The Desert Resort Where the Kardashians Hide and the Nearest Traffic Light Is 25 Minutes Away

This is the third deep-dive in our series on the ten most quietly extraordinary places in the world — the ones billionaires and celebrities keep coming back to, and most travelers never find. Read the full list here.

Venice makes sense as a hideaway. So does a private Caribbean island. What does not immediately make sense is southern Utah — an hour and a half from a real airport, twenty-five minutes from Lake Powell, surrounded by nothing but rust-colored rock and sky.

Which is exactly why Amangiri works. There is no town to be photographed in. There is no lobby to walk through. There are 34 suites dropped onto roughly 900 protected acres at Canyon Point, and a swimming pool that wraps around a natural rock escarpment like the building lost an argument with the mountain and decided to make it the centerpiece.

What makes it different

Aman properties are usually about a culture — a Japanese ryokan, a Venetian palazzo. Amangiri is about geology. The architecture is deliberately plain: poured concrete, glass, flat rooflines, no ornament anywhere. The point is that nothing competes with the rock. Every suite frames a piece of the desert and then gets out of the way.

It is also one of the few ultra-luxury resorts in America with a genuinely quasi-all-inclusive model. Rates run in the neighborhood of $4,000 and up per night, and most on-site dining and non-alcoholic drinks are bundled in. That does not make it cheap. It does make the final bill considerably less insulting than the same nights at a resort that charges $48 for breakfast.

The guest list is the reason it keeps appearing on lists like this one. The Kardashians have made it something close to a family birthday tradition. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were early regulars. Justin and Hailey Bieber, Lady Gaga, and Ariana Grande have all stayed. Nobody bothers them, because there is nowhere for a photographer to stand.

Where it is

Canyon Point, Utah — right on the Arizona line, near Page. Five national parks sit within driving range: Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, and Arches. Most guests fly commercial into Las Vegas (about four and a half hours by car) or Phoenix, or land private at Page Municipal, twenty-five minutes out. The resort will arrange the transfer, and for a chunk of the clientele, the helicopter.

Where to stay on the property

Two choices, and they are genuinely different trips.

Amangiri itself — 34 suites in the main pavilion complex, all facing the escarpment, with the central pool and the 25,000-square-foot spa steps away. This is the version with the famous photograph.

Camp Sarika — ten tented pavilions set further out into the canyons, each with its own private plunge pool. "Tented" is doing a lot of work in that sentence; these are permanent structures with canvas roofs, full bathrooms, fireplaces, and a level of quiet the main resort cannot match. If the goal is to see no one for four days, this is the booking.

When to go

Spring and fall, without much debate. April through May and September through October give you 70s and 80s in the day, cool nights, and hikeable canyons. July and August routinely run past 100 degrees, which turns the desert from a playground into a commitment. Winter is stark, cold, occasionally snow-dusted over red rock — beautiful, empty, and the best rates of the year.

What to actually do

• Antelope Canyon at the right hour. The famous light beams are a midday, warm-season phenomenon. The resort books guided access — go with a guide who knows which slot is not crawling with tour buses.
• The via ferrata. Steel cables and rungs bolted into the rock let you climb a canyon wall with no technical experience. Three routes, guided, and by far the best thing on the property for someone who thought they were done doing things like this.
• Fly over Lake Powell. A short helicopter or small-plane hop over the lake and Rainbow Bridge is the one splurge nearly every guest says was worth it.
• Float the Colorado at Horseshoe Bend. A slow, flat-water raft trip below the cliffs — no whitewater, no fitness requirement, and the best perspective on the canyon walls you will get from the ground.
• Book the spa properly. The water pavilion — step pools, flotation therapy, cold plunge, steam — is the actual heart of the resort. Give it a full afternoon, not an hour before dinner.
• Stargaze from your terrace. There is effectively no light pollution for miles. The resort runs guided astronomy sessions; the terrace works fine on its own.

Who it is for

Amangiri is for people who have done the European city hotels and want the opposite: no crowds, no dress code, no itinerary written by a concierge in a different time zone. It is also, quietly, one of the best places on this list for people in their sixties and seventies — the hikes scale to whatever you want them to be, the altitude is manageable, the medical infrastructure of Page is close by, and there is nothing you have to do.

The catch is the price and the drive. If you are going to pay this much per night, do not go for two nights. Three is the floor. Four or five is when the desert stops being scenery and starts being the reason you came.

Next in the series: spot number four — the only hotel on a private Caribbean island where the residents include a Rolling Stone and, until recently, the Prince and Princess of Wales.