Our Luxurious Home in Amman: The Four Seasons

After a busy day of sightseeing and exploring Amman, all we wanted was a relaxing place to come home to. We found even more at the Four Seasons, where the staff welcomed us like family.

Gorgeous fresh flowers in the Four Seasons Amman lobby.

Generosity is something we got used to in Jordan; the people are some of the friendliest we’ve encountered in the world. The Four Seasons Amman embodies this like no other hotel we stayed at in the kingdom. On arrival, we were greeted like a king and queen, with staff members surrounding our car to greet us and take our bags. In our beautiful suite, fresh fruit, a card and gifts were waiting: earrings created by the famous Jordanian designer, Lama Hourani for me and a book, The Seven Pillars of Wisdom for John. This was just the beginning of the delights we would be spoiled with.

The living room of our suite with comfortable furniture, a Nespresso coffee machine and entertainment centre.

Aside from the comfortable bed, our bedroom also had an entertainment system with Bang & Olufsen technology.

That night we were treated to dinner with our lovely host, Halla at Vivace, the hotel’s Italian restaurant. The culinary talents of the chef were apparent from the first bite of scallop appetizer and continued as we enjoyed fresh prawns and a delightful pasta trio with one of the best risottos we’ve ever had (and John should be a professional risotto-taster). Fresh seafood featured for each of our main dishes, seared sea bass for me, roasted cod for John and a sublime tuna carpaccio for Halla.

This pasta trio included an absolutely mouth-watering risotto, a specialty of Vivace Four Seasons.

We only had to mention that we’d never tried a Jordanian wine and look what appeared in our room.

Another must-experience for foodies is the Arabesque tea, served from 4pm – 7pm every afternoon in The Foyer Lounge. It was difficult to choose just one tea from the exotic selections available, but any of them would taste delicious with the tray of gourmet scones and sweets we were presented with. This isn’t any old high tea: delicacies like Osmaliha (shredded dough with milk pudding), Osh Albolol (cashew nest) and Basbosa (coconut cake) offer a new twist on traditional favourites. Indeed every morsel of food we tried at the Four Seasons over our stay was delicious, from the plate of Middle Eastern sweets delivered to our room in the evening to the best omelette I’ve ever had at breakfast.

The delightful Arabesque tea spread at the Four Seasons Amman.

Yet another indulgence was our experience at The Spa at Four Seasons. After a swim in the indoor pool, I enjoyed a Holistic massage, which began with a full-body microexfoliation scrub before my blissful one hour full-body massage. Warm pouches filled with lavender flowers and sea salt were pressed on my body in intervals before the relaxing massage. Meanwhile John was pampered with a one hour Balinese deep-tissue massage followed by a half-hour Reflexology massage, which he says included the best foot massage he’s ever had in his life. You don’t realize how many muscles you have in your feet until you experience one of these. His masseuse found every one, releasing all the tension. Afterwards we were served my favourite, white tea, before being sent off to bed.

During the warmer months guests can enjoy the outdoor pools but in winter this large indoor pool is perfect for a swim or dip in the jacuzzi.

We were sad to leave the Four Seasons Amman on the last morning. Everyone addressed us by name and really took special care of us while we were there. But we were also excited for the adventure ahead of us. The night before we returned to our room to find two intriguing gift bags on our desk. Just what experiences did Jordan have in store for us next?

Have you ever stayed at a Four Seasons hotel? What was your favourite personal touch?