Originally Posted by Fliar

I would like to share some experiences from this week and last. Excuse my brevity.
My last stay in Beijing at the Peninsula in 2005 was certainly considerably better, although that too had its flaws.

And then we come to the Aman at Summer Palace. Let’s get this out of the way first: I do not know of a city hotel (if this qualifies as such) I would rather stay anywhere in the world, and this now replaces the George V as my personal favourite 'hotel'. I will not attempt to describe the property, there have been plenty of descriptions here – suffice to stay it is mindblowing, and I say this even though this is my 10th Aman. The facilities are superb – the ozone-treated 25m underground pool is breathtaking and the private cinema really fabulous. Fresh popcorn and water are brought out and, having the facilities to myself most of the time, it all felt very special. Food was superb. We had Peking Duck at the Chinese restaurant and it really was as good as Dadong or Quanjude. The ‘French Kaiseki’ meal we had at Naoki was fabulous – the presentation sublime (but it is very expensive - more than what I would pay in Central London!). The setting of the restaurant (we were the only guests) is very attractive too. Breakfast was superb. The other facilities are sublime – the bar overlooking the pond, the library, the incredible fitness and wet facilities, and of course the room. I was lucky to be upgraded from a basic room to a courtyard executive (I believe it is called) suite (I cannot remember a time when I was not upgraded at Aman), which was spacious and very beautiful (interestingly with a rather small bath!). Aman has a private gate directly into the Summer Palace, which is not only unbelievably cool but also a valuable time saver, allowing you to enter when people are not yet there or when they are on their way out. This is the kind of property that makes you forget you are spending a ridiculous amount of money and gives you what is so valuable – an experience.

So, was it perfect? No, far from it. The one main area in which this property is let down is the staffing. A lot more work needs to be done. On the positive side, it was very obvious that all staff genuinely do their best and are eager to please – no mean feat in China, which to my mind has some of the worst service culture in the world. But there is no sophistication at all, or at least not yet (with a very few exceptions). Things got off to a bad start with no one helping me with my luggage – probably because a bunch of tourists were touring the lobby and no one recognised me as a guest. Similarly, checkout was bad – it took over 20 minutes to resolve a minor issue and I ended up arriving late at my next appointment. Also, this is the first Aman were I heard the infamous phrase ‘would you like me to charge that to your room?’ – the last thing you want to hear in an Aman, and this coming from the Japanese front desk manager (?) when I gave her a postcard to send (and this also makes it the first Aman to charge for a postcard stamp!). Similarly at the end of our dinner I was asked if I wanted to pay now or charge it to my room (they knew I stayed at the hotel) – very inappropriate and unnecessary and causing me some embarrassment with my guest who now insisted on paying. English skills of staff are acceptable but with great variation. Lack of sophistication is evident in many places – for example in the afternoon events take place in the library. On this particular day calligraphy with an artist, which is great and one of the things I love about Aman. Except the calligrapher (understandably) didn’t speak English, nor did the two girls pouring tea and the one Aman staff (a very young woman) did not have the proactive ability to approach me to ask if I was there for the demonstration/lesson and wanted to participate. If I didn’t speak some Chinese myself I am not sure if I would have even participated. Other, similar minor issues occurred throughout. I identified the reason as being an almost complete absence of any senior staff. After a very pleasant chat with the assistant manager, I never saw any evidence of ‘adult supervision’ again. Most of the staff seem to be in their early twenties and are clearly not yet very experienced. I have no doubt many will still be with Aman in ten years and develop the kind of service culture that for example the Indonesian Amans are so loved for, but right now much more hand-holding is necessary. This was a major let-down in my view as, as I mentioned earlier, the overall willingness seems to be there.

I did not use the spa as it was closed for renovation. I suspect that this was due to poor workmanship – there was evidence of early deterioration in the steam room, which in fact had so many unattractive mould-like stains on the door and tiles that I did not even use it (also, the temperature was far too low).

So, a lot of room for improvement. I believe with better management presence a lot of the issues could easily be overcome, and with time many of them will improve.

Despite these concerns, this is an astounding property and one that I cannot recommend strongly enough. It really is an experience and a privilege to stay here.

Originally Posted by blueline7

Fascinating report. Many thanks! Amazing to hear how so many things left much to be desired, but that on the whole, it was a fabulous experience. I cannot think of any other proprietor that can have so many let-downs, but manage to pull of the entire experience. This is a testament to Aman!

Originally Posted by mike_la_jolla

I wanted to add a few comments to this ASP review. I'm less impressed with this place than others here. When I stayed, during winter, I ultimately gave up asking the staff to do anything. Mark, if he is still GM, has a problem here. I simply couldn't communicate what I needed; nobody within shouting distance spoke any English. I remember carrying my own luggage from furthest most room in the back of the resort to the front desk at the end of my stay. I had given up asking for this sort of task from the staff. When I got to the front I was asked by the guy manning the door "Who are you? Where did you come from?". I didn't respond, but thought: "I am a guest, dude. One of the FEW here: YOU SHOULD KNOW WHO I AM." I did not see a single other guest in the hotel during my three night stay, making this mistake unforgivable.

I had left some luggage at the front and needed it brought to my room. I didn't bother trying to get that accomplished and repacked the luggage in the lobby, to the horror of the staff. Most, if not all, of my requests were met with a polite 'yes', followed by no action. "Could you have this piece of luggage brought to my room?" was a met with blank stares. Clearly the staff simply doesn't understand the language. The is utterly inexcusable at an Aman. Clearly, staffing in China is a problem.

The kitchen couldn't deliver coffee and milk to my room: coffee was cold; milk was rotten. This is a two-fer -- two mistakes in one. They can't even get a pot of coffee correct? I didn't ask for that again. One sink wasn't working. There wasn't enough light in the room to read (style over substance). I had to crawl over furniture to get into bed. The curtains cannot be opened.

I went out into Summer Palace through that magic back door. They gave me a phone to call the front desk to call to get reentry to the resort. When I called using this phone, the person answering had no idea who I was, why I was calling, or what to do. She couldn't speak 1 word of English and, apparently, hadn't been told that the only person in the resort was in the Summer Palace and would be calling to be let back in.

I ate at Naoki. I didn't find it memorable and I FIND IT CREEPY to be the only person in a restaurant. I was the only person. When I went to the bar, I was the only person. The glass of Merlot I had was bad. I didn't try to get that fixed.

I just got back from Beijing and stayed at the Pen. And the Pen has none of these issues. It turns out the location of ASP would have been better for my hosts. It took nearly 60 minutes to get from the office to the Pen with Beijing traffic.

ASP does have some magic, but the service issues at this place have driven me elsewhere in Beijing when I am visiting on business. Also, this place is to be avoided in winter. Most of resources described above are unavailable during the winter.

On checkout, Mark-the-GM was too busy networking with some socialites that had dropped in to say goodbye. These people, who were not guests, were clearly more important than I. I went quietly to the airport via taxi.