and Jackson Lake are essentials for hiking and views that earn every step.

My best advice? Set aside at least one full day for Yellowstone National Park. The nation's first national park sprawls across volcanic plateaus with crystalline lakes, thundering waterfalls, and steaming geysers — including Old Faithful — all within reach from your base at Amangani.

Beyond the national parks, the experiences I'd steer travelers toward are the ones unique to this landscape. Guided wildlife safaris take you into flatlands, wetlands, valleys, and forests in a luxury SUV — moose, bears, elk, coyotes, even wolves and mountain lions are possible sightings, among more than 300 bird species that include bald eagles and sandhill cranes. The Snake River offers whitewater rafting through the canyon and, separately, some of the world's best trout fishing: wild cutthroat trout in streams below the Tetons. Just ten minutes from the resort, the town of Jackson brings museums, art galleries, and boutiques for gentler days.

A note for planning: Amangani is currently closed for refurbishment and will reopen soon — worth every moment of the wait, because what was already extraordinary is only getting better. Your travel advisor can help you secure your room when it reopens.

The Aman Thesis

Three properties. Three landscapes. One immovable standard: escape that doesn't feel manufactured, immersion that doesn't feel like performance. What Aman gets right is the conviction that a hotel should disappear into its destination rather than dominate it. The desert suite that becomes the canyon. The Manhattan sanctuary that holds the city at arm's length. The mountain lodge that lets the Tetons do the talking.

This isn't about a price point or a demographic. Solo travelers, couples, families — whatever shape your life takes, whatever kind of rest you need — Aman finds ways to turn even the familiar into a brand-new experience that feels like a once-in-a-lifetime event, every time. These are domestic destinations that will make you feel entire continents away. And sometimes, that's exactly the escape you didn't know you were looking for.

As a Forbes-endorsed travel agency and preferred partner with Aman properties around the world, a LuxRally Travel advisor can help plan your stay at any of these incredible domestic destinations. Beyond complimentary expert guidance and the credibility of one of the industry's leading agencies behind you, booking with an advisor can earn you upgrades, late checkout, resort credits, daily breakfast, and more. The properties are extraordinary on their own, but there's still so much more about a trip to be elevated. That's what we're here for.

If you want to spoil yourself, stay with Aman. If you need to be cared for, stay with Aman. If you're ready to experience North America at its most natural, most raw, and most comfortable, stay with Aman. It's that simple.