Book Ritz-Carlton Reserve when you want ultra-luxury you can actually earn and burn Marriott Bonvoy on, across eight tightly run resorts. Book Aman when you want the deeper, more consistent ultra-luxury brand and a far wider map of roughly 35 properties, and you have accepted that it is cash only. Reserve is the points play at the top of the market; Aman is the icon you pay full freight to feel.
Affiliate disclosure: when you book through links on this page we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We never accept payment for placement or rankings.
Start with the receipt, because that is where these two part ways before you ever reach a lobby. A Ritz-Carlton Reserve stay lands on your Marriott Bonvoy account: you earn points and elite nights, you can redeem points or a free-night certificate, and your Platinum, Titanium or Ambassador status drags real perks, breakfast, an upgrade subject to availability and a late checkout, into the ultra-luxury tier. An Aman stay does none of that. Aman has never run a points program, so it is cash, every time, with the only sweeteners coming from an Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts or Virtuoso advisor.
Ritz-Carlton Reserve is Marriott's smallest, most rarefied badge: eight properties only, each meant to feel like a singular place rather than a Ritz-Carlton with a view. The set runs to Phulay Bay in Krabi (the 2009 original), Dorado Beach in Puerto Rico, Mandapa in Bali, Zadun in Los Cabos, the overwater Nujuma on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea, and Nekajui in Costa Rica, with Trojena in Saudi Arabia due in 2026. The point of difference is not just the design; it is that this is ultra-luxury that lives inside a mainstream points currency.
Aman is the older, larger and more singular idea, the brand that more or less invented modern ultra-luxury when Amanpuri opened in Phuket in 1988. It now runs roughly 35 hotels, resorts and residences across about 20 countries, from Aman Tokyo and Amangiri in Utah to Aman Venice and Aman New York, with around ten more on the way and Amanvari in Mexico opening in 2026. One honest, planning-stage note before the full case for each: both brands park marquee properties at the end of a real transfer, so build in the seaplane, boat or light-aircraft leg and the cost either way.
| Ritz-Carlton Reserve | Aman | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Ultra-luxury on a points balance | The deepest ultra-luxury brand, on cash |
| Parent | Marriott (Ritz-Carlton) | Aman Group (Vladislav Doronin) |
| Properties | 8 Reserves | ~35 in ~20 countries |
| Founded | 2009 (Phulay Bay) | 1988 (Amanpuri) |
| Loyalty | Marriott Bonvoy: points & elite perks | None; Amex FHR / Virtuoso perks only |
| Signature | Place-rooted design, Bonvoy at the top tier | Stillness, space, low-key minimalism |
| Rate tier | $$$$ | $$$$ |
Signature: A tiny set of eight resorts that deliver place-rooted, ultra-luxury design while still living inside Marriott Bonvoy, so points, elite nights and status perks all work at the very top of the market.
Reserve is the brand to book when you want a genuine top-of-market resort without leaving the points economy. Each property is built to feel native to its setting: Phulay Bay's villas under Krabi's limestone cliffs, Mandapa's riverside pavilions in Ubud, Zadun where the Los Cabos desert meets the sea, and Nujuma's overwater villas, the first of their kind on the Red Sea. Because every one is a full Bonvoy hotel, a free-night certificate or a points redemption can offset a five-figure cash week, and Platinum or Titanium breakfast and upgrades land here exactly as they would at a city Marriott.
That combination is genuinely rare. Aman, Four Seasons private collections and the like sit outside every mainstream currency, so Reserve is close to the only way a points-and-status traveler reaches this tier with anything other than cash. For a Bonvoy loyalist sitting on a balance, that is the whole argument.
Honest trade-off: Eight properties is a very short map, so Reserve simply will not be where you are going most of the time, and award availability at these resorts is thin with dynamic, expensive points pricing when it exists. As a sub-brand it is also less uniform than Aman: the best Reserves rival anyone, but the badge does not guarantee Aman's depth of service or stillness, and several sit at the end of a real transfer.
We score the brand's luxury-hotel experience across its top properties: Service, Design and Food reflect the standard at the flagships; Value reflects rate set against Bonvoy earn-and-redeem; Location reflects setting and access. Weighted Service 25%, Design 20%, Romance / Value / Food 15% each, Location 10%. HotelsForKings editorial judgments, not guest-review averages.
Signature: The original and most singular ultra-luxury brand, roughly 35 properties built on stillness, space and pared-back minimalism, with a brand voice so consistent that an Aman feels like an Aman anywhere on earth.
Aman is the brand to book when the experience itself is the entire return, and you are not trying to make a points balance work. Since Amanpuri in 1988 it has expanded to about 20 countries while keeping a remarkably uniform DNA: low-slung architecture, vast private space, understated service and a deliberate quiet. The range is wide and deep, from Aman Tokyo's pagoda-like tower and Amangiri's Utah desert to Aman Venice's palazzo and Aman New York above Fifth Avenue.
That consistency is the brand's real luxury. Where a collection can wobble property to property, an Aman regular knows almost exactly what they are buying. There is no program to chase, but most properties participate in Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts and Virtuoso, so an advisor can layer in breakfast, a credit and late checkout, and Aman New York adds the invitation-only Aman Club on top.
Honest trade-off: There is no loyalty value whatsoever, so rates that sit at the very top of the market are paid in full, with no points or status to soften them. The pared-back mood can read as austere to travelers who want buzz, dining theater or a scene, some properties carry real transfer friction, and the portfolio does shift, Aman Summer Palace in Beijing left the brand at the end of 2025.
We score the brand's luxury-hotel experience across its top properties: Service, Design and Food reflect the standard at the flagships; Value reflects rate against a cash-only, no-points model; Location reflects setting and access. Weighted Service 25%, Design 20%, Romance / Value / Food 15% each, Location 10%. HotelsForKings editorial judgments, not guest-review averages.
Book Ritz-Carlton Reserve when you live in the points economy and refuse to leave it for a holiday. Eight resorts mean a short map, but each is a real top-of-market stay you can earn nights toward, redeem points or a certificate against, and stack elite breakfast and upgrades on. For a Bonvoy loyalist, that is a kind of luxury Aman structurally cannot offer.
Book Aman when the stay itself is the whole point and you have made peace with paying cash. The brand is deeper, more consistent and far more widely spread, around 35 properties of genuine stillness against Reserve's eight, with advisor perks the only discount in sight. Cleanest rule of thumb: Reserve to spend or earn points at the top of the market, Aman to buy the most singular ultra-luxury experience there is, and either way, budget for the transfer.
Sign up for deal alerts: fifth night free offers, resort credits, and the upgrade windows we would book ourselves.
Yes. Ritz-Carlton Reserve is a full Marriott Bonvoy brand, so stays earn points and elite nights, and you can redeem points or a free-night certificate where availability exists. Platinum, Titanium and Ambassador perks such as breakfast, suite upgrades subject to availability and late checkout apply too. It is the only realistic way to put genuine ultra-luxury on a points balance. Aman runs no program, so it is cash only.
No. Aman has never run a points-based loyalty program; you pay cash. The closest thing to status is booking through American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts or a Virtuoso advisor, which can add breakfast, a property credit and late checkout, or the invitation-only Aman Club, reported at around a 200,000 dollar initiation, attached to Aman New York.
Aman is far larger, with roughly 35 hotels, resorts and residences across about 20 countries in 2026 and around ten more announced. Ritz-Carlton Reserve is tiny: eight properties, including Phulay Bay in Krabi, Dorado Beach in Puerto Rico, Mandapa in Bali, Zadun in Los Cabos, Nujuma on the Red Sea and Nekajui in Costa Rica, with Trojena in Saudi Arabia due to open in 2026.
At its best, at Mandapa or Nujuma, Reserve is genuinely world-class, but Aman is the more consistent and more singular ultra-luxury idea across a much bigger map. Reserve's trump card is not matching Aman on stillness and service depth; it is that you can earn and redeem Marriott Bonvoy at the very top of the market, which Aman never lets you do.
Ritz-Carlton Reserve, by default, because it is the only one of the two where points and elite status do anything. A Bonvoy free-night certificate or a points redemption can offset a five-figure cash week, and elite breakfast and upgrades add real value. If you are paying cash regardless, Aman's depth and range justify its rates on experience rather than loyalty.
Aman reaches around 20 countries, with icons in Japan, Bhutan, Italy, Montenegro, Utah and New York. Ritz-Carlton Reserve fills gaps Aman does not cover: Puerto Rico at Dorado Beach, Los Cabos at Zadun, Red Sea overwater villas at Nujuma and Costa Rica at Nekajui. If your destination only has one of the two, the choice makes itself.